Update on Accelerated Access to GP-Held Patient Records

02 November 2022

In addition to our updated advice last night there are further developments we feel you should be aware of.

As per this update from NHS Digital, it is clear that you can still write to your system suppliers up until the end of the week if you want the mass switch on of full patient access pausing. It does only pause this though with NHS Digital stating that full switch-on will happen from 30 November. If you do not act by the end of the week there will be a phased rollout of access for your patient population for prospective detailed records access.

So what do you do next?

• If you’re confident that you’ll be ready by 30 November then ensure you’ve written to EMIS/TPP and continue to prepare.

• If you’re not confident, you will need to take matters into your own hands as the data controllers and apply bulk coding selectively or in total.

We do not believe that this action from NHS Digital is legally enforceable despite the language used in their update and feel that it is

a) not contractual

b) not consistent with GDPR as a third party is forcing data controllers to allow access unfettered to patients out of their control

We have asked the BMA to confirm the legal grounds for rejecting this to support our/your position on this.