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Tuesday 18 February 2014

Your GP records

Soon (probably March 2014), copies of your medical records will be sent from your GP, to a centralised database. This was announced via a junk-mail mailing entitled "Better information means better care".

I don't remember seeing this. Do you?

It explains that you can opt-out of the scheme. If you don't opt-out, then you're included. And once you're included, you can't opt-out later.

The scheme is explained here

The thing that immediately struck me, is that with the current system, my patient data is held by my GP. With this proposed system, it will also be held by a private company. I don't know what they'll be doing with it (selling it, I guess), but I'm guessing that it will be held in electronic form, and will be as secure against being stolen as they can make it. And then I think about all the huge data breaches that we've seen; millions of credit card numbers, for example.

So I'm opting out.


Update ... they're delaying this for six months. Maybe Dave reads this blog.


5 comments:

  1. Rhymes with Clucking Bell. Thanks for posting this - I had no idea!

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  2. After I posted this, I saw an item on TV that suggested that it's all been postponed for some months. But I'm not certain of that.

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  3. Doctors already sell your information according to a recent article I read

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  4. Maybe, but let's not make it easier!

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