Why addresses matter: Powering better health decisions

Addresses are everywhere in healthcare – yet few people realise how critical they are to service design, developing neighbour strategies and tackling health inequalities. This session reveals how address data quietly powers some of the NHS’s most important digital services, and what happens when it goes wrong.

Join James Lockyer, Lead Data Engineer at NHS England, and Dominic Cuthbert as they unpack how patient addresses are captured through the NHS Spine and Personal Demographic Service, and how that data is used far beyond sending letters. Through real-world NHS examples, you’ll see how accurate addressing supports care home identification, vaccine monitoring, GP list management, neighbourhood health services, and population health insight.

The session also looks ahead to the NHS’s ambitions for a single, standardised Address Index built on national standards and UPRNs – and why this is a foundational step for joined-up care and better outcomes. If you work in data, digital, analytics, or service design, this talk will change how you think about one of the most underestimated data assets in healthcare.