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Forgive me if this is in the wrong section, couldnt find one suitable. Mods feel free to move it to wherever you feel is best.
As of January 2014, NHS England is sending out a leaflet entitled Better information means better care (2MB PDF) via junk mail. It is not addressed directly to you as a patient and it deliberately doesn’t include an opt-out form. The leaflet says you should “speak to your GP practice” if you want to opt out. This is misleading and could waste your time and potentially waste valuable GP appointments.
Under changes to legislation, your GP can now be required to upload personal and identifiable information from the medical record of every patient in England to central servers at the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Once this information leaves your GP practice, your doctor will no longer be in control of what data is passed on or to whom.
This information will include diagnoses, investigations, treatments and referrals as well as other things you may have shared with your doctor including your weight, alcohol consumption, smoking and family history. Each piece of information will be identifiable as it will be uploaded with your NHS number, date of birth, post code, gender and ethnicity.
NHS England – the body now in charge of commissioning primary care services across England – will manage and use the information extracted by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for a range of purposes, none of which are to do with your direct medical care. Though the official leaflets talk a great deal about research, these ‘secondary uses’ for which your data may be used include patient-level tracking and monitoring, audit, business planning and contract management.
To read more and to download the Opt Out forms, please follow this link http://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/
As of January 2014, NHS England is sending out a leaflet entitled Better information means better care (2MB PDF) via junk mail. It is not addressed directly to you as a patient and it deliberately doesn’t include an opt-out form. The leaflet says you should “speak to your GP practice” if you want to opt out. This is misleading and could waste your time and potentially waste valuable GP appointments.
Under changes to legislation, your GP can now be required to upload personal and identifiable information from the medical record of every patient in England to central servers at the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Once this information leaves your GP practice, your doctor will no longer be in control of what data is passed on or to whom.
This information will include diagnoses, investigations, treatments and referrals as well as other things you may have shared with your doctor including your weight, alcohol consumption, smoking and family history. Each piece of information will be identifiable as it will be uploaded with your NHS number, date of birth, post code, gender and ethnicity.
NHS England – the body now in charge of commissioning primary care services across England – will manage and use the information extracted by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for a range of purposes, none of which are to do with your direct medical care. Though the official leaflets talk a great deal about research, these ‘secondary uses’ for which your data may be used include patient-level tracking and monitoring, audit, business planning and contract management.
To read more and to download the Opt Out forms, please follow this link http://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/