Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement on General Practice Data for Planning and Research service from NHS Digital on sharing data on medical histories with third parties, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure people are informed about how their medical information will be used.

NHS Digital is promoting this new data collection through their website, engagement with the media, stakeholder and patient groups and on social media channels. They have sought to raise awareness of the collection and its importance to the health and care system.

The data collection has now been paused until 1 September 2021 and in the next two months we will communicate the significant benefits this system will have for the health and care system.