Implementation of the VIVALDI social care data pipeline for monitoring and research of infections in care homes for older adults in the UK

Objectives To create a new pipeline for routine health data of residents of care homes for older adults in England, enabling research and monitoring of infections. Methods Automated daily data exports containing person- and care-home level identifiers for residents are transmitted from digital care record systems of participating providers to a secure platform hosted by National Health Service England, following application of project-specific and national opt-outs. Linkage to person-level routine healthcare data is performed before monthly export to a secure analysis platform. Results As of March 2026 we have a cohort of 188 care homes including 6762 current residents, with activation of the data pipeline ongoing for further enrolled homes. Discussion We have demonstrated feasibility of automating linkage of data from care homes to national routine health datasets. Conclusions Sustained investment and collaboration between diverse stakeholders are required to realise the opportunities offered by digitisation of social care.