Professor backs opt-out from NHS database

Patients with concerns regarding the centralising of their records in an NHS database have been advised to inform their GPs of their reservations and to opt-out of the system.

Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he believed the proposals for the database were possibly illegal and unsafe for vulnerable groups.

Professor Anderson told the programme: “Personal information will be made available to a large number of people when the system is working and, because the system is centralised, there will be a risk of harm when it fails.”

He added that hospitals with centralised records had already been adversely affected, being unable to conduct operations following failure communication or power systems.

The professor claimed it would be prudent to opt out of the system in advance, as to get an entry restricted or deleted following entry, mental distress would have to be proved.

Following reports that the government would permit individuals to view, correct and decline entry of their records from the proposed NHS database, Stephen O’Brien, shadow health minister, said that he welcomed the move following the government’s “failures” in the design and execution of the scheme.