Tuesday 1 January 2008

NHS Confidentiality

I have been following the debate about the government’s proposed on-line NHS Care Records System for some time. The system will be a huge national database of patient medical records and personal information. It is objectionable for many of the same reasons as the government’s proposed ID database. Medical Records will be open to a million NHS employees and central government bureaucrats. You can only have them hidden in special circumstances, for example, you are a celebrity, on a witness protection scheme or a Member of Parliament. Many public and private sector workers, from social workers to pharmacists, will otherwise have access to your address and phone number.

However, thanks to the efforts of an organisation called "NHS Confidentiality" there is now an opt out to at least some of the requirements of this scheme. If you visit their website www.TheBigOptOut.org then you can download a standard letter to send to your GP to Opt out of your medical records being placed on-line.

Good luck to the scheme. 200,000 people have reportedly already opted out. I hope that increases massively over the next 12 months.

Just click the link for NHS Confidentiality in the list of links opposite this post.



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