‘Hackers and crashes?’ NHS records go online
Published: 18 March 2010
by TOM FOOT
SENSITIVE information about patients – including prescriptions, confidential medical notes and recent blood tests – are being uploaded onto an internet database accessible to NHS healthcare professionals.
Patients in Camden over the age of 15 have been sent a letter warning them about the replacement of old-style paper records with a digital system.
They have 12 weeks to “opt out” or their medical records will be permanently placed on the electronic database.
NHS staff holding a chip and pin-style “smartcard” will have access to the database.
While officials believe the Summary Care Record (SCR) will help deliver better, safer care, privacy campaigners fear it will be open to abuse.
Kathy Noto, Camden co-ordinator of the pressure group NO2ID, said: “It will be information about the last six months’ prescriptions and allergic reactions – but then information about X-rays, blood tests, specialist letters are going to be added. It will be open to hackers, crashes and mistakes.”
Anyone working in the health service – from doctors receptionists to consultants – can apply for a Care Record Smartcard.
Last year, an NHS hospital in Hull was forced to call in police after a breach of the smartcard system by an unauthorised member of staff.
The SCR is a central plank of the £16billion National Programme for IT project. In a national pilot, the Royal Free trialled the system in June 2008. The Cerner Millennium system crashed repeatedly and the hospital ended up spending £10million because of technical issues.
In February, Andrew Way, the former chief executive of Royal Free Hospital who quit in June, said the digital patient record system had brought about “heartache and hard work”. He added he was still in favour of making patient records electronic before leaving for a new chief executive post in Australia.
The Camden and Islington branch of Londonwide Medical Committee (LMC), the body representing doctors, has issued support packs to practices about the new system.