Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what public consultation (a) has been undertaken and (b) is planned for contracts that will affect the management of health data.

The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and undertake appropriate data protection impact assessments for all new products, systems and processing activities. Individual high-profile programmes, such as General Practice Data for Planning and Research also undertake engagement to inform the approach to health data management.

In 2021, the Department published a draft data strategy for health and social care for public and stakeholder engagement. A finalised strategy will be published shortly which will set out commitments to improve trust in the health and care system’s use of data, including engagement with the public and stakeholders on data programmes and projects.