The Information Commissioner’s Office has vowed to closely monitor the Government’s proposals to usher in a major digital transformation of the NHS, following Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s plans to make health data available to all NHS hospitals, GPs and ambulance services in England.
The proposals include the launch of consultation to transform the NHS from “analogue to digital” in the next decade, with the Government working with TechUK, the UK’s technology membership body, on discussions around the NHS App, shared care records and digital optimisation.
Streeting’s plans are hardly new: the previous Government launched a scheme back in 2017 to make the NHS paperless by 2020 through the TPP SystmOne electronic patient record system. However, this was never fully implemented.
And, back in 2015, the launch of a patient information sharing scheme, dubbed care.data, was scuppered following one of the most spectacular marketing cock-ups in recent years when the NHS launched a nationwide door-drop campaign promoting the service only for it to be buried under piles of other leaflets.
Even so, the new scheme has already sparked fresh data protection concerns. The health service’s record on data security is patchy at best, with the number of data breaches in the NHS increasing by 21% in 2023 alone, and a total of 1,949 separate incidents reported.
And, while many have welcomed the proposals, including the Federation of Small Businesses, the ICO said: “We stand ready to support the Government’s ambition to make the NHS fit for the future, including the move to a more digital approach.
“Data protection law can help organisations to share personal information responsibly, enabling innovation while protecting people’s data. Health and care records are highly sensitive information, so we expect data protection to be prioritised and built into all new initiatives from the start.
“We will be monitoring the proposals closely and will engage with Government and NHS England as their plans develop.”
Related stories
ICO attempts to calm storm over new risk to NHS data
Row looms as Google nets NHS patient data contract
NHS refused to pull care.data leaflet
Bill for care.data fiasco tops £1.3m
NHS plots ‘sizeable’ care.data push
‘Crap creative’ blamed for NHS fiasco
Botched ads halt NHS big data plan
