Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to assess the level of public concern on the transfer of patient records from GPs to a centralised NHS Digital system; and what steps he is taking to protect patient confidentiality under that new system.

NHS Digital has engaged widely with stakeholders over several years on the new system, including patient groups and professional clinical organisations. NHS Digital has publicised this coming into effect through a press notice, web content, social media, engagement with the media and through stakeholder channels. The new system will now start on 1 September, allowing an additional two months to engage with patients, doctors, health charities and others.

Applications to use data are always subject to the greatest scrutiny. Access to data can only be requested for specific purposes, such as medical research and planning and audits are carried out to ensure it is only being used for the purpose given.