Editor's Note Readers may want to use this NHS page (Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning - NHS) to find out more about how their health data will be used.
The NHS is preparing for the “biggest data grab” in the history of the service, giving patients little information or warning about the planned transfer of medical records from GP surgeries in England to a central store for research purposes – and with no prospect of the data being deleted.
Campaigners and doctors have expressed alarm that such a wide-ranging data haul is in the offing when health services and patients are still swamped by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with little time to focus on the details of data privacy.
According to an official announcement on the NHS Digital website, data held in GP medical records will be collected via a new service called the General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection.
The new service comes with a broadened remit: the data will be used to “support the planning and commissioning of health and care services, the development of health and care policy, public health monitoring and interventions (including COVID-19) and enable many different areas of research.”
See link for more, including forms to opt-out.