HSCIC / opting out of sharing your medical records

bubblegum6000

There are no data protection issues as 1. Its a legal requirement therefore overruling the DPA and 2. The data is anonymised before they do anything with it, meaning it is no longer personal data as defined within the DPA.

Personally agree with Keithdc it's a non issue and they are only using the infor for research and statistics so what's the issue? ;-)

terra_ferma

BarneyRubble wrote: »

If the state pays for your medical care, then surely the state can do what it wants with the data?

It may come as a total surprise to you, but we don't get health care for free in this country, we all pay for it

System

I think the uploading of the data has already happened? The following thread discusses the pros and (mostly) cons of this idea.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4803501

To quote what I wrote in the thread:
As I understand it, at the initial stage the patients information would be anonymous. But after that there is no guarantee of anonymity, - once the company have got hold of your data they can do as they wish with it. This is what concerns me, and it's the reason I will be looking to opt out.

I hope that adding the two read-codes to my records won't affect the care I receive.

Here is a useful link from the thread, written by a doctor
http://www.care-data.info/

BarneyRubble

terra_ferma wrote: »

It may come as a total surprise to you, but we don't get health care for free in this country, we all pay for it

I didn't say it was free - I said the State pays for it.

Tax payers (not 'all of us') pay into the State, and then the State pays the bills. Unfortunately, all the State's bills add up to a lot more than it's income - hence the deficit.

So to say 'We all pay' is more inaccurate than what I said. For one, we don't ALL pay, and secondly, if it had to run on what we DID pay, it would be bankrupt.

j.e.j.

saw this in the Indie yesterday:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/your-life-in-their-hands-is-the-caredata-nhs-database-a-healthy-step-or-a-gross-invasion-of-patient-privacy-9042564.html

Get writing, people. You need to let your GP surgery know if you want to opt out of this automatic uploading of your details onto a database that may or may not remain confidential/anonymous in the long term.