GPs are revolting

From The Sunday Times
December 30, 2007

Doctors revolt on patient records

Eileen Fairweather

SENIOR doctors are encouraging a mass revolt against the government’s £12 billion national health database by supporting a campaign to urge patients to opt out.

Activists in the British Medical Association (BMA) have produced a pro forma letter that people can send to their GP to stop their records going onto the database.

The doctors fear that patients’ records could be misused if they are made available to health workers across the country, as is planned under the Connecting for Health system.

The campaign is modelled on the recent widespread protest against excessive bank charges, which was also coordinated through the internet. The letter can be downloaded from the website of the BigOptOut campaign, nhsconfidentiality.org.

Dr Paul Cundy, chairman of the BMA’s general practitioners IT committee, helped compose the protest letter.

He said: “Some doctors are actively encouraging their patients to rebel. This letter is an easy way for patients to express the rights that the BMA feels they ought to have by default.”