Patients can boycott NHS system, says commissioner

The Information Commissioner has been told that patients will have the opportunity to refuse to have their details uploaded onto the new NHS medical records system. The news comes just weeks after the Department of Health refused patients that right.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a report on the NHS Connecting For Health system, the patient record system which has suffered cost over-runs, delays, and controversy over the right to opt-out.

OUT-LAW recently revealed that the Department of Health had refused a large number of requests from patients that their details not be uploaded, and that the British Medical Association has threatened to ask doctors to boycott the system. Such a boycott would likely cripple the £12bn project.

"NHS Connecting for Health has confirmed that people living in areas introducing Summary Care Records will be contacted before any of their medical records are uploaded on to the NHS Care Record Service," the ICO report said. "They will be given information about their options to limit the future scope of the information on the Summary Care Record or the option not to have one at all and they will also be given the opportunity to make arrangements to view their information before it is uploaded. They will have a specified period before their information is uploaded to consider their options."