In July last year, the Department of Health published Your Data: Better Security, Better Choice, Better Care.1 It was the UK Government’s (somewhat delayed) response to the previous year’s Review of Data Security, Consent and Opt-Outs2 from the National Data Guardian (NDG) for Health and Care as well as to the Safe Data, Safe Care3 review of the Care Quality Commission. Much is already awry in the debate on patient data sharing, and the government’s response is likely to make things worse for at least three reasons.
It goes back to front relative to patient priorities
The response, and to a large extent the NDG’s review, have become about data sharing for service improvement and research as opposed to data sharing for direct patient care. The latter is practically omitted from the government’s action plan, with the exception of commissioning a review on it.
Yet it is a far greater priority for most patients and health professionals. Service …