NHS data sharing will streamline services, says health minister

Government plans to share patient data across the NHS will have “cast-iron” security, a health minister has said.

Ministers have launched a consultation on the future of the NHS, promising to put patients and staff at the heart of its forthcoming 10-year health plan.

The plan, expected to be published in 2025, will see greater use of data and technology.

As an example, the plan will “explore the opportunities smart watches and other wearable tech may offer patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, so they can monitor their own health from the comfort of their own home”, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

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Officials also announced plans for a “single patient record” which will summarise all of a patient’s health information, test results and letters in one place, through the NHS App.

The Department said that the move will “put patients in control of their own medical history”.

New laws are set to be introduced to make patient records available across all NHS hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England.

But concerns have been raised about privacy and data protection.

Care minister Stephen Kinnock told LBC radio that plans for digital patient records will “really streamline the system”.

Asked about security guarantees, he said: “We’re bringing forward primary legislation, which will give you that cast-iron guarantee that all of the security protocols will be in place.”

Mr Kinnock told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you constantly just say, we can’t do this because of data protection concerns, you’re just going to have the status quo going on and on and on.”

He described the Government’s plans as “no different to online banking apps” and “definitely more NatWest than it is Star Trek”.

“In the end, if we don’t modernise the NHS, make it more efficient and productive, you can have the best data protection rules in the world, but you’re not going to have a health and care system that actually works,” he said.

He told Sky News the “depth” of the crisis facing the health service is “the worst that we’ve seen”.

“I think people have got that sense that we’ve got to fix this now, this is our last chance,” he said.

“We’re passionately committed to an NHS that’s free at the point of need. But if you cherish something, you have to be prepared to change it.”

A spokesperson for patient privacy campaign group medConfidential said: “Patients should know how data about them is accessed and used, and their choices to opt out of such uses should be respected not removed.”

NHS England’s national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis told Times Radio: “Data safety is a top priority for the NHS, for the reasons of privacy, but also for reasons of cybersecurity.

“But it really is important that we ensure that patients have their own health data and have control of their own health data.

“I’ve said for a long time we need to move away from the old paradigm where it was the hospital or the GP that was the owner of the data – you had to ask permission to see your own health data. We need to move to a world in which you’re the owner of your data.

“It’s your health, it’s your data, and I think it empowers individuals to know more about their health and to live healthier lives.”

Meanwhile Mr Kinnock said it is “up to every NHS trust to do what works for them at the point of delivery” after a report in The Times suggested that ambulances have been told to leave patients in hospitals after 45 minutes to be able to get back out responding to 999 calls.

It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged NHS staff and patients to share their views online via change.NHS.uk until the start of next year.

Writing in the Guardian, Mr Streeting said: “(There) are the inefficiencies and inconveniences that I can’t see from behind my desk at the Department of Health and Social Care, but that patients see every day. And so we are calling on them to offer insights and ideas for turning our NHS around.”

On staff engagement, he added: “When I visited Singapore general hospital last year, they told me about a programme, called Get Rid of Stupid Stuff, that I think the NHS could do with.

“It does what it says on the tin – by just giving hospital staff some agency over their working lives, their morale and patient care improved.

“Over the coming months, we will be inviting NHS staff to tell us about the stupid stuff that’s holding them back from doing what they’re best at, and their ideas for turning the NHS around.

“I know how hard it must be to battle against a broken system to give patients the best care you can, only to go home at the end of the day knowing your best couldn’t be good enough. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“The cavalry is coming, and together we can turn this around. My message to NHS staff is: stay and help us change it.”

But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Government to show “ambition” in its plans, or risk the consultation “becoming a talking shop”.

The 10-year plan will also look to shift services outside of hospital and into communities and will attempt to prevent ill health from occurring in the first place.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “My mum worked for the NHS, my sister worked for the NHS, and my wife still works for the NHS – so I know first-hand how difficult it has been for staff, and for patients battling against a broken system for over a decade. But it’s time to roll up our sleeves and fix it.

“We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it’s only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it.

“Together we can build a healthcare system that puts patients first and delivers the care that everyone deserves.

“We have a huge opportunity to put the NHS back on its feet. So let’s be the generation that took the NHS from the worst crisis in its history and made it fit for the future.”