Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP co-lead, contributed to BMJ article on the alarm among doctors and health experts about the proposals to hand the health secretary sweeping new powers to control patients’ data.

The plans are included in the new NHS Modernisation Bill.

Dr Taylor told the BMJ and posted on social media that a single patient record sounds appealing in principle but, as a GP, he can already access hospital records, blood test results, and scan results.

Single patient record

He said: “The selling point of the single patient record was the fact that you wouldn’t have to repeat yourself 10 times to every clinician or nurse that you met.

“But the reality is, even within hospital contexts the patient is the best person to tell you what’s in their patient record.”

Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP co-lead, has spoken to GP Online and to Pulse Today to express concern at the new Health Bill and single patient record.

Read the article in the BMJ in full.

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Dr Sarah Jacques, GP co-lead for the Doctors’ Association UK, warned the plan risked undermining patient confidentiality, professional accountability, and public trust.

Speaking to GP Online, Dr Jacques said that while GPs broadly support better communication and appropriate information sharing across the NHS, the current proposals appear to extend beyond improving patient care.

Serious unanswered questions

She said: “In principle, I believe GPs support better communication and appropriate information sharing across the NHS.

“However, the current proposals appear to go far beyond improving direct clinical care and raise serious unanswered questions about confidentiality, governance, liability, transparency, and public trust.

“I think one of the biggest concerns is around the GP data controller role. Yet there has been very little clarity about what happens to those responsibilities under the single patient record model.

Health Bill

“GPs need to know whether they will still retain legal and professional liability for information that may ultimately be shared more widely or potentially altered by external organisations and providers.”

DAUK’s concerns around the Health Bill and the creation of a Single Patient Record have also been reported in Pulse Today.

We are a non-profit campaigning and lobbying organisation led by frontline doctors, for frontline doctors. We are volunteers and our collective aim is to give frontline workers a voice to be heard.

Please support our work by contributing to our crowd funder.