NHS national programme for information technology
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
EDITOR—At the same time as the Data Protection Act and the Human Tissue Bill are making life difficult for doctors and researchers in a misguided and unwanted effort to protect patients' rights,1 the NHS is eroding the confidentiality of medical records.
A process of linking hospital computerised record systems has been going on for a few years. This entails a huge increase in the number of people who are authorised to access sensitive medical data—most obviously pathology data. This obviously reduces the security of the data, but no consultation process has taken place about the wisdom of doing it.
Similarly, and much worse, the national programme for information technology proposes that all medical data including general practice records should be accessible by doctors across the whole of England by linking all medical computer systems. It takes only one corrupt user to access any medical data for anyone on the system, however careful the password system.
What seems to be lacking in the present NHS is common sense and balanced judgment. We risk a situation in which no one will be bothered to do medical research apart from well financed pharmaceutical companies, while patients ask us not to keep computer records for fear they will be made public.
Ted A Willis, general practitioner
Bridge Street Surgery, Brigg, North Lincolnshire DN20 8NT tedw@onetel.net.uk
Competing interests: None declared.
References
Peto J, Fletcher O, Gilham C. Data protection, informed consent, and research. BMJ 2004;328: 1029-30. (1 May.)
A process of linking hospital computerised record systems has been going on for a few years. This entails a huge increase in the number of people who are authorised to access sensitive medical data—most obviously pathology data. This obviously reduces the security of the data, but no consultation process has taken place about the wisdom of doing it.
Similarly, and much worse, the national programme for information technology proposes that all medical data including general practice records should be accessible by doctors across the whole of England by linking all medical computer systems. It takes only one corrupt user to access any medical data for anyone on the system, however careful the password system.
What seems to be lacking in the present NHS is common sense and balanced judgment. We risk a situation in which no one will be bothered to do medical research apart from well financed pharmaceutical companies, while patients ask us not to keep computer records for fear they will be made public.
Ted A Willis, general practitioner
Bridge Street Surgery, Brigg, North Lincolnshire DN20 8NT tedw@onetel.net.uk
Competing interests: None declared.
References
Peto J, Fletcher O, Gilham C. Data protection, informed consent, and research. BMJ 2004;328: 1029-30. (1 May.)