Digital solutions can reshape data landscape 

Data is at the heart of everything pharmaceutical companies do.

From researching and developing new cutting-edge treatments and vaccines – most recently to beat the pandemic – to using up-to-the-minute supply chain information to get those breakthroughs to the hospitals and the people that need them, data is helping to save and improve the lives of millions.

Health data has the potential to revolutionise this process by helping to speed up research and better inform who should be getting new treatments and how they should be receiving them.

Digital solutions have been at the heart of NHS thinking during the pandemic, and they hold the key to its future.

It is crucial that the Scottish Government prioritises digital health, to deliver improvements to the data landscape, at a rapid pace, or we are going to be left way behind the rest of Europe.

We already know what is needed from the Life Sciences Industry Leadership data team, from several strategic reports on the subject, from Scottish Parliamentary evidence and debates; but what we need now is the highest level of leadership and accountability to implement positive change as quickly as possible.

Let’s not reinvent the wheel with yet another “new” strategy that will take years to deliver, but simply look to improve on what has previously been recommended.

For patients, better data means the opportunity to have faster access to the latest treatments.

For the NHS, it means delivering cutting-edge medicine more efficiently and ensuring every patient is on the right medicine at the right time.

And for the industry, better data helps us do everything from more efficient clinical trials to better monitoring of the safety of medicines.

Innovative use of data, properly resourced and supported, could transform the way we deliver healthcare.

It would mark Scotland out as a world leader and demonstrate what can be achieved when the private and public sectors collaborate. We don’t have time to waste.

Partner Content in association with Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry