Sir, We understand the concerns about the confidentiality of the planned NHS Care Record (letter, August 11). We have taken great care to ensure that it will provide much more protection and control for patients than they have now.
Unlike now, doctors and receptionists will not see the same information on a patient’s shared NHS Care Record. Administrative staff will see very little, if any, of the patients’ medical details. And only those people in a health organisation who are involved in a patient’s treatment will be able to see his or her record.
Once the record is fully operational, patients will be able to control who sees their information: they will be able to opt out of their record being shared between NHS organisations, or they will be able to select parts of their record to restrict from sharing.
Every person who accesses a patient’s record will leave an “audit trail” — who they are, what they did and when, and patients can request a copy of the audit trail. Anyone trying to see a patient’s record against access rights will trigger an alarm to a privacy officer who will follow it up.
In the longer term, patients will have 24-hour access via computer to their records and be able to confirm the accuracy of information.
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We are committed to doing what patients in our research and consultation asked us to do: provide better information for better care, enable them to be full partners in their own care, and give them more control over who sees their personal data.
Yours faithfully,
MARLENE WINFIELD,
(Head of Public Engagement),
National Programme for NHS IT,
Princes Exchange, Princes Square,
Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 4HY.
August 14.