NHS records will no longer be used to find illegal immigrants

NHS health records won’t be used any more to track down illegal immigrants, the Government has announced.

Margot James, the digital minister, told MPS yesterday that in the future records would only be shared with the Home Office in cases “involving serious criminality”.

The shift follows the Windrush immigration scandal and criticism of the Government’s policy to create a “hostile environment” for illegals.

It follows an amendment to the Data Protection Bill tabled by Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Tory MP who chairs the Health Select Committee, which would have stopped routine sharing of health records between departments.

Ms James said: “The Government has reflected further on the concerns put forward and as a result, and with immediate effect, the data-sharing arrangements between the Home Office and the NHS have been amended.

“The bar for sharing data will now be set significantly higher; by sharing I mean between the Department of Health, the Home Office and in future possibly other departments of state. No longer will the names of overstayers and illegal entrants be sought against health service records to find current address details.”

The existing memorandum of understanding has seen NHS Digital share the details of approximately 3,000 NHS patients with the Home Office.