Security News > 2021 > May > Mammoth grab of GP patient data in the UK set to benefit private-sector market access as rules remain unchanged

In response to government plans to start collecting patient data held by GPs into a central database, NHS Digital said it would "Not approve requests for data where the purpose is for marketing... including promoting or selling products or services, market research or advertising."

The Data Access Request Service, or DARS, already releases data under data-sharing agreements.

Although NHS Digital said that data would only be shared "With organisations who have a legal basis and meet strict criteria to use it for local, regional, and national planning, policy development, commissioning, public health, and research purposes," it gave no indication that the criteria used by DARS would change as a result of the move to share millions of GP-held records with little notice, dubbed "The biggest data grab" in the history of the NHS. A recent data release register provided by DARS shows patient information is indeed used to scope market access by private drug companies through third-party information firms.

Among a long list of NHS and local authority data release records are companies including Wilmington Healthcare, a market research firm, Harvey Walsh, part of "World-class healthcare communications and market access group" OPEN Health and Health iQ which, it says, proves "The value of interventions in healthcare for successful market access."

Given NHS Digital has not described how criteria for data access would change under the new General Practice Data for Planning and Research, it is hard to see how firms like these would be denied access to GP-held patient data.

Under those rules, he said he expected market intelligence firms to continue to be served with data under the new programme for GP data.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/nhs_data_market_access/