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Guide to access OPCRD data for research

Optimum Patient Care Research Database (OPCRD) is a health research database with de-identified data for over 24 million patients, from over a thousand general practices across the UK. OPCRD provides anonymised datasets for both academic and commercial researchers to undertake scientific and public health research.

For researchers, you can access OPCRD in five (5) simple steps:

1

Contact OPC about your study

You can reach us by email at info@otimumpatientcare.org or by phone (+44) 1223 967855.
A simple feasibility assessment may be conducted to ensure we have the data needed for your research. A detailed feasibility is available at a cost. Further info on feasibilities can be found at Feasibility Assessment | OPCRD (optimumpatientcare.org)

4

Data sharing agreement and data access fees

You will need to sign a data sharing agreement (DSA) with OPC and pay the required data access and licence fees. Our various licence options and fees are available on the OPCRD website.

2

Obtain ethics approval from ADEPT

Submit your study protocol and a CV of the principal investigator to ADEPT for ethical review and approval. Applications are processed quickly, and you will receive a decision in 5 to 10 working days. The application form and submission process are available on the ADEPT website.

5

Dataset provision

An anonymised study dataset is created according to your study requirements and data specification either as an analytical dataset or in a raw relational database format. 

3

Register your study on ENCePP

This is a free study registry and enables sharing of knowledge with the wider scientific community. For more information, visit ENCePP website.

Data Types

Turnaround

The turnaround time to have a study dataset created and delivered following ADEPT approval is 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the complexity of the study, the code lists required, and the type of dataset to be provided. 

 

Secure access to the study dataset is provided through a secure virtual private network (VPN) or a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP). This year, OPCRD will also start providing datasets in our trusted research environment (TRE). Upon completion of the study, the dataset will be destroyed. 

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