Sunday 19 January 2014

Medical Records

Health and Social Care Information Centre

'GP practices across England will soon be required to supply patients' personal and confidential medical information, on a regular and continuous basis, to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).'

Essentially it means that identifiable data will be uploaded from GP records to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (which is run not by the NHS but by Atos) and can then be accessed by a range of people for different reasons.  These people could include commercial companies.  It will not include health professionals as the purpose of this is not for providing medical care.  So, for example, a pharmaceutical company could find out not only how many people have a particular condition, and how many people are taking a particular drug for that condition, but who those people are.

The leaflet that most people will be receiving through their door does not make it clear what the data will be used for - it talks about 'approved researchers' but gives no indication of who that might be or indeed who would approve them.  Initially, the Government wasn't even planning to inform the general public that their data could be used in this way until the Information Commissioner stepped in and said that they must.  Hence the leaflet.

Of course, people have the right to allow their data to be used in this way if they so wish, but it needs to be based on an informed decision. 

For more information, please see the following websites:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/your-life-in-their-hands-is-the-caredata-nhs-database-a-healthy-step-or-a-gross-invasion-of-patient-privacy-9042564.html

http://care-data.info/

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/article/3525/Caredata

http://bma.org.uk/practical-support-at-work/ethics/confidentiality-and-health-records/care-data

EU proposals could outlaw giant NHS database

'Proposed EU laws could render £50 million NHS database illegal, senior officials warn.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10585305/EU-proposals-could-outlaw-giant-NHS-database.html

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