Campaign group says least 100,000 non-medical staff in NHS trusts have access to confidential patient records

See BBC News report.

Gillian Braunold, clinical director for the NHS Summary Care Record Programme, argues that NHS electronic records protect patients

Gillian Braunold, clinical director for the NHS Summary Care Record Programme, claims in this Guardian article that NHS electronic records protect patients. Well she would, wouldn't she?

If you read the Comments beneath the article I think you will gain a truer grasp of the real drivers behind this monumentally expensive Connecting for Health project.

And please read my blog post from last year about government plans to sell patient records to insurance companies and 'research organisations', aka drug companies.

Confidential patient records could be passed from the NHS to government depts and private companies, leading to a "disastrous impact" on public health

Government plans to sell patient records
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Government plans, contained in the Coroners and Justice Bill, would allow almost unlimited access to medical records of named individuals without their consent.

Under the proposals, patient information held by GPs, health centres, pharmacists and hospitals could be passed to insurance companies or research organisations. The data could also be given to other government departments, such as the Department for Work and Pensions to check whether people who claimed benefits were able to work.

In a letter to Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, medical organisations expressed "grave concerns" about the Bill. They said that sharing confidential health records would result in patients being less open with their doctors, which would jeopardise their care and public health initiatives."

I think we can take it that "research organisations" equals drug companies...)o:

"Data Protection" is an oxymoron as far as this Government is concerned...)o: - and, of course, "Data Security" is a wholly imaginary concept...)o:

A senior NHS hospital manager has been suspended after a laptop containing the confidential details of 21,000 patients was stolen.

Hospital manager suspended over stolen laptop with 21,000 patient records
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"The manager, from the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, is understood to have the left the password-protected computer in the car while it was parked in Edinburgh on June 18th.

It has on it unencrypted names, dates of birth and treatment plans and a police investigation had been launched."

Incredible, isn't it, the laxity of security of NHS patient records?