Ethics approval and consent to participate
The data used in this study are accessed from the SAIL Databank (https://saildatabank.com/ ) at Swansea University, Swansea, UK. All proposals to use SAIL data are subject to review by an independent Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP). Before any data can be accessed, approval must be given by the IGRP. The IGRP gives careful consideration to each project to ensure proper and appropriate use of SAIL data which covers informed consent of participants where applicable. When access has been approved, it is gained through a privacy-protecting safe haven and remote access system referred to as the SAIL Gateway. SAIL has established an application process to be followed by anyone who would like to access data via SAIL https://www.saildatabank.com/application-process. This study has been approved by SAIL Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP) under application/project number 0911 and all research conducted in this study has been completed under the permission and approval of the IGRP. All results have been reviewed and
Availability of data and materials
The aggregated datasets generated in this study are available for download from our website: https://wdds.ml/ with other materials such as code being accessible from repository at: https://github.com/SwanseaUniversityMedical/concept-library.
The main patient-level data sources used in this study are available in the SAIL Databank at Swansea University, Swansea, UK, but as restrictions apply they are not publicly available. All proposals to use SAIL data are subject to review by an independent Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP). Before any data can be accessed, approval must be given by the IGRP. The IGRP gives careful consideration to each project to ensure proper and appropriate use of SAIL data. When access has been granted, it is gained through a privacy protecting safe haven and remote access system referred to as the SAIL Gateway. SAIL has established an application process to be followed by anyone who would like to access data via SAIL at https://www.saildatabank.com/application-process/
Competing interests
The author(s) declare(s) that they have no competing interests.
Funding
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [MR/V028367/1]; Health Data Research UK [HDR-9006] which receives its funding from the UK Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Department of Health and Social Care (England), Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates, Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (Welsh Government), Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Wellcome Trust; and Administrative Data Research UK which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant ES/S007393/1].
Authors’ contributions
FT and AA contributed to all of the steps of the design, implementation, analysis and writing of the manuscript from inception. AA developed the proposal and the main conceptual idea. AA and LN contributed to development of mapping algorithm. FT and AA contributed to finalisation of mapping algorithm and analysis. FT designed, implemented and deployed the online tool. FT and AA jointly developed the first draft of the manuscript. RA, MG, JH and DH conceived and designed the analysis. FT, AA, LN, DH, GD, MG, RG, JL, NJ, AM, JH and RL have discussed, reviewed and contributed to the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
This work uses data provided by patients and collected by the NHS as part of their care and support. We would also like to acknowledge all data providers who make anonymised data available for research.
We wish to acknowledge the collaborative partnership that enabled acquisition and access to the de-identified data, which led to this output. The collaboration was led by the Swansea University Health Data Research UK team under the direction of the Welsh Government Technical Advisory Cell (TAC) and includes the following groups and organisations: the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, Administrative Data Research (ADR) Wales, NHS Wales Informatics Service (NWIS), Public Health Wales, NHS Shared Services Partnership and the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST). All research conducted has been completed under the permission and approval of the SAIL independent Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP) project number 0911.
Public and patient involvement
This project is undertaken under a proposal which has been submitted to the independent Information Governance Review Panel (IGRP) that includes members of the public (IGRP Project: 0911). Two members of the public are contributing to the scientific steering group of IGRP panel. Although the need for fast track analysis of these data in response to COVID-19 redirected our main focus to the research and the nature of anonymised patient data isolates the researcher from direct contact with patients involved in the study; however, the development of our online visualisation tool was intended for a lay audience. We are also intending to work closely with SAIL consumer panel group who are facilitating patient and public engagement through providing a platform for research to be presented and reviewed by members of public.