Security measures for online NHS records slammed

NO2ID, a lobbying group that opposes government databases and plans for a national ID card system, said the proposed security measures for the electronic patient records system (EPR) were “limited”.

"The system is not built around the necessary information security that would guarantee true patient welfare, but around Department of Health bureaucratic requirements for unlimited information access for official purposes," said Guy Herbert, general secretary of NO2ID.

His comments came as MPs criticised the structures proposed by the government to secure the online patient records.

The Health Committee said in a report released yesterday that “more rigorous evaluation of security for the new system is required.”

Herbert added: “When fitting limited privacy systems in the software proved too difficult to implement, it was dropped.”

The EPR systems being created under the NHS Care Records Service (NCRS), will include data such as name, address, date-of-birth plus medical details.

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