The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7491 p240
1 March 2008

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Patients could control access to e-records

Patient control of access to electronic health records could quell a number of concerns over appropriate use of health data, MP Sandra Gidley (Lib Dem, Romsey) argued in Parliament last week.

In a debate about a Health Committee report on electronic patient records and the Government’s response, both issued last autumn, Mrs Gidley acknowledged that there was some disquiet about access to patients’ health records in community pharmacies.

She countered, however, that data in community pharmacies are usually kept behind the scenes and that little concern had been raised about inappropriate access in GP surgeries. Mrs Gidley added that patient-controlled access circumvented a number of concerns.

“If the patient is happy to give a physiotherapist, a chiropractor, a pharmacist or a nurse permission to look at the information, that should be enough; it should override any professional rivalries,” she said.