Doctors are threatening to boycott the NHS’s electronic patient database amid fears of security breaches. Plans to upload all personal medical records on to a centrally-stored network have been met by controversy since they were announced by the last Government.
Now GPs in the North East are fighting the proposals by saying they will not allow their own or their families’ records to be included,
A survey in Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead asked doctors and practice managers to consider whether they would become part of the Summary Care Record. Of the 152 who responded, 74 per cent said they would not allow their own medical data to be uploaded and 70 per cent said they would not permit either their own or their families’ records to be uploaded.
Fears were raised that medical records would no longer be confidential, and could result in a “gross invasion of privacy”.
The SCR database has been plagued with such concerns from the git-go. Do they need to go back to the drawing board?
Read more in Sunderland Echo.