OpenSAFELY is open for submissions
NHS England is now accepting applications for using OpenSAFELY from today until 30th April 2026 at 17:00. After this date, the initial submission window will close.
What you get as a researcher / analyst
OpenSAFELY users can execute analyses across a wide range of linked datasets (technical documentation here) including:
- All structured coded GP data (including diagnoses, prescriptions, tests and test results, appointments, demographics).
- Hospital episodes (HES / SUS in-patients, out-patients, and A&E presentations)
- ONS Death Certificate (including cause of death)
- We have also linked RCT data, cohort / registry data, patient reported outcome measures and more (all listed here).
OpenSAFELY has been used to deliver analyses on the causes and consequences of disease; treatment uptake; treatment benefits; treatment risks; treatment costs; pathway compliance; and more. You can see all previous published outputs from our user community here; view all code from all previous projects here; and hear from users at KCL, UKHSA, Manchester and Southampton about how they delivered their work in the platform.
All users can access our co-piloting service; technical support; output checking service; and user community. There is comprehensive technical documentation online. Before applying, you can do the getting started tutorial, and interact with the OpenSAFELY tools in a live online sandbox using randomly generated dummy data. You can also use our online feasibility tool to see trends in SNOMED code usage across the country.
All patient data is protected by our innovative technical safeguards for privacy and transparency, under tight governance, with strong support from the professions, privacy campaigners, and citizens juries.
Important to know before you start
- Complete submissions must have completed all three steps of the OpenSAFELY application process.
- All applications submitted within this timeframe will be reviewed by the Bennett Institute (for things like completeness, accreditations and feasibility). They will then all be passed to NHS England, the Data Controller, who will decide which projects to approve. Please note that applications will not be prioritised based on how quickly they are submitted.
- All applicants, successful or not, will be informed of NHSE’s decision – and when they are likely to be able to start their research project – by 31st May 2026.
New NHS England charge to use the OpenSAFELY Service
NHS England will now charge Project Teams an annual licence fee of £25,000 excluding VAT to use the OpenSAFELY Service. This is paid to NHS England. You can read more about this on their website. It is helpful if NHS England can see prospective use cases for the service, so please do submit the form even if you don’t immediately have funding available, and check the appropriate box on the form to indicate this.