Doctors and nurses join criticism of data sharing powers

Eight medical groups call for patient records to be exempt from controversial government proposals

The BMA is leading calls to exempt medical records from data sharing plans

Several of the most influential healthcare organisations in the UK have teamed up to attack the government’s data sharing plans and have called for medical records to be exempt from the forthcoming legislation.

Eight organisations, including the BMA, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Surgeons, and the Royal College of Nursing have written to justice secretary Jack Straw to express their concerns about the controversial Coroners and Justice Bill.

The Bill contains measures that would amend the Data Protection Act (DPA), and proposes the use of Information Sharing Orders that overturn the principles of the DPA to enable data collected for one purpose to be used elsewhere.

The medical groups have warned that the plan would allow unprecedented sharing of confidential patient health records. This would “undermine the presumption of confidentiality, corrode trust in the doctor-patient relationship and could have a disastrous impact on both the health of individuals and the public,” they said.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the BMA, said: “The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust. If patients cannot be 100 per cent sure that their records are confidential, they will inevitably be reluctant to share vital information with their doctor.”

Criticism of the Bill has been growing in recent weeks.

Even data watchdog the Information Commissioner has said the data sharing proposals are too wide ranging.