Doctors Have No Confidence In NHS Database, Says BMA News Poll, UK
More than 90 per cent of respondents (93 per cent) to the survey said they were not confident patient data on the proposed NHS centralised database would be secure.
A series of recent high-profile data losses, such as the HM Revenue and Customs computer discs containing the details of 25 million child benefit claimants and security breaches during last year's online training recruitment fiasco for junior doctors, have left doctors sceptical about safety.
Nine out of ten of the 219 doctors who responded to the Doctors Decide poll said they did not feel they were in a position to assure patients that their data would be safe.
More than eight out of ten (81 per cent) said they would not want their surgery data stored on the national NHS 'spine'.
Wiltshire trainee cardiologist Dr Sally Simmons was one of those caught up in the medical training application service security breaches last year. Her personal details became publicly available and could potentially have been used by identity thieves.
She said: 'I have received no apology from the Department of Health despite writing to the former health secretary [Patricia Hewitt]. I was also affected by the loss of the two child benefit CDs with my bank details on them. Not surprisingly, I have no faith in any form of IT security that this government proposes.'
However, Berkshire GP and consultant in family planning Dr Meg Thomas said: 'This will help with continuity of care and communication between primary and secondary care … There may be a risk but paper records are also going astray. We need to join the 21st century and quick.'
Full text of BMA News Doctors Decide story follows in full:
Do you have confidence in the government's ability to safeguard patient information on a national NHS database?
6% said Yes
93% said No
Here are some of your thoughts
No: 'I was one of the final-year medical students affected by the online MTAS (medical training application service) details being available to identity fraudsters. I have received no apology from the Department of Health despite writing to former health secretary Patricia Hewitt. I was also affected by the loss of the two child benefit CDs. Not surprisingly, I have no faith in any form of IT security that this government proposes.'
No: 'With the MTAS debacle, the government has proven itself to be pretty incompetent in handling and protecting sensitive data. Forget ID cards; the national NHS database poses an even greater risk of our personal data being released into the public domain and being misused.'
No: 'MTAS. Need we say more?'
Yes: 'Many institutions, including banks, have done it. So why should the NHS lag behind? Protecting data would always be challenging, but it should not prevent patients and doctors from reaping the benefits of an easily accessible database.'
No: 'With the government's recent underhand dealing with regard to general medical services contracts and the contracts of staff and associate specialist doctors, we might wonder whether it would have other uses for the information that might not be in patients' best interests. Previous government guarantees of security have not been worth the paper they were written on.'
Do you feel you are in a position to assure patients that their data will be safe?
4% said Yes
90% said No
Here are some of your thoughts
No: 'A better and cheaper solution would be for patients to carry and be responsible for their own medical information, using a portable database in card or stick format. Only patients with multiple pathologies or complex medical needs would need to be supplied with this information. It could be easily transported as a necklace pendant or bracelet similar to the medic-alert style of personal jewellery.'
No: 'A central database with details of past medical history, current medications and allergies would be very helpful when managing patients from out of town in emergency departments. But the recent debacles in data management make it very difficult to convince patients to give consent for uploading their medical histories onto a central system with which the security of data could not be guaranteed 100 per cent.'
Yes: 'This will help with continuity of care and communication between primary and secondary care … There may be a risk, but paper records are also going astray. We need to join the 21st century and fast.'
No: 'The BMA should immediately take out full-page advertisements in the national press informing patients that their health records are about to be placed on an unsafe system. The adverts should provide a cut-out form that patients can give to their GPs to opt out of this dangerous and inadequately secured system.'
Would you want your own data stored in this way?
9% said Yes
81% said No
Here are some of your thoughts
No: 'I have already asked my own GP practice to code my records in a way that will hopefully prevent an upload on to the central database. 'I hope that the BMA will now provide leadership on this issue to prevent the government putting the confidentiality of patient medical records at such risk. It should call for the care record service to be abandoned.'
Yes: 'I think it is important to put this in the context of the information that we share every day through online shopping, joining websites and social networking websites such as Facebook. It is interesting to reflect on the amount of information that is in the public domain already, such as the information used by supermarkets about your shopping habits. 'The essence of Connecting for Health is improving the patient experience and reducing workload for doctors by reducing repetition … Concerns are valid, but because of those concerns and the clinicians involved this is likely to be the most secure database. Let us start discussing its benefits and stop bashing its potential flaws.'
No: 'I live in Bolton [where electronic records are being piloted] and have opted out. Even if the data were safe and the system worked, it would never provide value for money.'
No: 'I have already emailed chief medical officer for England Professor Sir Liam Donaldson to say that I am exercising my choice as a patient and do not want my details on any national database. I got the usual bland non-committal reply.
'I do not mind my GP knowing about my medical history, and if I moved around the country while on holiday, for example, I would be happy to answer questions posed by any GP or hospital doctor if I was taken ill.'
Yes: 'With patients being treated in multiple sites by numerous professionals, there is no way we can go on as we are - struggling to collect all relevant data and constantly repeating data collection and rewriting data. We must have IT and share data, even if there are risks.'
http://www.bma.org.uk
Medicii nu au încredere în baza de date a NHS, afirmã BMA Stiri sondaj, Marea Britanie - Doctors Have No Confidence In NHS Database, Says BMA News Poll, UK - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate