TV presenters in NHS data fears

[Mary Hawking]

>From:     David Hansen <davidh@spidacom.co.uk>
>On 4 Dec 2008 at 12:26, Roland Perry wrote:
>
>> >What the article doesn't say is what Jackie Bird said on television
>> >yesterday. She had been in favour of this information being available
>> >to all and sundry, but now she is reconsidering her position.
>>
>> Is this another example of the "nothing to hide, nothing to fear"
>> mentality morphing into "but I didn't think *I* was someone who might
>> find themselves in this situation".
>
>I suspect that is precisely the case.

There are some unanswered questions here.
If I have understood it correctly, the Scottish Emergency Record is one 
which requires a "Consent to view" at the time of access, although this 
can be overridden in an emergency when the fact is flagged automatically 
and reported.
I am not sure how it was discovered that the access in this case was not 
authorised: was it by spot checking access labelled as consented, or by 
registering unauthorised access?
The emergency record would be accessed by first identifying the patient 
and their demographics on a master index (PDS in England - the 
equivalent in Scotland) and, AFAIAA, there is no record kept of look-ups 
on this in England - but could be different in Scotland.
AFAIAA, the Scottish Emergency Record holds only medication and adverse 
reactions. The English Summary Care Record will initially hold the same 
but rapidly expand to contain summary diagnostic information: I am not 
sure in the latest change whether the patient or practice or either will 
have to consent to this or to the contents.
Wales already does this in Gwent.

Everything in life is a trade-off.
For the young and fit, privacy may be paramount: for the old, sick and 
confused on multiple medications, a risk to absolute privacy might be 
offset by the availability of up-to-date information on medication in an 
emergency care setting.
Please note, demographics are likely to be available in either case.

Mary Hawking

-- 
Mary Hawking