'We Have Your Medical Record on File': Researching Unpopular Government Policy

The English Department of Health recently introduced the Internet-accessible Summary Care Record (SCR), a summary of personal medical data intended for emergency use and drawn from the GP-held record of NHS patients. The SCR is the most controversial component of the ￡12 billion NHS IT project. If it goes to plan, around 40 million medical records will be uploaded, and up to a million staff in ten thousand organisations will have access to them. Countless megabytes of sensitive personal data will be available to staff who can claim a ‘legitimaterelationship’ to the patient (and, say critics, to nosey receptionists and hackers).