Ivan: 0:00

Hello and welcome again to The Bench Report, concise summaries of debates and briefings from the benches of the UK Parliament. A new topic every episode. You're listening to Amy and Ivan.

Amy: 0:14

Today, we're looking into something quite personal, patient health records here in the UK, how your information is handled, who gets to see it and what's changing.

Ivan: 0:24

Absolutely. It's a complex area. Let's start with the basics. Your rights. You do have a right to access your own health records, don't you? How does that actually work with privacy?

Amy: 0:33

You do. It's mainly governed by the Data Protection Act 2018. And generally, getting access shouldn't cost you anything.

Ivan: 0:40

No charge.

Amy: 0:41

Usually not. And they should provide the records within about a month. But it's not absolute.

Ivan: 0:46

Ah, OK. So there are situations where access might be refused.

Amy: 0:50

Yes, exactly. If, for example, sharing the information could cause serious harm either to you or to someone else, then access can be limited or denied.

Ivan: 0:58

I see. So even with that right, limits exist. What about the other way around? When do health care professionals have to share your information, maybe even without your consent?

Amy: 1:07

Well, confidentiality is fundamental, really. It's a cornerstone. But certain laws actually require disclosure.

Ivan: 1:14

Require it? Like when?

Amy: 1:16

For instance, specific contagious diseases must be reported to public health authorities. Or if there's a case of FGM involving someone under 18, that has to be reported to the police.

Ivan: 1:27

OK, so specific legal duties.

Amy: 1:29

Correct. And there's also the common law duty of confidentiality that can sometimes be overridden if there's an overriding public interest.

Ivan: 1:37

Meaning?

Amy: 1:38

Meaning situations where disclosure is necessary to protect individuals or maybe society more broadly from really serious harm.

Ivan: 1:46

And this That can even apply to genetic information, sharing it with family.

Amy: 1:49

In some specific, quite narrow circumstances, yes. If a patient refuses to share genetic information that could prevent serious harm to a close relative, there might be grounds to share it anyway. It's very carefully considered, though.

Ivan: 2:03

It sounds like a real balancing act. And this whole issue seems complicated by how fragmented health records currently are in the UK. There isn't one single central record for everyone, is there?

Amy: 2:13

That's right, there isn't. Your GP record is usually separate from your hospital records, for instance. And this fragmentation, well, Well, it causes challenges.

Ivan: 2:21

Challenges for patient care, I imagine. And research, too.

Amy: 2:24

Definitely. Getting a complete picture can be difficult. Now, there has been progress on electronic records as of May 2025. About 91% of secondary care trusts have them.

Ivan: 2:37

Only 91%?

Amy: 2:38

Yes. But the target is for all trusts to have electronic patient record systems by March 2026. Okay, so

Ivan: 2:46

that's one step. But what about pulling it all together? What are the big government plans for that?

Amy: 2:50

Well, the big engagement came in October 2024. The plan is to create a single patient record accessible through the NHS app.

Ivan: 2:58

The NHS app. So everything in one place on your phone, potentially.

Amy: 3:01

That's the idea. Consolidating your health information, test results, hospital letters. The aim is to start rolling this out from 2028. And

Ivan: 3:07

there's legislation backing this up.

Amy: 3:09

Yes. The Data Use and Access Act 2025 is key here. It received royal assent just this June. And the potential benefits they're talking about are quite significant.

Ivan: 3:18

Such as?

Amy: 3:18

Things like saving an estimated 140,000 NHS staff hours every year, reducing duplicate lab tests by almost 9%. Wow,

Ivan: 3:26

that's substantial.

Amy: 3:27

And potentially preventing around 20 deaths a year just from medication errors when patients are transferred between care settings really highlights the impact.

Ivan: 3:36

It really does. Are there other systems involved in this push?

Amy: 3:42

There are. You've got the Summary Care Record, which provides essential information for emergency care. And then there's the Federated Data Platform.

Ivan: 3:49

Federated Data Platform. What does that do?

Amy: 3:52

It's not one giant database. Think of it more like a secure network that connects existing NHS systems. It allows approved users to access the data they need safely without pooling it all in one place.

Ivan: 4:03

Okay, so connecting the dots rather than creating one huge file. Yeah. But all this data sharing... How does the public feel, especially when private tech companies might be involved or when AI comes into play?

Amy: 4:14

That's a crucial question. The Sudlow Review, which came out in November 2024, looked into public attitudes. It found, perhaps surprisingly, really strong support for using health data for good, for individual benefit and for society.

Ivan: 4:27

Strong support.

Amy: 4:28

Overwhelmingly so, according to the review. However, there's also a lot of public mistrust when it comes to private technology companies handling NHS data.

Ivan: 4:38

Mistrust. Why?

Amy: 4:39

People worry about privacy being eroded or their data being used for profit rather than patient benefit. That's a definite tension point.

Ivan: 4:46

I can understand that concern. And what about just keeping the data safe? Cybersecurity must be a massive issue. We hear about NHS cyber attacks.

Amy: 4:55

It absolutely is. The 2025 National Risk Register flags the NHS as a major target for cyber criminals. And we've seen the impact.

Ivan: 5:04

Like the WannaCry attack.

Amy: 5:05

Exactly. WannaCry in 2017 and more recently the Synovus incident in June 2024. These attacks caused thousands of appointments to be canceled. Operations postponed. The disruption and costs run into millions.

Ivan: 5:17

What makes the NHS vulnerable?

Amy: 5:19

Often it's things like outdated IT systems in some areas and also a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals within the health service.

Ivan: 5:25

Are steps being taken to fix that?

Amy: 5:27

Yes. There's a government cybersecurity strategy specifically for health and social care running up to 2030. And there's a new cybersecurity and resilience bill intended to strengthen defenses across critical sectors, including health.

Ivan: 5:40

Right. One last area, artificial intelligence.

Amy: 5:42

Yeah.

Ivan: 5:43

How is AI starting to interact with all these patient records?

Amy: 5:47

It's definitely an emerging area. The NHS is already trialing AI tools for different things. Like what? Analyzing text and health records, for example, to potentially spot patterns or risks. Using AI to convert spoken clinician notes into text to save admin time. Even trying to predict future health conditions.

Ivan: 6:03

Predicting disorders. How accurate is that?

Amy: 6:06

Well, some trials have shown predictive accuracy levels between 68% and 81%, which sounds promising.

Ivan: 6:12

But also means that Potential error rate of 19% to 32%.

Amy: 6:16

Precisely. And when you're dealing with someone's health, that error rate is obviously critical. So AI offers huge opportunities for better, faster care, but also brings significant ethical challenges.

Ivan: 6:26

Challenges around data misuse, security breaches.

Amy: 6:29

All of those. Plus, ensuring the AI is trained on accurate, representative data to avoid biases leading to incorrect diagnoses. It's a complex frontier.

Ivan: 6:40

So wrapping this up. Your health data is clearly becoming more connected, more powerful. There's this constant push and pull between your privacy and using data for the greater good.

Amy: 6:51

Definitely. And this whole journey towards a more digital, integrated NHS is incredibly complex. It's about balancing innovation and efficiency with the absolute need for security and maintaining public trust.

Ivan: 7:05

It certainly is. And it leaves you thinking.

Amy: 7:07

Indeed. As our health data gets smarter and more interconnected, how much real control Take care. Take care.