About the campaign
The NHS Confidentiality campaign was set up to protect patient confidentiality and to provide a focus for patient-led opposition the government’s NHS Care Records System. This system is designed to be a huge national database of patient medical records and personal information (sometimes referred to as the NHS ’spine’) with no opt-out mechanism for patients at all. It is being rolled out during 2007, and is objectionable for many of the same reasons as the government’s proposed ID database.

YOUR PRIVACY
Your medical confidentiality is at risk from this new database, as over a million NHS employees and central government bureaucrats will have access to not only your medical records but also your demographic details name, address, NHS Number, GP details, phone number (even if it’s ex-directory) and mobile number.

There is no opt out whatsoever for your demographic details. You can only have them hidden in special circumstances if the police or social services request it if, for example, you are a celebrity or on a witness protection scheme. Many public and private sector workers will otherwise have access to your address and phone number, from social workers to pharmacists.

You will eventually be allowed to ‘lock down’ some of your medical details (though the security mechanisms haven’t been built yet). But although you can keep some of your medical details confidential from some of the doctors involved in your care, they can override this if they think it’s necessary, and there is no way for you to keep your information confidential from civil servants. You will no longer be able to attend any Sexual Health or GUM (Genito-Urinary Medicine) Clinic anonymously as all these details will also be held on this national database, alongside your medical records. For the first time everyone’s most up-to-date and confidential details are to be held on one massive database.

It would appear that the DH are entering into financial relationships with private companies to sell our medical records.

Every time you attend a hospital appointment/admission your identifiable medical records are sent to BT (the telephone company) and the SUS database. BT then sends your details to the DH, DH Information Centre for Health and Social Care, PCTs, Strategic Health Authorities, and Dr Foster, We have now found out that the Information Centre for Health and Social Care has entered into financial arrangements with private companies and academic organisations to give your SUS medical records to them too. In time, when NHS Care Records are up and running, it will not just be hospital records that are sent but also pharmacist records, GP records, HealthSpace records, Community Nursing records etc. In fact all your medical records from whoever you see in NHS will be sent to BT and the SUS database, and then on to other orgainisations.

http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/?page_id=3

There is a sample letter on the site. All you need to do is add your name and address and the letter will be made automatically for you to just print out. Please tell everyone you know about this as it is vitally important.

Love
Yasmin
Stairway of Life

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Ah, yes, the New World Order.
This is outragous, but in the limited thinking of public servants, it is a good thing, and easy for them. What they, and most people, don't understand, is that this is just part of the plan for a One World Government. I would be very aware, the next thing is they will want to put electronic 'chips' in everyone. Great idea.

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Of course Jon. They started with the dogs and cats and next it will be us.

So much easier when you go to the doctor or hospital and they just run a scanner over you and all the info comes up on a computer screen.

Once the chip is in place................forget it...........you're dead!!!

Love
Yasmin

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Yasmin,

NHS staff already have access to all your details. What's different about this?

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Well if you are happy about it then its fine but consider this.

Anything you disclose to any doctor, nurse, midwife, health visitor, health professional, NHS employee, pharmacist, at any hospital, surgery or clinic will be stored on this massive central government database. This could include sensitive issues such as sexuality, ethnicity, genetics, mental health issues, illicit drug use, abortion, contraception, impotence, paternity, infertility, HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, infidelity, personal relationships, emotional problems, test results, domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse.

All of this highly personal information would also then be used for ’secondary purposes’ ...........

There are 1.3 million people working in the NHS as well as a huge number of temporary agency staff—not just doctors and nurses, but managers, administrative staff, IT staff and contractors. So a massive centralised database poses a huge threat to medical confidentiality.


Read Helen's story in the Guardian
The woman falsely labelled alcoholic by the NHS
In the second of our series on the NHS's new database we talk to Helen Wilkinson, named as having a drink problem after a computer error
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/nov/02/health.epublic

Love
Yasmin

Last edited: 14-10-2008 01:07:54 PM

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I think it's a big red herring TBH. My other half is an IT specialist in the NHS, and he doesn't think most of what you've claimed will happen. NHS staff are all professionals and don't peek or nose at records they've no right to access. If it happens, it happens maybe once a year at the hospital he works at. He knows this because it's his job to investigate instances of peeking.

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I've worked as a practice manager for a large primary care centre for nearly a year, and can confirm that unnecessary access to records is subject to disciplinary processes/dismissal where appropriate, and frankly, we're all way too busy to waste time poking our noses where we don't need to.

The bigger issue is cost - is the Spine necessary? There are arguments on both sides.

Re security - I recall there is a five-level encryption on our smart cards that enables access to the system, which puts credit/debit cards in the comparative stone age.

Data security should be a concern in all walks of life, but credit NHS staff with the professionalism they're due, I feel.

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The point is not wether the busy staff do look, the problem is they can.

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I totally agree with you Jon.

Love
Yasmin

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