Medical records could be shared

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Soon private companies may be able to access your medical records if a clause in a new government parliamentary bill passes.

Plans to relax laws on data protection would hurt the confidentiality of medical records according to the British Medical Association (BMA). Clause 152 of the new Coroners and Justice Bill would allow the Department of Health to share information from NHS databases with other government departments and ministries and the private sector.

Clause 152 is not specifically targeting the healthcare sector. It was put in the bill to allow for government departments to share data on a fast track basis without permission from Parliament.

The NHS has said it currently does not have plans to use the clause, but it could do so in the future.

All medical records in England are currently being uploaded into a national database known as the Spine.

The NHS is proceeding slowly with a scheme to upload the medical records of everyone in England on to a national database known as the Spine. Although assurances have been made that the system would only be able to be accessed by healthcare staff, Clause 152 has raised concerns that soon things such as a Home Office background check could include health records or an Army recruitment office could see whether an applicant has a history of infectious diseases, drug use or poor health.

There are also fears that the clause could be used in political "dirty tricks" campaign. A party in power could use the information sharing law to find out the medical history of an opposition leader or MP and leak the information to the press.

BMA officials said that the trust between doctor and patient could be destroyed.

The Information Commissioner's Office, the independent authority for data protection, is against Clause 152. In a statement the office called for "much stronger safeguards in the bill to protect sensitive data, such as health records".

The Ministry of Justice said data would be shared only "in circumstances where the sharing of the information is in the public interest and proportionate to the impact on any person adversely affected by it". The Department of Health added it was "important to ensure that patient confidentiality is preserved and that patients consent to how their records are used."