Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government by what single mechanism a family may exercise their right to dissent from data being used for purposes beyond direct care following the planned removal of the GP "type-2" extract process in October.

National data opt-outs are set on an individual basis. Currently patients who wish to set a national data opt-out can do so themselves using the digital, telephone or non-digital (postal) service. The current mechanism for anyone under the age of 13 to opt out of their confidential patient information being shared for purposes beyond the patient’s individual care is through the non-digital route and can only be set by someone with parental responsibility.

The National Data Opt-out Programme is currently implementing improvements to the existing process for parental opt-outs which will introduce a multi-children version enabling a parent to opt-out more than one child at a time.