On Mon, 29 Jun 1998 14:25:34 +0100, you wrote:
(Large snips removed)
>I predict that once the NHS Tracing Service is taken online, we will
>see one or two murders a year, and several hundred cases of serious
>assualt and stalking, due to people being found through it.
Entirely possible - a horrible thought that our practice's clinical
data might contribute to this evil - and what about the consequences
for the doctor who knowingly puts the information on the network?
It seems that to commit clinical info. to the NHS Net under the
Caldicott rules is tantamount to publishing it widely to police social
services and criminals.
>
>I also predict that once the public understands this, a lot of people
>will either give false names or dates of birth; others will simply
>avoid seeking treatment. (snip) These will include not just the
>`undeserving' .(snip)
So: worried patients will tend to register under a variety of
pseudonyms each presumably with a different NHS number.
What happens if we have a population of say 60 million but a count of
say 80 million new NHS numbers?
Not a very useful or reliable NHS Management system, I fancy.
>If the government wants Britain to have a central population register
>then let's see a proper public debate.(snip)
This issue needs to be aired urgently in the non-medical press where
it ought to create a huge political stink, given unbiased reporting.
Why aren't the press responding?
Any lurkers from the national press out there?
> After all, if even the
>Germans can get by without a central register, why do we need one?
-So the Government can locate and Trace everyone in the country for
any purpose it chooses, and give information derived from our own
confidential GP consultations ROUTINELY to the police, MI5 and god
only knows who else!!!
How can we ever expect trust from our patients again under these
rules? They remind me of Soviet Russia not the UK!
>
>PS: the tracing service also appears to be illegal as it contravenes
>section 33 of the Human Fertilisation and Empryology Act. The whole
>Caldicott thing is a mess. Why didn't they have anybody on the
>committee who knew about computer security, or even about the law?
Because it was only a sop thrown to the efforts of the BMA (under
Ross's and Fleur Fisher's advice and guidance) to reveal the huge size
of this problem.
Its terms were such that it could not criticise established Department
policy at all, and indeed it chose not do so.
Instead it set up useless and flawed institutions which will serve
only to discredit the NHS Network until proper procedures are
instituted by a body of appropriately skilled medical and IT
professionals.
The only ray of light in this is that GPs can still say 'NO' and
decide positively not to commit confidential information to this
iniquitous system.
[..Until the Government decides to withhold our pay until we
comply....]
This is at least as big a problem for the profession as the PCG issue
was. We need all the support we can muster.
GP-UK led on PCG's.
Let's lead again on this one.
Kind regards,
Paul
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