Primary care data give researchers unprecedented insight into conditions that are largely managed by GPs, such as diabetes, dementia and mental ill health.

This research changed the trajectory of COVID-19 treatment and showed how powerful GP data can be when combined with other participant data and I look forward to seeing this impact across diseases.

Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and CEO of UK Biobank

For example, adding primary care data to UK Biobank will roughly double the cases of depression and dementia that can be identified among our participants. Compared with purely using hospital inpatient data, GP data will allow detecting of cases that are less severe and at an earlier stage. This means researchers can study the full spectrum of disease severity.

The value of GP data became clear during the pandemic, when emergency legislation allowed UK Biobank to make GP data available for the purpose of COVID-19 research. This led to more than 300 scientific studies that investigated the genetic, demographic, lifestyle and clinical factors that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 and its impact on health

How we access GP data

All our participants gave explicit consent for UK Biobank to access all their medical and health-related records when they first joined the study.

Our global community of scientists will be thrilled with this boon of incoming data, and I cannot wait to see how they use it to focus research efforts on improving early detection, prediction and prevention of disease.

Professor Naomi Allen, Chief Scientist, UK Biobank

Primary care data in England is managed by thousands of individual GP practices across the country. Until 2016, we had access to coded primary care data for around half of our participants, after which GP practices were obliged to directly approve the release of the data to UK Biobank.

In October 2024, the government announced that NHS England would take responsibility for the release of primary care data to consented cohorts, such as UK Biobank. The planned process will take the burden off busy and overworked GPs and means that we can fulfil participants’ wishes by making their de-identified data available for research.

How we protect our participants’ privacy

We will only collect coded data about health conditions. This includes codes for diagnoses, symptoms, medications, referrals and lab results. Letters and notes of conversations between a participant and their GP will not be shared with UK Biobank.

Read more about our data security and how researchers access the data.

Related content

Protecting the data

We made an important commitment to our participants when they joined the study. Find out how we uphold this commitment.

Participant privacy notice

This Privacy Notice explains to our participants how we collect, share and use the personal information which forms the UK Biobank resource.  

Access to UK Biobank data

Find out who can use UK Biobank data, how we control access to the data, and the agreement that researchers make with us.  

Use our data

Our unique biomedical database is the largest, most detailed and most widely accessible of its kind.

Response to government announcement paving way for access to GP data

Studies such as UK Biobank will be able to apply to make the de-identified data of their participants available to researchers.

UK Biobank in The Observer: why GP data would be transformational

UK Biobank Chief Scientist, Professor Naomi Allen, interviewed.

The importance of sharing GP health data to enable research that saves lives

A note from UK Biobank’s Principal Investigator, Professor Sir Rory Collins

GP health data are crucial for the planning and provision of health services and to enable research discoveries that save and improve people’s lives  

NHS Digital GP Dataset – Joint Statement from the Medical and Social Research Community