The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) has been awarded a share of a £1m fund from the South West Secure Data Environment (SDE). The funding will allow us to make the data we collect when giving energy advice ‘research ready’ so it can be shared securely with trusted NHS research partners.

Fuel poverty is when people have to spend a high proportion of their income to keep their home warm. The NHS recognises it as one of the wider determinants of health – the social and economic conditions that shape people’s wellbeing. By sharing our data, we can help build the evidence base the NHS needs to understand how fuel poverty affects health outcomes and services, and make better decisions about where more support is needed. At a time when the cost-of-living and rising cost of energy is pushing more people into fuel poverty, that evidence has never been more urgent.

The DAFNEA project

Our DAFNEA (Data Accelerator Fund for Novel and Emerging Assets) funding will allow us to build a secure process for extracting and refining our data, then delivering it into the South West SDE’s secure environment.

We’ll standardise and quality assure our priority data. Part of this involves developing a Large Language Model – an artificial intelligence tool that can read free-text notes and convert them into structured, usable formats.

At the same time, our CSE Research team will be speaking with the people we support to understand their attitudes towards sharing their data. We’ll do this through surveys and telephone interviews, so we can understand and address any concerns they have.

What we’re hoping to achieve

By the end of the project, we expect to be able to provide consistent, high-quality data that will enable trusted NHS research partners to build a better understanding of the link between fuel poverty and health outcomes.

This aligns with our mission to end the suffering caused by cold homes. When we share the data we collect through our energy advice work, we give the NHS the evidence it needs to make strategic decisions – better targeting health inequalities at their root.

As one of the few voluntary and community sector organisations to receive this funding alongside major NHS trusts and universities, we’re proud to be bringing the perspective of people experiencing fuel poverty into this research.

Ultimately, we hope to have as many people as possible feeling confident enough to give their consent to share their data for this important research.

Keeping your data safe

We know that many people have legitimate concerns about how their personal information may be shared. That’s why we’re giving particular attention to making sure the people we support have a clear understanding of who their data may be shared with, and why.

Data shared through the South West SDE is de-identified – meaning any personally identifiable information is removed or replaced before it reaches researchers. Where any personal detail is needed, we’ll never share it without the explicit consent of the person it belongs to. Access is restricted to trusted researchers working on behalf of the NHS.

Find out more

Read the full announcement on the South West SDE website: Awards announced for £1m funding to expand access to health and care data in the South West