23 May 2005
Health Minister Lord Warner has today moved to reassure patients that their medical records will be secure when the NHS goes electronic next year.
The new NHS Care Records Service aims to provide a single source of medical records and will join together 30,000 GPs and 270 NHS trusts in a single system.
The government assured the public that access to the records would be strictly limited to staff who 'need to know' and patients will be able to request that sensitive information - such as records of sexually transmitted diseases - is not added to the database.
Launching the guarantee today, Lord Warner said that the system would offer "enormous potential benefits" for patients and there would be "very strict controls" on those who have access to the database.
He added: "However, we recognise that some people may have particular concerns about how their personal health information will be kept confidential in the new system. We understand that, which is why we are today setting out clearly what they can expect from the NHS and their rights to control who has access to their personal information.
"These rules will be backed up with tough security measures to prevent unauthorised access to records, ensuring everyone can have confidence in the new system."© DeHavilland Information Services plc
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