NHS to Share Patient Data with Third Parties, Fueling Privacy and Security Fears (England)

[Northerner]

NHS patient data in England will be shared with third parties for research and planning purposes, fueling concerns about privacy and security, it has been reported today.

The Financial Times revealed that NHS Digital, which runs the health service’s IT systems, will create a database containing the medical records of around 55 million patients in England who are registered with a GP clinic. This includes sensitive data on mental and sexual health, criminal records and abuse.

This information will subsequently be made available to academic and commercial third parties involved in research and planning, although no details on the types of organizations that will have access have been provided.

The initiative follows suggestions that the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was hampered by lack of data sharing and access, including in a report published this year by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee.

NHS to Share Patient Data with Third Parties, Fueling Privacy and Security Fears

Sensitive data will be made available to academic and commercial third parties for research and planning

www.infosecurity-magazine.com

 

[mikeyB]

If they are not protected by anonymity, then the insurance folk will want a piece of that to avoid paying out on any health related claim. Or decline insurance altogether.

I’m sure it breaches the human rights act. But then, this government wants to abolish that now we are out of the EU.

There is no need for any research or planning group to require such information in any event, it’s available from hospital statistics, whether that be diabetes, heart problems or STDs. So I am deeply suspicious of the motive behind this.