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Before moving from "analogue to digital," the NHS has to fix its privacy flaws
- The UK government has unveiled a decade-long plan to transform the National Health Service (NHS) from “analog to digital” with the creation of a centralized database called the “patient passport.”
- Despite some European countries including Estonia using similar systems for years, privacy experts have warned the new platform could turn into yet another privacy nightmare in the hands of the NHS.
- UK citizens health data has been leaked on several occasions, landing on the dark web. On March 15, a ransomware gang hacked Into NHS Dumfries and Galloway's database and stole identifying information belonging to both staff and patients, including mental health data of children.
- Privacy expert Jamie Akhtar, co-founder and CEO at CyberSmart, warns medical records could pass from healthcare professionals to “the control of politicians, who might decide to sell this sensitive information to the highest bidder”.
- The plan is at the consultation stage and privacy and security experts worry the proposed measures to protect data are inadequate and that such a centralized database increases the risk of big pharma and other companies getting their hands on private medical data.
- In August 2023, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office filed a provisional fine of £6m following the medical records hack that saw the personal information of almost 83k people lost.
- A public consultation published in May depicts a grim picture of public trust in the UK’s healthcare institutions, with four out of five patients believing NHS systems are vulnerable and almost half (49%) strongly believe the NHS could make mistakes handling their data.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting is urging both NHS staff and patients to take part in a national conversation to voice their concerns and share ideas at change.nhs.uk.
- It is crucial to have a solid plan of action to protect people’s data privacy and security.
- Noble ideas alone won’t save our most sensitive information from being leaked and abused.
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