Using RStudio in the NHS England Secure Data Environment

RStudio is a free, open-source integrated development environment (IDE) which provides a set of tools built to work primarily with the R programming language.  

This guide is intended to help you get up and running using RStudio in the Secure Data Environment (SDE). It provides guidance on: 

• creating a connection between RStudio and Databricks
• working with data and files in RStudio
• downloading analysis results and code for publication or onward use
• working with R packages

There are two versions of RStudio which are available for use within the SDE. 

Both versions provide the same interface and functionality, and enable you to work with your data. However, each version has different compute resources or processing power available and are also accessed differently. 

Each user of the SDE is provided with a virtual desktop instance (VDI), which is a self-contained computer system that is accessible through your web-browser. This VDI has access to a dedicated compute resource and comes with a locally-installed version of RStudio.  

RStudio Desktop can be accessed by double-clicking the RStudio icon, which can be found on you VDI’s desktop.

RStudio Server  

RStudio Server runs on Databricks and provides access to a large, dedicated compute resource that is shared across all users on your research project. 

RStudio Server is an optional tool and may not be available to everyone. If you would like to request access, ask your organisation’s User Manager, who will be able to request access on your behalf. Alternatively, you can email the National Service Desk at [email protected]. 

For more information, refer to the RStudio Server section

For technical issues, including accessing the SDE, contact the National Service Desk on [email protected] or by phoning 0300 303 5035.

For general queries and data-related issues, contact [email protected].

SDE users are invited to attend regular drop-in sessions run by our data specialist team. These hour-long sessions are for questions and support with using the SDE environment and RStudio.

Drop-in sessions occur every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am to 11am GMT (excluding public holidays) via Microsoft Teams. Invites are sent with your SDE account activation email. Alternatively, contact [email protected] for more information.