The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a report
on the NHS Connecting For Health system, the patient record system
which has suffered cost over-runs, delays and controversy over the
right to opt-out.
OUT-LAW recently revealed that the Department of Health had
refused a large number of requests from patients that their details
not be uploaded, and that the British Medical Association has
threatened to ask doctors to boycott the system. Such a boycott
would likely cripple the £12 billion project.
"NHS Connecting for Health has confirmed that people living in
areas introducing Summary Care Records will be contacted before any
of their medical records are uploaded on to the NHS Care Record
Service," said the ICO report. "They will be given information
about their options to limit the future scope of the information on
the Summary Care Record or the option not to have one at all and
they will also be given the opportunity to make arrangements to
view their information before it is uploaded. They will have a
specified period before their information is uploaded to consider
their options."
A number of patients wrote to the Department of Health asking to
opt out of the system. The Department of Health wrote back to them
refusing their request in December. "The reasons that you gave as
the basis for claiming substantial and unwarranted distress are not
based on an accurate understanding of the summary care record,"
said the Department letter.
Though records can be uploaded without the explicit consent of
patients, the ICO said that other options must be made available to
patients. "Explicit consent is only one of the conditions for
processing sensitive personal data," said the ICO. "NHS Connecting
For Health are confident they are able to meet the requirements of
one of the other conditions."
"Once the basic health information referred to above is uploaded
on to the NHS Summary Care Record you will be able to choose to
remove some of even all of the information initially uploaded [or]
keep the uploadded information but make the Summary Care Record
invisible," said the ICO.
The ICO says that it has been consulted about the data
protection implications of the new system and that it is happy with
the current measuers in place, but that it would continue to
monitor the system.
"The Commissioner has been consulted by NHS Connecting for
Health about their plans for electronic care records and can see
the potential benefits these may bring. However the NHS must
continue to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and this is
vital to guarantee that public confidence is maintained," said the
ICO. "The Commissioner will be monitoring the implementation and
operation of the new NHS Care Records Service to ensure patients
are provided with adequate information and choices and that their
health data is maintained in a safe and secure way."
