Government crackdown will see NHS legally barred from selling data for commercial purposes
New government legislation will see the NHS legally barred from selling data on medical records to insurers or for other commercial purposes. Instead they must show there is a “clear health benefit".
Following its report on how the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries obtained data for around 47 million patients for the sum of £2,220, the Telegraph has said the government is responding with new legislation that will ban the Health and Social Care Information Centre, the body in charge of NHS data, from releasing the information for commercial purposes.
In addition, there will be a new “one strike and you’re out” approach for organisations in order to deter them from misusing data. Just one prior offence involving patient data will see a company barred from accessing NHS medical records indefinitely.
It is hoped the ban will act as a more effective deterrent than the £500,000 fine previously handed out to those who flaunted the rules.
Jane Ellison, the health minister, said earlier this week that it the legislation was necessary to restore “public confidence”.
“People want rights over how their health and care data, especially data that identify them, are being used,” she said. “Safeguards will be put in place over and above what NHS England does to build public confidence.”
The plans are set to be announced next week.