Since 2010 the NHS has been systematically attacked, underfunded, and dismantled by Conservative governments

• IN May, after an outcry by doctors, medical bodies, and patients, the government delayed until September 1 their clandestine plans to upload GP medical records to a central database that may subsequently be sold to commercial companies.

Assurances the data can be “anonymised” have been questioned by IT professionals and it’s not in any way clear as to how and to whom NHS Digital will open up access.

Ostensibly the delay was to give time for “better understanding” by patients of the implications of this data upload, but there has been no public information campaign by the Department of Health and Social Care and no attempt to tell patients directly; against all data transparency best practice, consent will be assumed by default unless an opt-out’s in place.

Patients worried about their GP and medical records being used in ways that are so unclear can opt out before September 1, without preventing the details being available for their own care and treatment.

It’s a two-stage process, first by sending an opt-out form to a GP and secondly by opting-out on the NHS Digital website (these are two different things).

The GP form must be printed and completed by hand; it can’t be filled in online.

Some official National Health Service information is at https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice/; more background and a downloadable GP opt-out form are at https://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/.

Patients are already angry about the sell-off of GP surgeries to private American health care companies and this scheme appears to give the government the ability to sell confidential medical records to third parties as well.

Since 2010 the NHS has been systematically attacked, underfunded, and dismantled by Conservative governments. And this is not the first attempt to centralise data without putting in place safeguards against its commercial exploitation.

The last scheme was eventually ditched because of overwhelming opposition, so it’s potentially disastrous if this time it goes through by default and undermines the trust and confidentiality of people’s relationship with the publicly-funded NHS for the sake of private profit.

DON KELLER, N15