Government postpones GPGDPR - again

The GP data extraction programme no longer has an official start date

Government ' s plan to extract patient data from GP IT systems and use it for future healthcare has been postponed for the second time.

In a letter to all GPs on Monday, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Jo Churchill said that the government has now set out "a new process for commencing data collection, moving away from a previously fixed date of 1 September."

This is the second time the government has delayed the General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR). Last month, Churchill told the House of Commons that the plan was being delayed until 1st September, to give GPs more time to communicate the changes to patients.

In her letter this week, Churchill wrote that the government has set four key tests for the NHS to meet before work resumes.

Under the new approach, the government has promised the ability for patients to opt out of the programme at any point. One of the major complaints about the original date of 1st July was it only gave people a few weeks to opt out.

According to Churchill, a patient ' s medical information collected under GPDPR will be deleted if they choose to opt out after previously opting in. Another key complaint in the original plan was that there was no option for patients to have historic data deleted once it had been transferred from GP systems.

Additionally, external researchers will now only be able to access patient data through a Trusted Research Environment.

The new system would allow researchers to execute queries on the data in situ, rather than moving it for analysis.

The government has also said that patients' choices, as well as how their information would be used by the NHS and private companies, must be clearly explained.

"This research and planning is only as good as the data it is based upon. We know we need to take people with us on this mission and this decision demonstrates our absolute commitment to do just that," NHS Digital interim chief executive Simon Bolton said.

"We will continue to work with patients, clinicians, researchers and charities to further improve the programme with patient choice, privacy, security and transparency at its heart."

The government announced the GPDPR initiative in May, announcing plans to transfer data from patient records in England created up to 10 years ago in 'near real time'.

The GPDPR sets out plans to accumulate a range of information into a single database, including details of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, along with other data from patient records held on GPs' systems. Approved researchers and private commercial organisations will be able to access this information. The data collection will exclude any personally identifiable details such as names, addresses, images or details of conversations.

GPDPR does not apply in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

However, many experts raised concerns over the original plan, saying it was being implemented too quickly and without enough consultation.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) also wrote a letter to then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock, urging him to delay the plan for the next few months.

In an open letter to the government earlier this month, which was coordinated by GPs in East London's Tower Hamlets, family doctors said they would not comply with the collection of patients ' medical data from their systems until patients are properly informed of new data processing and their permission has been sought.

NHS Digital stated in June that it was in talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) and RCGP on the issue.

"Patient data saves lives, and we could not have delivered the COVID-19 vaccine rollout if we had not used data to ensure we reach the whole population," it noted.

The organisation also said that it was ' committed to being transparent with patients and the public about the collection and use of data '.