DataLoch works with data in several ways, including: collaborating with clinicians to improve the data quality; linking datasets to enable broad insights; translating data into common standard definitions; and maintaining a high-quality metadata dictionary. Critical to this work is the involvement of clinical experts from NHS Scotland who have a detailed understanding of routine data in health care and help the DataLoch team make sure the data are research-ready. Our initial focus was on building a COVID-19 dataset to support clinicians and NHS partners in their ongoing COVID-19 response. These data have proven to be an invaluable resource enabling researchers and clinicians to generate new knowledge and insights. Feedback from our early contributors has helped inform improvements to the process and development of the data to support research beyond COVID-19.