THE NHS Plan commits the government to ensuring that the NHS has “the most up to date information technology systems to deliver services faster and more conveniently to patients”. An important part of this is the provision of data on costs and outcomes of treatment at the patient level, for example to help the NHS deliver more effective prevention of heart disease. This type of data complements clinical trial data by providing an indication of how technologies are used and perform in usual clinical practice rather than the controlled conditions of the trial setting.