NHS trust rejects confidentiality fears as database is introduced

Health chiefs confirmed yesterday that the pioneering project to introduce the computerised archive of patients’ summary care records is now being rolled out across the county.

The latest system sees electronic medical records created for patients in England that can be accessed by doctors anywhere in the country.

Advocates claim that it will provide accident and emergency staff, paramedics and out-of-hours GPs with far easier access to vital information about patients to make life-saving care and treatment quicker and safer.

The computer database will include details of allergies, prescribed medications and adverse reactions to drugs=.

However, the nationwide project sparked controversy amid claims last year by the British Medical Association that it was being set up at “break-neck speed”, sometimes without patients’ knowledge.

Privacy campaigners have also claimed that the database could lead to abuse of the system if records are accessed by rogue health professionals.

However, senior officials at the NHS North Yorkshire and York primary care trust have maintained that strict procedures will be in place to protect patients’ confidential records.

NHS North Yorkshire and York’s assistant director of informatics, Angela Wood, was adamant that the benefits of the new scheme to improve life-saving treatment would help counter any misgivings about the database.

She said: “Anything that can be done to save vital minutes in the treatment of patients can only be a good thing.

“When the new database starts to save lives, hopefully the concerns about the new procedures will diminish.

“An awful lot of work has gone into developing the new system, and we do believe that this is a major step forward in the provision of healthcare.”

The PCT has been planning the introduction of the scheme for more than 18 months after details were first announced by the previous Labour government.

Two GP surgeries in Leyburn and Thirsk have now gone live with the new system, and the initial focus will be across Hambleton and Richmondshire.

However, the scheme will then be rolled out across the rest of North Yorkshire over the coming months.

The new system will mean that if a patient needs treatment in an emergency or when their GP practice is closed, health professionals will be able to access valuable information electronically.

Strict procedures are being enforced about who can access the information on the summary care records to protect patient confidentiality.

Only authorised staff with a chip-and-pin NHS smartcard who are involved in a patient’s treatment will be able to access the information stored within the record.

Unlike the existing paper records, an audit trail is generated when a patient’s details are viewed on the computer database.

Patients have been given the chance to opt out of the new system, and a mail-out was sent to residents across North Yorkshire to make them aware of the choices they had.

However, BMA members voiced “huge concern” in March last year over the speed with which the programme was being implemented.

The BMA stressed that patients’ right to opt out was crucial, although it expressed alarm that records were apparently being created without them being aware of it.

Figures that just 0.9 per cent of the county’s patients have opted out, although Mrs Wood stressed every effort was being made to raise awareness of the new procedures.

[email protected]