Secure Data Environment

This service gives approved researchers with approved projects secure access to NHS data. To ensure patient safety and confidentiality, this data is:

• de-identified (pseudonymised), so that any identifying (or personal) patient information such as names, addresses or NHS numbers are replaced with artificial, or ‘pseudo’, information
• minimised, so that only relevant patient information is provided for research projects

The NHS England SDE provides access to many NHS data sets including Hospital Episodes, Emergency Care, Maternity, Mental health data sets and more.

The NHS England SDE service team can support you in identifying the most relevant data to support your research.

To see a full list, visit the Data set catalogue. A full list of available data sets is also published on the HDR UK Health Data Gateway.

Learn more about these features and how to get the most out of the NHS England Secure Data Environment.

We will help you by providing:

• data specialist support (data provision) 
• general SDE service support (set-up and administrative) 
• a case officer to support Data Access Request application 

NHS England SDE is part of an interoperable NHS Research Secure Data Environment network at the heart of the Data Saves Lives strategy. All platforms will comply with the Secure Data Environment guidelines.

Approved researchers are given controlled access to the environment, which follows the Five Safes Framework to ensure data is accessed and used in a secure and responsible way. We seek advice from the Advisory Group for Data (AGD) to ensure that the highest standards of data stewardship and governance are upheld.

We provide approved researchers with a Safe Output Service that is robust, effective and transparent to third-party audits.

Researchers will only gain access to data they are permitted to see, and all approved data flows are published on the Data Release Register.

Our transparency notice describes our legal basis for processing personal data in the course of this work.

The below prices represent an overview of SDE service costs, which are invoiced quarterly.

These charges do not include DARS application fees. Visit Data Access Request Service (DARS) charges for more information.

You will be provided with a full pricing breakdown as part of your SDE application process. There may be additional charges which are not represented below and subject to terms and conditions.

The SDE charges are reviewed annually and are subject to adjustment, with any changes taking effect from 1 April each year.

For more detailed information and all pricing enquiries, contact us at [email protected].

Standard charges 

Optional user account charges 

Stata licence price available on request. 

These charges are subject to VAT (at the current rate) if applicable.

*All user accounts which have been active, including accounts which were deleted or deactivated within the month, will be charged the standard fee. 

**Excess DBU usage is calculated in total across all accounts, not per user. For example, if you have two users and they use 50 and 300 DBUs in one month respectively, the total usage will be calculated as 350 out of the total 500 DBU included allowance.

*** Excess storage is also calculated in total across all accounts, not per user. For example, if you have two users and they use 800 GB and 1,100 GB in one month respectively, the total usage will be calculated as 1,900 GB out of the total 2 TB (2,000 GB) included allowance.

Cost example

See below for example costs.