The UK Alliance statement on anti-Black racial discrimination highlighted that racism takes lives and breeds hate. As part of the UKRI community, the UK Health Data Research Alliance commits to taking a stand against racism and the violent acts of brutality connected to George Floyd’s and others’ deaths.

We also agree that racism takes many forms and we know that the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK have hit many of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups hardest. We know that to engage deeply in anti-racist work involves more than just writing a statement. As an alliance of data custodians, we have a vital role to play to ensure that the quality of coding of ethnicity and other protected characteristics is as complete and accurate as possible. We also need to ensure that the data we collect is sufficiently representative of all parts of our population. Only then can we begin to be confident that we are doing all we can to ensure that the research and innovation resulting from the use of our datasets is also appropriately representative and free of bias.

We will identify practical steps we can take to increase the diversity and inclusiveness of our data assets and make this information available via the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway.