Bartlett Data Ltd.
FDP Leadership Briefing
Your Trust is required to adopt the Federated Data Platform and use its core products by 2028/29. I led the engineering team behind it. I can give your team a clear picture of what it means for your Trust in 20 minutes.
The Medium Term Planning Framework is clear on what is expected:
"All providers in acute, community, and mental health sectors are [to be] onboarded to the NHS Federated Data Platform and using its core products to support elective recovery, cancer, and urgent and emergency care. Trusts should use the FDP for data warehousing and implement the canonical data model."
NHS England, Medium Term Planning Framework 2026/27 to 2028/29
The 2025/26 planning guidance set a target of 85% of Trusts adopted by March 2026. The Medium Term Planning Framework extends that to all providers by 2028/29, and goes further: not just onboarded, but using core products across elective, cancer, and urgent care, implementing the Canonical Data Model, and using FDP for data warehousing.
That is the obligation. For most Trusts, the gap between where they are and where the guidance expects them to be is significant. Your MOU may be signed, but the questions that follow are harder: how does FDP fit alongside your EPR? What does implementing the CDM actually involve? How do you explain the data sharing arrangements to your board, your staff, and the public? What does the Solutions Exchange mean for your existing supplier relationships?
These are the questions the briefing answers.
The briefing
A free 20-minute session on Teams for whoever in your organisation needs to understand FDP. No slides, no sales pitch. I will explain what the platform is, what it can do for your Trust today, and what it cannot, and I will answer whatever questions your team has.
I tailor the session to whoever is in the room. For boards and executives, I focus on governance, risk, and the case for adoption. For informatics and data leads, I cover architecture, the EPR relationship, the Canonical Data Model, and the Solutions Exchange. For operational and service leads, I focus on what the platform can do for their specific problems.
If deeper work would help after the briefing, I will tell you what I think would add value and what it would cost. There is no obligation to continue.
WHO THIS IS FOR
One briefing, tailored to the room
Different people in your Trust need different things from FDP. The briefing flexes to whoever attends.
Board and executive teams
What FDP is, what your Trust has committed to, how patient data is handled, and how to respond confidently to questions from governors, staff, and the public.
Data and informatics leads
How FDP relates to your EPR, what implementing the Canonical Data Model involves for your pipelines, how the Solutions Exchange works, and where your architecture needs to adapt.
Operational and service leads
What FDP can do for elective recovery, discharge, cancer pathways, and other operational challenges. What is available now and what the planning framework expects you to be using by 2028/29.
WHAT THE BRIEFING COVERS
The questions your team is already asking
What FDP actually is
A clear explanation of the platform, the data it holds, and what it can do today. No jargon, no national programme speak.
FDP and your EPR
How the platform sits alongside your electronic patient record. What it pulls, what it does not, and where the boundaries are.
The Canonical Data Model
What the CDM is, why the planning framework requires you to implement it, and what that means in practice for your data architecture.
The Solutions Exchange
How the marketplace works, what products are available, how your Trust accesses them, and what the commercial terms look like.
Data sharing and opt-out
How patient data flows through the platform, what the data sharing agreements actually say, and how the national data opt-out applies.
Where other Trusts are
An honest picture of adoption across the NHS. Who is using FDP well, who is struggling, and what separates the two.
BEYOND THE BRIEFING
What comes after
For some Trusts, the briefing answers the key questions on its own. For others, it surfaces specific areas that need deeper work.
That might be a board assurance paper your executive team can stand behind publicly. It might be a structured review of your architecture, pipeline design, CDM alignment, and team structure. It might be ongoing advisory support as your implementation progresses and the 2028/29 deadline approaches.
If any of that would help, I will tell you what I think is needed and what it would cost. I do not run your programme. I make sure the people running it have the information and confidence to deliver on what the planning framework requires.
BACKGROUND
What I bring
I spent three years as Deputy Director of Data Engineering at NHS England, leading the 150-person team that built the Federated Data Platform. I oversaw the creation of the National Data Integration Tenant and the integration of all national data pipelines.
Before that, I spent nine years as Head of Performance and Information at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and five years at Devon Partnership NHS Trust. I have sat on both sides of this: building the national platform and running data operations at Trust level.
That means I can explain the architecture, the Canonical Data Model, the Solutions Exchange, and the political dynamics around FDP in a way that connects to how your Trust actually works.
PROCUREMENT
How to engage
The briefing is free and requires no procurement. For any follow-on work:
Not sure which route applies? Get in touch and I can help your procurement team identify the right mechanism.
SIMPLEST
Direct engagement
Get in touch, agree scope and terms, and get started. No framework required, no intermediary.
FRAMEWORK
SCW CSU Dynamic Purchasing System
For Trusts that need a compliant procurement route, my services are available through the SCW CSU DPS.
FEATURED IN
The Guardian · BBC Radio 5 Live · Telegraph · Daily Mail · HSJ · Computer Weekly
Author of the five-part Computer Weekly series on the Federated Data Platform.