The Department of Health and Social Care has updated and reissued their Code of conduct for data-driven health and care technology suppliers. The Code was first issued in September 2018 and aimed to set out the “rules of engagement between industry and the health and care system”
The Code is enshrined in 10 principles summarised as follows
- Understand users, their needs and the context
- Define the outcome and how the technology will contribute to it
- Use data that is in line with appropriate guidelines for the purpose for which it is being used
- Be fair, transparent and accountable about what data is being used
- Make use of open standards
- Be transparent about the limitations of the data used and algorithms deployed
- Show what type of algorithm is being developed or deployed, the ethical examination of how the data is used, how its performance will be validated and how it will be integrated into health and care provision
- Generate evidence of effectiveness for the intended use and value for money
- Make security integral to the design
- Define the commercial strategy
Contrary to the claim in the official press release, this not a new code. It has simply been updated primarily by shortening and reordering the principles for the sake of clarity and changing references to GDPR to the Data Protection Act 2018.
The updated Code can be found on the Gov.uk website.
