Published 8 July 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2777
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b2777

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Tories may offer patients chance to keep their records on Google

¹ London

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

The United Kingdom’s opposition Conservative party is considering offering NHS patients the option to maintain their own medical records on commercial internet services rather than in NHS computers.

The idea, say Tory policy makers, is to "yield control of personal information to individual citizens," both as an end in itself and as a way of saving money on centrally procured electronic health records systems, which, they say, are unpopular and subject to delays.

However, the plan will raise concerns about privacy and security and whether the data will be available for audit and research.

The Times reported on 6 July (www.timesonline.co.uk, "Google or Microsoft could hold NHS patient records say Tories") that Conservative policy makers hope patients will be able to choose from "a range of private sector websites." It said that the idea originated in discussions with Google, which last year launched an online personal health records . . . [Full text of this article]

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Oh no .... the Tories have stolen my idea!

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