Time for an NHS smart card?

doi:10.1136/bmj.39434.702477.3A

BMJ 2008;336:9 (5 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39434.702477.3A

Letters

Electronic health records

Time for an NHS smart card?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Recent correspondence on electronic patient records, includingthe editorial by McGilchrist and colleagues,¹ seems to avoidfacing up to a major philosophical difference in approach.

The Department of Health (abetted by the medical establishment)favours securing data centrally for logistic and research purposes.The issue of capacity (or otherwise) of individual people togive consent for this has been neglected. Furthermore, costand safety concerns remain, along with the risk of system breakdown.

The alternative approach would be for individuals to carry (andbe responsible for) their own medical information. An NHS smartcard (ideally chip and PIN based) could facilitate this, withthe person allowing access to selected staff by using the PIN.Similarly, only staff with an appropriate password can add tothe person’s record with PIN based consent.

An NHS card (ideally backed up by facilities to avoid identityfraud) could provide individuals with a wide ranging . . . [Full text of this article]

Prasanna de Silva, consultant psychiatrist

¹ The Anchorage, Whitby YO21 1JH

connie.bellamy@tney.northy.nhs.uk

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Relevant Article

Assuring the confidentiality of shared electronic health records: Mark McGilchrist, Frank Sullivan, and Dipak Kalra
BMJ 2007 335: 1223-1224. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

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Electronic Health Records versus Patient-held Smart Cards: Simon J Eccles
bmj.com, 5 Jan 2008 [Full text]
Time for an NHS smart card?: GERALDINE R LINDLEY
bmj.com, 9 Jan 2008 [Full text]
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: Time for an NHS smart card?: FINTAN M O'ROURKE
bmj.com, 9 Jan 2008 [Full text]
Re: Electronic Health Records versus Patient-held Smart Cards: Prasanna de Silva
bmj.com, 9 Jan 2008 [Full text]
smart cards for the nhs: clare allison
bmj.com, 19 Feb 2008 [Full text]
Re: smart cards for the nhs: GEORGE Y CALDWELL
bmj.com, 20 Feb 2008 [Full text]