NHS criticised for sharing confidential immigrant data

THE NHS has been urged to stop handing confidential data over to immigration officials, with claims that records are treated “like the Yellow Pages”.

The Health Select Committee said it had serious concerns about the way health service information has been used to trace immigrants. Dr Sarah Wollaston, head of the committee, called for the suspension of an agreement which has allowed officials to track down thousands of immigration offenders.

Requests have been made by the Home Office if immigrants have absconded from immigration control, exceeded their right to stay in the UK or missed a reporting requirement. Details handed over include patients’ names, date of birth and address.

Dr Wollaston said: “There is a clear ethical principle that address data held for the purposes of health and care should only be shared for law enforcement purposes in the case of serious crime. NHS Digital’s decision to routinely share information with the Home Office with a lower threshold is entirely inappropriate.”

Charities told the committe that immigrants were frightened to seek help, even when their life was at risk; in one case, a domestic worker died after contracting pneumonia.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “The Home Office is displaying a blatant disregard for the trusted and vital GPpatient relationship… It is treating GP patient data like the Yellow Pages.”

Dr John Chisholm, the British Medical Association’s medical ethics committee chairman, said: “If the bond of trust between doctor and patient is broken, it risks not only the health of that individual, but can also have serious public health implications if people suffering from infectious conditions avoid seeking medical treatment.”

Sarah Wilkinson, chief executive at NHS Digital, said it would consider the report, but added: “We have been through a rigorous process to assess the release of demographic data to the Home Office. This has established that there is a legal basis for the release and has assured us that it is in the public interest to share limited demographic data in very specific circumstances.”