The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has warned that proposed legislation enabling a national Single Patient Record risks undermining patient trust.
Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP co-lead, has called for the new Health Bill to include stronger safeguards and transparency measures.
Speaking to Pulse Today, Dr Jacques expressed concern that the new Health Bill grants ministers sweeping powers over access to patient data.
Health Bill
She said the proposals showed ‘a total disregard for our personal information and the consequences of sharing that information with the powers that be’.
And she warned that expanded access could ultimately be driven by financial interests rather than patient benefit.
Dr Jacques said: “With what they are proposing, certain groups have unfettered access to identifiable data. It’s not what a single patient record should really fundamentally be about.
Data grab
“It should be just for the clinician and the patients. It shouldn’t be for groups of people to do data grabs for their own benefit.
“I don’t necessarily disagree that we perhaps need more information for research and things like that, but there has to be a different way of going about getting that information, and it needs to be transparent.
“We need to know who is asking for it, why they’re asking, and when they’re accessing that information.
Understand the implications
“We need to understand the implications of what it would be someone shared that information for research purposes.
“Nobody’s going to have a say in any of that in the current guise of the bill.”
Read the article in Pulse Today full.
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