More about the NHS data sharing
I have started a new thread because I think it is important that people read this. From Keenan Malik in today's Observer"That is just what’s happening right now. Last month, the government quietly announced a scheme called General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR) under which, from July, all data held by GPs about their patients will become part of a central database that can be accessed by researchers and private corporations. You can opt out – but only until 23 June. Beyond that date, even if you object, the database will still keep the information it already has. The project, the opt-out and the deadline have all barely been publicised. Many doctors are hostile to the scheme, worried about questions of privacy and trust.There are two kinds of medical databases important to the NHS. The first allows clinicians to access the records of patients they may be treating. So, for instance, if someone allergic to penicillin turns up at A&E, that information will be available to doctors there. One might have thought that such joined-up thinking already exists. Not so. A survey of NHS medical record-keeping in 2019 found 21 electronic systems, many of which could not share information. A quarter of NHS trusts were still using paper records. A new national system called shared care records is expected to be in place by September, though there are still questions about privacy and access.The second kind of database aggregates information from millions of people, allowing researchers and planners to see the big picture, from geographic or ethnic variations to hidden links between health issues. In 2013, NHS England launched its care.data project to create such an information store. The government was forced to close it down, however, after controversies over poor privacy safeguards and the sale of data to private companies.That disaster may have been one reason for the new project being pushed through by stealth. The new database will include even more sensitive data, including on criminal activity, personal relationships and child abuse, as well as medical history. Yet a number of the problems that doomed the earlier scheme remain unresolved.Many studies, for instance, have shown the possibility of identifying individuals even from anonymised data. The sale of such data to private corporations is still a live issue. In October 2019, NHS England’s top brass met big tech and pharma executives to discuss how they may be able to exploit the proposed database. There is, in principle, nothing wrong with private researchers accessing the data. The problem arises when it can be used potentially to snoop into our lives or to undermine the health service, for instance, by companies that want to take over GP surgeries"For the rest of the article See https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/06/tell-me-how-youll-use-my-medical-data-then-i-might-sign-up for the rest of the article
Iris Hill ● 1968d2 Comments ● 1968d