Published 15 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2441
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2441

News

Sharing of patients’ data should not be based on implied consent, say GPs’ representatives

¹ London

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

GPs’ representatives voted overwhelmingly this week for a system in which patients opt in to any sharing of medical data with third parties—rather than one in which their consent is assumed unless they opt out, the system favoured by the Department of Health.

Clinical confidentiality depends on GPs being the prime data holder of their patients’ medical records, said the BMA’s annual conference of local medical committee representatives in London. It also strongly opposed using implied consent as justification for releasing information on named patients.

Proposing the motion, John Doyle from Surrey said that computerisation had enabled doctors to improve delivery of health care by improving access. "But appropriate access can only occur with appropriate safeguards," he said. These include adequate consultation and a simple mechanism to allow patients to opt in or opt out.

Francesco Scaglioni from Cornwall and the Scilly Isles warned that if information from medical records . . . [Full text of this article]

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