Birmingham NHS patient data sharing plans scrapped after concerns raised by GPs

Plans for a central data warehouse to allow multiple agencies to access a patient's care record scaled back - but consent opt-out remains

Following concerns about patient consent raised by a committee of the region's GPs, plans for a project to store records of Birmingham NHS patients in a central data warehouse have been scrapped.

The project had been put out to tender last August under the leadership of the NHS Central Midlands Commissioning Support Unit.

Under the plan, a patient's central care record would have been accessible to local clinical commissioning groups, mental health, acute, community and ambulance trusts and also local councils, according to EHealth Insider.

However, concerns were raised by the Birmingham Local Medical Committee (LMC) that patients would be unable to give their informed consent for access to their data by such a wide range of participating bodies. As a result the original plans for a central data warehouse have been dropped, the tender withdrawn and leadership of the project passed to the Birmingham CrossCity Central Commissioning Group (CCG).

Rather than having a central data warehouse that can be dipped into at will by the supporting agencies, a "look up and view" system will restrict access to a patient's care record, and only with that person's consent.

"Appropriate health professionals" will be able to look up relevant information from a patient's GP record at the point of care with a patient's consent, with access terminated after a consultation," a CCG spokesperson told EHealth Insider.

Plans to allow access to the record by social care providers have also been shelved for now, although they will be looked at again at a later date.

However, patient consent for the scheme will still be sought on an opt-out rather than an opt-in basis, a practice that concerns critics of the NHS's wider plans to share patient data such as the care.data programme.

A letter and information pack will be sent to each registered patient in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull. If an opt-out form is not recieved by a patient's practice within eight weeks, consent will be implied.