Let NHS use your data to improve research

I’ve recently retired from a lifetime working in the NHS, so I was interested in your News story in Issue 530 (page 8) telling patients how to opt out of sharing their medical data.ta.

You were absolutely right to give this advice because patients should be told about the choices available to them, which the online tool ( www.snipca. com/27953) states clearly. But I would urge patients not to opt out. The reason is that the more data health scientists are able to analyse, the better their medical research will be.

It’s important to make the distinction between what the NHS does with your data, and what a commercial company does. The NHS has no incentive to sell your data for profit, or bombard you with spam for their products. Its focus is all about keeping patients healthy and informed. During my time in the NHS, I saw how strict the laws are on preventing it from abusing your data. I also saw how access to data can help improve the care provided to people.

I know that many people like to give blood to help the NHS. To me, there’s not much difference between giving blood and allowing your data to be used in research. They are both safe, relatively inconvenient ways to keep the service ticking over. Perhaps the NHS should re-frame the debate, making it less about data privacy, and portraying it more as a way of volunteering in this digital age. This might make people feel like they were benefiting the service by not opting out. To reach this stage, we need fewer scare stories about how the NHS uses such data.

Howard Abbot