Major milestone for health research as UK Government decision enables access to UK Biobank volunteers’ GP patient data

Published:

10 February 2026

The power of UK Biobank’s dataset to advance the diagnosis, treatment and management of many conditions will be increased overnight following this long-awaited decision.

Today, 10 February 2026, the UK Government has published a data provision notice, which paves the way for coded GP patient data in England, also known as primary care data, to be shared with consented cohorts like UK Biobank. NHS England will now be responsible, and legally liable, for these data, removing the burden of responsibility and liability from busy GPs.

Having GP data for all of UK Biobank participants will double the number of recorded cases of some health conditions, commonly handled by our GPs. These include arthritis, asthma, dementia, depression, eczema, heart failure and impaired hearing or vision, all of which reduce quality of life, lead to time off work and put significant pressure on the NHS. 

Access to our participants’ coded GP patient data will be a game changer for research into some of the most common and debilitating diseases. There’s no doubt this will revolutionise the power of UK Biobank.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and Chief Executive, UK Biobank

This is great news! I joined UK Biobank in the hope it may find answers to the causes of disease and so improve the health of future generations. I’m so pleased that my coded GP data will soon be available to UK Biobank approved scientists. With GP care grounded in the community, these data will undoubtedly offer fresh insights and detail for further research into many types of illnesses, all contributing to the aim of improving health outcomes for everyone.

Karen, UK Biobank Participant Advisory Group member

The missing puzzle piece

Half a million UK volunteer participants (now with an average age of 72) have been sharing their health data with UK Biobank for more than 15 years. This includes data on their lifestyle and medical history, physical health, genetics, levels of proteins and metabolites in their blood, coupled with information from their NHS health records to find out what happens to their health over many years.

However, a vital piece of the puzzle has always been missing: GP patient data for these volunteers.

Why now?

All of UK Biobank’s participants volunteered and consented to make all of their health data – including their GP patient data – available to researchers around the world. However, unlike in Scotland and Wales, there has been no central way to access the GP patient data in England … until now.

UK Biobank has passed a series of stringent set of security checks and audits by NHS England. Now, the Government has made a decision that will enable coded GP data for all of our participants in England to be added to all the other health outcome data that has been provided previously. These coded data will include diagnoses, prescriptions, referrals and lab results, but not any notes or letters from GP appointments.

UK Biobank will receive these coded GP data once a data sharing agreement for them is in place with NHS England. As is the case with all UK Biobank data, participants’ personal identifiers (such as name, address and NHS number) will be removed. We will then be able to make the GP data available to researchers on our secure cloud-based platform when we have put in place an automated checking system that ensures that these data cannot be taken off the platform.

A long-awaited day for research

UK Biobank is already helping to accelerate health research, and by adding GP patient data, researchers will be able to investigate disease across the full spectrum of severity, supporting earlier diagnosis, enable new drugs and interventions and enhance screening programmes. 

Combined with the existing wealth of genetic, lifestyle, imaging and environmental information on our half a million volunteers, researchers will be able to study diseases like dementia, depression, joint pain, and asthma in much greater depth, and earlier in their development when treatment is typically more effective.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and Chief Executive, UK Biobank

Linking volunteers’ GP medical records to UK Biobank fills a long-standing gap in the dataset, which promises to unlock transformative research that will benefit NHS patients and the public, accelerate global discoveries, and position the UK as a world leader in life sciences. With its internationally respected managed access model and robust data protection, UK Biobank ensures this enhanced resource will drive innovation responsibly, attracting clinical trials and delivering real-world impact for patients at home and abroad.

Professor Patrick Chinnery, Executive Chair, Medical Research Council

NHS England taking on the legal responsibility is very significant and GPs like me should now be really excited as finally researchers can properly study the diseases affecting the patients who walk through our doors every day. For too long we have been missing a vital piece of the data puzzle in our efforts to understand diseases like arthritis, asthma, depression and dementia that can have a huge impact on people’s daily lives.
 
With its internationally respected managed access model and robust data protection, UK Biobank ensures this enhanced resource will drive innovation responsibly, attracting clinical trials and delivering real-world impact for patients at home and abroad.

Baroness Clare Gerada, practising GP, former Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners

---