Plans to allow an NHS system to extract patient data from doctors’ surgeries in England should be paused to address concerns around privacy, Labour says. The scheme will collect information on people’s treatments, referrals and appointments over the past ten years, alongside other data. The British Medical Association has said patients have until June 23 to decline having their coded health data given to NHS Digital under the scheme. Daily ‘extracts’ of the coded data from practice systems to NHS Digital will begin from July 1, it said. A Government spokesman said: ‘Patient data saves lives, and we could not have delivered the Covid-19 vaccine rollout if we had not used data.’

Source: Daily Mail June 07, 2021 00:15 UTC