NHS patient confidentiality 'at risk' from central database

[Northerner]

The confidentiality of millions of NHS patients will be put at risk by a new central database of medical records, privacy campaigners and doctors' leaders have warned.

The British Medical Association and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch said the transfer of patients' records without their consent could breach patient confidentiality and damage trust in doctors. The information to be stored on the database includes drinking habits, NHS numbers, illnesses and reasons for treatment.

The files, which will not state the patient's name, can be accessed by researchers to assess the nation's health, analyse demand for services and improve treatment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/02/nhs-patient-confidentiality-risk-datbase

 

[AlisonM]

We've been running something like this in Scotland for a while now. Tracking waiting times data on addictions clients. The useless thing seems to have been designed by committee (too many heads, no brains) and is a disaster. Not because info has been leaked, but because people have been 'massaging' the data to make themselves look good.