| answer text |
<p>National Health Service organisations are individually accountable for their management
of patient information and must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and common
law confidentiality requirements. The sale of patient identifiable data, without patient
consent, would be an unlawful act. Where data is brought together in large databases
for purposes other than care - for example, commissioning and medical research – the
Government intends to ensure that data will be handled in secure environments, for
a limited range of approved purposes and under strict controls. The Government will
shortly be consulting on the controls and safeguards that should be established to
reassure patients and the wider public.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has made changes
through the Care Act to extend the role of the independent Confidentiality Advisory
Group (CAG), which advises the Secretary of State and the Health Research Authority
on non-direct care uses of confidential health data. The CAG can advise the Health
and Social Care Information Centre and ensure, as outlined in the Care Act that there
is a clear legal basis to support the disclosure of patient data and that data are
only used for care related purposes.</p><p> </p>
|
|
