NHS data for sale
January 21, 2014
From this year, private
companies in the UK will be able to
buy patients’ medical data from an
online database.
The database, called care.data,
will be controlled by the Health
and Social Care Information Centre
(HSCIC), part of the National Health
Service the Guardian reported.
Culled from GP and hospital
records, the information provided
to companies would have some
personal identifiers removed,
but not enough to make it
completely anonymous, called
‘pseudonymisation’, the publication
said.
If a company’s application to the
HSCIC were approved, it would
need to pay for this information,
it said.
Supporters say sharing the data
would make medical advances
easier and allow researchers to
investigate drug side effects.
However, privacy experts warned
there would be no way for public
to work out who had their medical
records or to what use they would
be put, the Guardian said.
When asked if the Australian
government would consider a
similar project, a spokeswoman
for the Federal Department of
Health said the minister had
recently received a report and
recommendations from the review
of the Personally Controlled
eHealth Record (PCEHR) and this
was being considered.
“It would be inappropriate to
respond to the question posed until
the Government has responded to
the review.”
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