Federation needs foundations – is the CDR friend or foe to the FDP?

In this new blog from BridgeHead’s Adam Coombes, Product Owner – HealthStore®, he explores the relationship between the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) and Clinical Data Repositories (CDR) in a bid to determine whether they are complementary (friends) or competitive (foes).

What is the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP)?

When I heard about the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) I confess my first thought was, “It’s the National Program for IT [NPfIT], but not as we know it!” – probably not the best initial impression. However, technology has moved on and we’ve all learned a lot (haven’t we!?). The FDP is, in fact, a highly ambitious programme intended to give the NHS a unified way to manage and use operational data. So far, so good, what’s not to like?

Now I realise that, to the casual observer, the phrase ‘Federated Data Platform’ might conjure images of some implacable system assimilating everyone’s health data, processing it and, possibly, reissuing it with recommendations for a healthier lifestyle. The truth, as always, is a little more nuanced.

At its heart, the FDP appears to be about enabling more efficient NHS planning by making the right data available to the right people at the right time. Think of it as a digital logistics engine for the NHS: connecting multiple data sources across Trusts, regions, and specialisms – without forcing everyone to give up their existing systems or data sovereignty. It’s focused on national-level co-ordination – waiting list management, population health, elective recovery, and more. But, as with any big-picture initiative, its power depends on the quality and readiness of the data it connects to. It’s scope and standardisation are both its strength and its weakness. For all the talk of dashboards, analytics and real-time insights, there’s something quietly crucial that often gets missed in the conversation: where is all that data actually coming from?

The FDP can’t function in a vacuum!

By itself, the FDP can’t serve its intended purpose. Simply put – it needs data. But it’s not just the case of collecting a multitude of data from across a Trust or ICB, it needs data to be standardised. That could mean an awful lot of work and expense to manage the data held in all of your clinical systems and present it in a way that the FDP can use. And a lot of local NHS budget controllers will be asking “What’s in it for me?” It’s way beyond what most trust integration engines (TIEs) were built for; and a lot of work for those that were. Wouldn’t it be cool if you already had a system that could do that?

FDP & CDR – complementary or competitive?

Well, if you have a Clinical Data Repository or CDR (e.g. my company’s is HealthStore®) then you’ve already solved most of that problem.

A proper CDR is not just an archive, but a smart, standards-based store of clinical, diagnostic and imaging data, which makes it easier for systems like the FDP to do their job. It’s FHIR-native, DICOM-friendly, and built for interoperability.

This means your CDR should be able to act as a source of high-quality, contextualised data for FDP use cases. In effect, it’s a trusted staging ground for data normalisation, enrichment, and sharing across complex estates.

For example, HealthStore brings together information from:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
• PACS and imaging systems
• Lab systems (e.g. LIMS) and diagnostic tools
• Legacy systems that ought to be retired, but still contain clinically relevant data.

Most importantly, a good CDR doesn’t just store data – it prepares it. Using standards like FHIR, DICOM and HL7, HealthStore ensures your data isn’t just technically available, but actually usable.

There’s sometimes an unspoken fear in these conversations that new national platforms will ‘replace’ existing investments. But this misses the point of federated thinking entirely. FDP is about connectivity, not control. You don’t need to choose between them – in fact, you shouldn’t. Trusts with HealthStore already have a head start; their data is more accessible, more interoperable, and more resilient. And FDP implementers have less wrangling to do, because the data foundation is already in place.

The side note on legacy systems (because someone had to say it)

One of the biggest drags on progress in data strategy is the long tail of legacy clinical systems. These can be replaced systems (i.e. your old EPR becomes ‘legacy’ as soon as the new EPR has been deployed; the same applies to PACS, LIMS, and the litany of other applications replaced by newer, enhanced technologies); duplicate systems (such as those arising from NHS mergers where Trusts now have two of everything); or those old, unloved and unpatched systems (you know the ones).

Decommissioning these legacy systems is expensive, risky, and often kicked down the road. And, let’s face it, they’re not going away quietly. They contain vital information but often live in dusty corners of the infrastructure with a “do not reboot” post-it on the front. HealthStore lets organisations gracefully retire these systems without losing access to their data, while providing a clean, modern interface for new tools (like the FDP) to interact with. The result?

• Previously unavailable data is resurrected.
• Data governance and security are delivered.
• Federated access becomes possible.

FDP & CDR – no duplication, just collaboration

Here’s where the synergy really kicks in. A CDR, like HealthStore, and the FDP aren’t stepping on each other’s toes… they’re dancing (probably a polka, ideally ‘in time’. A tango might be a step too far!).

What a CDR (like HealthStore) brings to the table (or proverbial dancefloor):

• Clean, contextualised, secure clinical data
• A stable long-term home for structured and unstructured data

By contrast, the FDP brings:

• Real-time federated access across institutions
• High-powered analytics and AI
• Decision support tools and predictive models for risk, resource allocation, and more.

Final thought: the FDP & CDR… we’re better together

In healthcare, complexity is a given and standardisation a lofty goal. Let’s be honest, the NHS has enough digital complexity without inventing turf wars between systems that should be working together. We don’t need more silver bullets, we just need systems that talk to each other, respect each other’s roles, and help people do their jobs better.

The title of this blog asked whether a CDR is friend or foe to the FDP? In my opinion, the FDP and CDRs (did I mention HealthStore?) are not competing to be the one platform to rule them all. One is a strategic national enabler. The other is a tactical, practical, local asset that prepares and provides data in ways that makes it smarter, cleaner, and faster.

At BridgeHead, we have a long held belief that data is the lifeblood of healthcare – it is the strategic asset that underpins the consultancy, diagnoses, treatment and referral of patients. After all, data leads to information, which leads to knowledge, which leads to better clinical decisions and patient outcomes. So, how better to put that into practice than leveraging the power of the FDP in conjunction with a CDR?

if anything I have said has resonated, or if you vehemently disagree, I would welcome your input and feedback. Feel free to email me on: adam.coombes@bridgeheadsoftware.com or connect with me on LinkedIn here.

Adam Coombes is Product Owner for BridgeHead’s HealthStore® Clinical Data Repository. His goal is to enhance care delivery by enabling healthcare providers to create a safe, available, and complete clinical history for patients and make it easy to move data in and out of HealthStore, as and where needed.

 

Adam is an established Business Analyst, Product Owner, and self-confessed ‘physics geek’. For the last 15 years, he has worked with clinical and technical teams to develop solutions that improve patient outcomes.