07.03.14
HSCIC to audit NHS data releases
TheHealth and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Board has agreed to conduct an audit of all data ever disclosed by central NHS authorities.
Following concerns expressed by the Health Select Committee in its meeting of 25 February, Sir Nick Partridge, a non-executive director on the HSCIC Board and former chief executive of the Terence Higgins Trust, will carry out the audit andreport on this to the HSCIC Board by the end of April.
The reportwill look into the legal basis on which data was released in the past from the NHS Information Centre, and to whom it was provided.
Kingsley Manning, chair of the HSCIC, said: "We very much welcome recent announcements by the Secretary of State, including his intention to strengthen the legal basis of the HSCIC, which will increase patients' ability to object to the indirect use of their data and reinforce the requirement for their interests to be at the forefront when decisions to release data are made.”
Sir Nick Partridge added that he was happy to take on the responsibility for reviewing past data releases from the NHS Information Centre and producing a comprehensive report.
“This is the start of building the public's trust in the transparency of HSCIC decision-making and that the organisation is operating to the highest standards,” he said. “We must be open and honest about all our decisions and processes."
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