| NHS COMPUTER SYSTEM MUST NOT BE A TROJAN HORSE FOR BIG BROTHER STATE - PUGH |
| Friday, 03 November 2006 | |
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Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, John Pugh MP, has today written to the Health Secretary, the NHS Director of IT and the Information Commissioner asking for clarification on how far patients’ records can be shared with other government departments. This follows concerns expressed within the Department of Health, the National Audit Office and the media over the rights of patients to keep their medical history confidential. John Pugh said: “We need to know how access to this highly personal information is to be controlled, what rights the subject of that information has and how unnecessary intrusion into a very private sphere is to be identified and prevented. “Regardless of the limited amount of data held on the spine of the system, it will be technically possible to upload full digital records from GP surgeries and access that private information from all over the UK. “There will always be a way of tracing who has accessed information but some government agencies - most notably the police - can easily justify access, sometimes in circumstances where previously a court order had to be used. “The NHS IT system must not be a Trojan Horse ushering in a Big Brother state.” |