Dr Foster Intelligence is a unique deal between Department of Health statisticians and the research firm Dr Foster to provide data for the NHS. Today's research is the first project to come out of that venture. It has proved controversial, sparking claims that public data is being passed to a profit-making entity.

Health minister Lord Warner is tonight expected to attend the launch of the collaboration at a reception in London.

The health department, via its Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), is a shareholder in the venture. It is the first time such a deal has been struck between the private and public sector.

Dr Foster Intelligence applies for access to the patient records and data through a parliamentary committee, which assesses applications on the basis of the public benefit they might produce. In the research published today, it has processed the data to make it accessible for primary care trusts, who will be offered the option of buying the data relevant to them.

When the deal was first reported, the Guardian was contacted by a whistleblower who warned that it could corrupt the way in which the public's health data is handled and breach new frontiers in the privatisation agenda.

Denise Lievesley, chief executive of the HSCIC, said: "The relationship with Dr Foster is about getting the information into the right form. It's about a partnership with a company which has a proven record in this area. We have arrangements with a number of organisations, both in the public and private sectors. It's about taking advantage of those skills.

"All the data we produce is publicly available to public sector organisations. Private sector organisations such as Dr Foster take that information and add value to it, but it's entirely up to the PCT whether they choose to buy into it."

Jake Arnold-Forster, chief executive of Dr Foster Intelligence, said: "Dr Foster Intelligence has been founded to come up with new ways to help patients and professionals make more effective decisions about treatments. At the moment there are large numbers of people who aren't being treated in the best way for them and who are costing vast amounts of money."

Dr Foster is a commercial company made up of doctors, statisticians and journalists who have provided data analysis to the health service since 2000.

As part of the Dr Foster Intelligence deal with the HSCIC, it is planning hospital guides and tools to help managers in the NHS measure their performance against other areas.