A blog by Dr Alison Knight, Data and Privacy Specialist / Research Data Policy Lead
Finding the right people to take part in research is essential to delivering good research.
But it can also raise difficult questions about when health information can be used to identify potential participants, who can see that information and who can make the first approach.
To help explain where researchers stand last year, the HRA published Using health information to let patients know about research options: legal, policy and ethical issues.
Developed with partners from across the UK, and with public contributors, the report aims to provide greater clarity about these questions and make recruitment easier while protecting confidentiality and maintaining public trust.
This work hasn’t stopped. In May 2026, we published our two-year plan to support safe and trusted use of artificial intelligence (AI) in UK health and social care research.
One of the three priorities identified in the plan builds directly on this work: clarifying the circumstances in which health information can be accessed using AI-enabled and data-driven approaches to identify and contact people about research options relevant to them.
There is guidance, along with principles and standards, in the report that researchers, sponsors and organisations supporting recruitment can use now.
Where relevant, these should be taken into account when designing recruitment pathways.
Any models relying on specific recruitment routes described in the report should be better able to show how they meet the applicable standards using this guidance.
The report also identifies areas where further work is needed. The HRA is taking this forward through operational guidance to make the principles easier to apply in practice.
So, what does this mean if you are designing a recruitment pathway now?
In this blog I lay out the key things researchers need to consider when it comes to recruitment, including:
- map the recruitment pathway – who needs to access the information and why
- less can be more – don't screen more information than you need
- explicit consent and sign-up registers
- digital intermediaries - understand the actual data flow
- design recruitment around people and their needs
- making it easier to offer people research options
- next steps – turning our report into practical guidance