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Section 67 of the Health and Social Care Bill, currently under consideration by the UK Parliament, gives the Secretary of State for Health the power to make regulations controlling the disclosure and use of patient information. For example, s/he could restrict or prohibit the processing of patient information for particular commercial purposes. On the other hand, the Secretary of State could make regulations to permit the disclosure and use of patient information for medical purposes (for example cancer registries), in the interest of improving medical care, or in the wider public interest. "Patient information" in this context means any health or medical information, whether or not it can be identified with a particular individual.  Any regulations made by the Secretary of State would have to comply with the provisions of the 1998 Data Protection Act. If the Bill is passed, it gives the Secretary of State considerable discretion to decide when and by whom patient information may be used. 

Note added 23/2/01: In an editorial in the BMJ, Anderson argues that "it is unclear how the health and well-being of the nation could be improved by this measure", which he considers has been slipped into the Bill without sufficient consultation.