Health & Lifestyle | Posted on April 24th, 2025 | return to news
Dorset health data to supercharge cancer research
Four cancer studies will be among the first to benefit from access to NHS patient data thanks to the new Wessex Secure Data Environment.

Four cancer studies, including one tackling aggressive bladder cancer, will be among the first to benefit from access to Wessex NHS patient data thanks to the new Wessex Secure Data Environment (SDE), a secure platform for storing and linking NHS patient data led by University Hospital Southampton.
The SDE is a new online platform that will use NHS data to help researchers. It is designed so that researchers can access data, but it remains in the safeguard of the NHS. Researchers won’t ever see confidential patient information, but they will get access to better quality data, speeding up vital projects.
One such project is groundbreaking bladder cancer study which aims to facilitate diagnosis of high-risk and aggressive cancer earlier, to improve outcomes.
Despite being one of the 10 most common cancers in the UK, diagnosis of bladder cancer can often come late, particularly for women. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of women and more than one in six (16 per cent) of men are only diagnosed following emergency admission. Survival rates, as a result, are as low as 10 per cent
The study, led by Professor Simon Crabb from University Hospital Southampton, will use de-identified NHS data from bladder cancer patients from across Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from their first visit to the GP through to diagnosis and treatment.
Commenting on the potential impact of the project, Professor Crabb said: “Bladder cancer has a very high mortality rate for a UK cancer, particularly for women. It’s clear that late diagnosis impacts significantly on survival. By understanding when and how patients are diagnosed, we can re-write the rules and identify better processes for kickstarting testing and treatment. This will only be possible with access to data on the scale that the Wessex Secure Data Environment allows.”
University Hospital Southampton is issuing a final call for people from across the region to share their views on how NHS data should be used for research.
This is a unique opportunity to help design the rules for the Wessex SDE. Public involvement will ensure the SDE is run in a way that people in the region trust and that it delivers real benefits for the public and NHS. For example, when asked about the Wessex SDE, the majority (58 per cent) of people from Dorset believe it should prevent avoidable diseases and reduce demand on the NHS in the future rather than developing treatments for people who are already sick.
Other cancer projects set to benefit from the SDE include research into lung cancer, a project to connect cancer patients with cancer vaccine trials, and a project that will link DNA sequencing data from tumours with patient records to better understand the genetic changes that cause the disease.
Professor Christopher Kipps, Wessex SDE project lead and professor of Clinical Neurology & Dementia at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, said: This is such an exciting time for research in Wessex. The Wessex Secure Data Environment is opening up new avenues to researchers and allowing them to tackle huge challenges.
“Fast forward a few years, for example, and we could have found better ways to ensure that women with bladder cancer aren’t diagnosed when it’s too late. That’s a real game changer. And that’s just one of many projects.
“What’s important is that everyone in the region engages with our work and tells us what they think so we can ensure we’re prioritising the right projects and benefitting everybody.”
To have your say on the Wessex SDE, visit https://wessexsde.nhs.uk.
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