Now BUPA is to be sent patient data

It seems that some people, or rather NHS trust, are still determined to share patient data. Not only have they decided to go with the implied consent model to share patient data, they have only given patients 15 days to opt-out of it. The idea is to make some patient data available to nurses working for BUPA as ‘health coaches’. The idea is patient data will be sent to BUPA so that their nurses can help patients with long term health problems such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease. It does not stop their however, the service is being offered to everybody in the West Kent area in an attempt to reduce unnecessary attendance at GP practices and at A&E departments (I thought that is what NHS Direct is for). There is no doubt that it would benefit some patients if they were referred to a ‘health coach’ but to send patient data to others without seeking consent (implied consent has been shown to be unreliable) is, in my view, just another step in the NHS plan to make people get used to the idea of sharing private information with other people to the point we will know no difference. As always, relevant links below

e-health insider

The register