Your medical records are about to be given away. As GPs, we’re fighting back
GPs in England have been told to hand over all patient data to NHS Digital – potentially to be exploited for corporate profit
G P practices in England have been instructed to hand over their patients’ entire medical histories with just six weeks’ notice. Like many GPs, I’m very concerned about the implications this has for my patients. A growing number of us in London have taken taken the decision to pull the plug on the new data-sharing programme with NHS Digital and refuse to hand over patient records.
This data grab is unwarranted, unparalleled in its scale and implications and quite possibly unlawful. Yet NHS Digital, acting at the government’s request, has downplayed the significance of the move. There has been no public awareness campaign, so you’d be forgiven for not knowing that your consent is assumed, or that you have only until 23 June to opt out from having your GP data extracted.
What this means in practice is that all your GP interactions, starting from the time you were born (and including many of the most intimate details of your life) are at risk of being indirectly sold to corporations. To be specific, your GP data includes details of physical, mental and sexual health, drug and alcohol history, and any family and work-related problems that you thought you’d disclosed in confidence. What’s worse, your personal information will not be fully anonymous, meaning it is relatively easily identifiable as yours (you can opt out after 23 June, but NHS Digital holds on to whatever data it has obtained, and still makes it available to third parties).
