FDP+ Enablement  & Assurance

Core Platform Engineering · Privacy & PET · Clinical-Grade Assurance

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A Comprehensive Offering for NHS Trusts

The NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) represents a transformational shift in how health data is aggregated, governed, and utilised across the NHS. For large, complex NHS Trusts, the national platform is a powerful foundation — and FDP+ is the capability layer that unlocks its full potential. FDP+ is not a generic support package. It is a structural enhancement built exclusively on the core FDP platform — delivering sophisticated data pipelines, semantic ontologies, privacy engineering, and clinical-grade assurance directly within Foundry. As the incumbent national provider for both NHS England's Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) and FDP Solution Assurance, VE3 is not simply a vendor navigating the ecosystem. We are the architects and guardians of the very frameworks the FDP relies upon.

Key Challenges NHS Trusts Face

Integration &  Interoperability

NHS Trusts operate multiple legacy EPR systems — Epic, Oracle Health, System C, InterSystems — alongside disparate data sources that make seamless integration complex. Alignment with FHIR, HL7, NHS Spine, and SNOMED CT standards demands specialist expertise. 

Regulatory &  Security Pressures 

Meeting the full landscape of GDPR, NHS DSPT, DTAC, and research governance requirements is non-negotiable when handling sensitive patient data. Privacy risks grow as data sharing and AI adoption scale.

Operational  Sustainability

FDP environments must remain performant, cost-efficient, and trusted over time. Trusts need ongoing assurance and engineering partnership — not one-off implementation support.

Our Layered Approach

Our methodology is built on five interconnected layers, moving from data ingestion to operational insight, and from platform enablement to continuous assurance.
FDP Readiness, Compliance & Integration Establish the secure, compliant, interoperable base.
  • EPR-FDP compatibility assessments (Epic, Oracle Health, System C, InterSystems) 
  • FHIR & HL7 interoperability validation against NHS Spine, SNOMED CT, and ICS requirements 
  • Cybersecurity and data protection audits (DPIA, NHS DSPT, GDPR, anonymisation) 
  • Secure data migration, long-term archiving, and governance frameworks 
  • Change management and clinician adoption programmes 
Native Foundry Engineering & Analytics Build the intelligence layer natively within Foundry
  • Native development within Foundry Code Repositories using PySpark and SQL transforms 
  • Raw → Curated → Semantic pipeline architecture for auditability and reusability 
  • Magritte ingestion agents with incremental sync and schema enforcement 
  • Predictive analytics, risk stratification, and natural language querying 
  • Data science workspaces with secure package management and CI/CD pipelines 
Intelligent DataOps & Workflow Optimisation Streamline processes and ensure continuous compliance.
  • Compute Arbitration: Azure handles high-intensity workloads, preserving Foundry Compute Credits for semantic reasoning and operational applications 
  • Single Sign-On with Azure AD, NHS Identity, and Zero Trust security 
  • Microsoft Teams and SharePoint integration with e-signature workflows 
  • No-code workflow automation, automated anomaly detection, and multi-format reporting 
Continuous Testing & Risk Mitigation Ensure the platform 
remains trusted, reliable, and compliant.
  • Embedded data quality health checks acting as pipeline gates 
  • Automated regression testing and controlled release management 
  • Incident categorisation based on clinical impact (P1/P2/P3) 
  • Continuous compliance testing against DSPT, DTAC, Cyber Essentials Plus 
  • AI model validation and bias detection 
Digital Front Door & Patient Engagement Deliver clinical and operational applications on the FDP.
  • FDP-integrated patient portals with real-time updates and self-service access 
  • Conversational AI and virtual assistants for scheduling and patient support 
  • AI-driven intelligent scheduling, bed occupancy forecasting, and resource optimisation 
  • Automated referral and discharge coordination across care settings 
FDP Readiness, Compliance & Integration Establish the secure, compliant, interoperable base.
  • EPR-FDP compatibility assessments (Epic, Oracle Health, System C, InterSystems) 
  • FHIR & HL7 interoperability validation against NHS Spine, SNOMED CT, and ICS requirements 
  • Cybersecurity and data protection audits (DPIA, NHS DSPT, GDPR, anonymisation) 
  • Secure data migration, long-term archiving, and governance frameworks 
  • Change management and clinician adoption programmes 

Privacy Enhancing Technology & Security 

As the national provider of NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET), VE3 delivers the most advanced privacy engineering capability available in the FDP ecosystem.

Format Preserving Encryption (FPE)

Consistent, format-preserving tokens allow longitudinal patient analysis without revealing identity

Salted Hashing (SHA-256)

Irreversible identifiers for strictly one-way data flows 

Leaky PID Protection

NLP scanning of free-text fields to identify and automatically redact names, NHS numbers, and addresses during ingestion - unlocking the value of clinical notes safely 

Foundry Markings

Dataset-level markings (e.g., TRUST-PII-SENSITIVE, TRUST-RESEARCH-OPEN) ensuring users only access data they are entitled to 

Row-Level Policies

Granular access control within datasets - research users see only consented rows; direct care users see all

Clinical-Grade Operations & Assurance 

FDP+ is wrapped in an ITIL-aligned service management model specifically designed for DataOps in acute clinical environments. 

Incident Categorisation 

  • P1 - Critical Clinical Impact: Response within 15 minutes. Examples: ED Tracking, Bed State pipeline failure 
  • P2 - High Operational Impact: Response within 1 hour. Examples: stale data on waitlist validation tools 
  • P3 - Standard Support: Response within 4 hours. Examples: new user access, minor report adjustments 

Proactive Monitoring 

  • Pipeline latency thresholds trigger alerts before SLAs are breached 
  • Staleness checks on critical input datasets - if PAS data has not arrived by expected time, the Service Desk is alerted immediately 
  • Full-stack real-time monitoring from ingestion agents through to Ontology build completion 

Incident Categorisation 

  • Three distinct environments: Development, Staging, and Production 
  • All code changes managed via Pull Requests with mandatory peer review by a Senior Foundry Engineer 
  • Automated regression testing verifying critical paths (e.g., RTT calculation logic) on every change 
  • We never code directly in production

Enablement & Capability Transfer 

Technology delivers impact only when internal capability grows alongside it. 

Pod-Based Co-Development Model We deploy dedicated multidisciplinary pods - Foundry Solution Architect, Foundry Engineers, Clinical Data Architect, embedded Trust counterparts - working directly alongside your teams. Knowledge transfer is embedded into delivery KPIs, ensuring your teams progressively assume ownership. 

Bespoke Training Academies From Data Literacy 101 for administrative staff to advanced Foundry engineering workshops for informatics teams - tailored to every user group.

Innovation Sandbox Controlled environments for safely piloting AI models, digital twin simulations, and emerging technologies before live deployment. 

Post-Implementation Support 

Organisations choose VE3 for technology optimisation because we combine deep technical expertise with strong business understanding. 
Continuous performance assessments and benchmarking
AI model refinement as data and clinical needs evolve
Knowledge transfer, documentation, and training to build in
house capability
Future-state roadmap development aligned to Trust strategy

Why VE3 

NHS Trusts are not just buying a platform - they are buying assurance. Our credentials are proven in the national delivery of the very systems you are using.

National Assurance Partner

We hold the £20M contract for NHS FDP Solution Assurance. We test the national platform. We know where the risks are and how to mitigate them for your Trust.

National Privacy Partner

We hold the £28M contract for NHS-PET. The privacy engine protecting patient data in the FDP is our technology. No other vendor can offer this level of native integration.

Proven Strategic Impact

Our work with Cambridge & Peterborough ICB on their Data & Digital Roadmap demonstrates our ability to translate national tools into regional strategy - precision public health, demand modelling, and high-impact use cases.

Long-Term Partner

We operate as an embedded co-development partner focused on building your capability, not your dependency. 

The Data Twin & Ontology Strategy

At the core of FDP+ is a semantic, object-centric Data Twin. We do not just build tables and pipelines — we build the Ontology that allows NHS Trusts to answer 80–90% of new analytical and operational questions through reusable data objects, rather than commissioning new engineering for every question. 

The Raw → Curated → Semantic Architecture 

Raw → Curated → Semantic Architecture 

  • Raw Layer - Immutable ingestion zone. Data lands exactly as it exists in the source, forming the audit trail for clinical safety 
  • Curated Layer - Normalisation and cleaning using PySpark and SQL, with cleaning logic strictly separated from business logic 
  • Semantic Layer - "Gold" datasets backing Ontology objects, optimised for read performance and mapped 1:1 with Object Types 

Canonical Data Model (CDM)

We build around Core Objects - Patient, Staff Member, Location, Clinical Event - and Domain Objects linked to them. Our philosophy is "Extend, Don't Duplicate" - always interrogating the existing Ontology before building anything new.

Kinetic Ontology & Writeback

A Data Twin must be interactive, not just reportable. Clinical users act on data directly - flagging a waiting list entry as "Expedite" automatically alerts the scheduling team and writes an immutable audit log. Edits reflect instantly via Phonograph Sync.

Ontology Governance

  • Ontology Registry - all approved Object Types and Link Types maintained centrally 
  • Design Authority - joint Trust/VE3 panel meeting bi-weekly to govern Core Ontology changes 
  • Design Authority - joint Trust/VE3 panel meeting bi-weekly to govern Core Ontology changes