Your Nhs Records To Be Collected And Passed On-- Unless You Opt Out Now!

[Thirsty Relic 210]

Apparently, the Government is to collect the medical records of everybody from their GP's and make them available for interested parties.  You can "opt out", but need to act quickly.  This is the link I found it on, and it contains other links people may wish to follow for further information:

https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/13/nhs_data_grab/

 

I'm sure SF posters with medical backgrounds will be able to get more on this....

[Anna B 1,401]

I thought our medical records were supposed to be highly confidential? Crikey, you can't get any information out of medical secretaries even if you're a close relative. Please tell me they will at least be anonymous and untraceable with no names or addresses. Otherwise surely it's an outrageous data breach.

[Thirsty Relic 210]

From the little I've been able to find out, it's Government sanctioned, with little information available, data to be sold on or passed on freely to "research" bodies, or others who apply for it....

 

MedConfidential are a organisation of healthcare professionals who are up in arms about this.  They are one of the organisations who campaigned against the last attempt at something similar, care.data - but that time the opt-out forms were pretty clear.

 

I've read precisely nothing about it in the press, the on-line press, or can find zilch about it on Google.  Perhaps its me putting the wrong terms in...... or something else.....

 

Any light that anyone could shine on this would be welcomed!

[Annie Bynnol 612]

Please read General Practice Data for Planning and Research from the NHS for a more balanced view.

 

 

 

[butlers 259]

Fuss about nothing.

It says in about paragraph 3, names and addresses ,excluded.

 

[RollingJ 2,002]

10 minutes ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Please read General Practice Data for Planning and Research from the NHS for a more balanced view.

 

 

 

Read that - seems reasonable to me. The El Reg link I will check out tomorrow, but having seen a number of their recent 'reports' on some other subjects, I am inclined to think they are the 'Daily Mail' of technical publications these days - they used to be useful, now I rarely give them a second glance.

[butlers 259]

The BMA backed the new system says so in the "report'

 

 

[Thirsty Relic 210]

I can't say I believe some of what we are told about how OUR private medical details are handled by the NHS outside my own GP's records, given previous disclosures.

 

As recently as last year, NHS records that were sold were said to have been anonymised were found not to have been:

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7984439/UK-Government-sells-millions-NHS-patients-medical-data-drugs-giants.html

 

Google had a tie-up with London hospitals to use Google facilities to help research into Kidney disease in 2016.  The New Scientist revealed that the collaboration involved Google getting their hands of much more data than was publically announced:

 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2086454-revealed-google-ai-has-access-to-huge-haul-of-nhs-patient-data/

 

[Thirsty Relic 210]

1 hour ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Please read General Practice Data for Planning and Research from the NHS for a more balanced view.

 

 

 

I've read through it, and tried to find paper copies of the opt-out forms it refers to, following its links.  I gave up and found one of the on the MedConfidential website, following a Google search:

 

https://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/

 

[Mr Allen 0]

7 hours ago, Thirsty Relic said:

I can't say I believe some of what we are told about how OUR private medical details are handled by the NHS outside my own GP's records, given previous disclosures.

 

As recently as last year, NHS records that were sold were said to have been anonymised were found not to have been:

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7984439/UK-Government-sells-millions-NHS-patients-medical-data-drugs-giants.html

 

Google had a tie-up with London hospitals to use Google facilities to help research into Kidney disease in 2016.  The New Scientist revealed that the collaboration involved Google getting their hands of much more data than was publically announced:

 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2086454-revealed-google-ai-has-access-to-huge-haul-of-nhs-patient-data/

 

The first link is the Daily Fail, total bobbins!  

 

[Annie Bynnol 612]

8 hours ago, Thirsty Relic said:

...

 

MedConfidential are a organisation of healthcare professionals who are up in arms about this.  They are one of the organisations who campaigned against the last attempt at something similar, care.data - but that time the opt-out forms were pretty clear.

 

...

Are you sure that "MedConfidential are a organisation of healthcare professionals..."?

The two founders and current directors seem  more concerned about Children's Rights, Anti-database and Anti-ID campaigns, morals, ethics etc., rather having their roots, knowledge and relevant and current experience in hospitals and practices.

 

 

 

 

[Thirsty Relic 210]

4 hours ago, Mr Allen said:

The first link is the Daily Fail, total bobbins!  

 

OK, if you reject the Daily Mail, perhaps the same story covered by The Guardian may be more to your taste:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/08/fears-over-sale-anonymous-nhs-patient-data