Union Safety - Official Website of NW BT Union Health and Safety Coordinators Committee - NHS Digital Private Medical Records Steal Is Postponed Until September

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However you still need to send this form to your GP to stop your records leaving the GP practice.

Your medical data estimated to be worth £10 Billion.

Following pressure from doctors, campaign groups, the public and the threat of being taken to high court by openDemocracy and other NHS campaign groups, the Government today announced that the 'great Secret Data Steel' being postponed until 1st September.

Initially the Dept of Health and Social Care rejected doctors concerns, accusing them of wishing to delay the data steel for the sake of it.

According to HSJ website, 'GPs asked NHSD to run an information campaign through summer and to start the scheme in September.'

The article posted today also quotes another source as reporting that :ministers last week rejected the delay, and argued doctors would later cite other reasons to “keep kicking things down the road”.

The source said ministers are keen to get the data flowing because “they want to achieve manifesto promises” – namely the reporting of GP appointment data by practice, and patient reported experience metrics for GPs.'

However, just how many Tory Voters knew anything about the party manifesto and their intention to pit GP against GP in the strive to further commercialise the NHS?

But openDemorcay last week made it clear to the Government that if they went ahead with their plan to secretly harvest every patient in England's data from their GPs, they would take legal action against the Government.

Writing on 4th June, the openDemocracy website made it clear that the UK's private medical records held by GPs are considered to be worth £10 billion and have more detail in them than even the US medical system.

"Today lawyers acting for openDemocracy and five other claimants have challenged the British government’s controversial plans to extract the medical records of everyone in England from their GP without proper consultation or informed consent – just as the doctors are reeling from coping with COVID-19.

openDemocracy has joined forces with Foxglove, a tech justice start-up, and other campaigners to issue an urgent legal challenge to the Department of Health and Social Care over its scheme to harvest the personal medical data into one massive database, which private corporations will be able to access.

The coalition’s legal letter to the government warns that unless the health department pauses the GP data grab – due to go ahead on 1 July – and seeks transparent patient consent, we will seek a court injunction to halt the scheme.'

The background to this data-grab is alarming. That of a:

Single ICS Covering All of England

Central to the next step in the abolition of the NHS is a central database of containing the private medical records of every single patient living in England!

Without this central record, an insurance based healthcare system cannot be fully functional. Furthermore with it being seen as worth some £10Billion; this makes it very lucrative for private health insurance companies from the US, such as IQVIA who are now embedded into every NHS Trust in England; creating Integrated Care Systems which need your private medical data!

Already at the behest of IQVIA, clicians, surgeons and consultants are being provided with the financial costs of the treatment they give patients. Pressures on them to work within unreasonable budgets as in the US, will ensure that cost becomes the main criteria at least alongside patient health in their decision making over what treatment is appropriate for each patient.

Matt Hancock, and recently supported by The new Conservative leader of Essex County Council Kevin Bentley, plans to ensure that the 42 Integrated Care Systems, run by private healthcare companies e.g. Virgincare, local authorities and business leaders will, following the new NHS Bill being passed in Parliament; merge into one single England County-wide ICS!

The next step is then for these ICS' to introduce health insurance policies, limiting the NHS to deliver the very basic treatment such as A&E which will be the single element left to be free and paid fro form National Insurance Contributions.

Worse still, treatment availability will be determined by cost as each ICS tries to maximie profit in their county. This will mean that any idea of a 'national single healthcare' service will be confined to the history books - at least in England.

By this 'smoke and mirrors' method, the complete privatisation of healthcare as currently delivered by the NHS, will only be available via private medical insurance.

In other words, the FULL Privatisation of The NHS!

Click the pic to sign the petition

Download the NHS Form To Send To Your GP to opt-out of sharing your private medical records, here

Source: openDeomcracy / HSJ / unionsafety