24.02.14
Patients’ hospital data sold to insurers
A major UK insurance society bought NHS hospital episode data covering 47m patients across 13 years, it is reported.
The Telegraph reported today that Staple Inn Actuarial Society used the 1997-2010 data to help insurers calculate and refine their premiums.
The NHS Information Centre provided the data, and its successor organisation, the Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), says information in the records was never used to calculate individuals’ premiums, only to analyse general trends in critical illness.
The story – which has been followed up by other newspapers and has created a storm on social media – comes just days after NHS England was forced to postpone the introduction of its care.data records-sharing scheme by six months over privacy and transparency concerns.
It was felt that patients had not been given enough information about the scheme, which would give medical research companies access to their records. Patients can only opt out by meeting their GP, and millions of people say they never received a leaflet about it that was meant to go to every household.
BBC health correspondent Nick Trigglesaid: “NHS England is now in discussions with Royal Mail to find out what happened. A video animation was also produced, but it went only on YouTube and NHS England's website.There was no national TV campaign.Nor was a press conference called to launch the marketing campaign.That is unusual for a project on this scale.
“Officials at the Department of Health, which until a year ago was in charge of the day-to-day running of the NHS, have told me they would never have run it like this.”
It will be illegal for information extracted from GP files under care.datato be sold to insurers, but the HES data is covered by separate rules.
The 274-page report seen by the Telegraph describes the NHS Hospital Episode Statistics as a “valuable data source in developing pricing assumptions for ‘critical illness’ cover.”
Phil Booth, from privacy campaign group medConfidential, said: “The language in the document is extraordinary; this isn’t about patients, this is about exploiting a market. Of course any commercial organisation will focus on making a profit – the question is why is the NHS prepared to hand this data over?”
“We have been categorically told that it would be illegal for GP data to be handed over to insurers, yet already all this hospital data has been extracted. It blows out of the water the idea that patients’ privacy is being protected.”
The Department of Health said: “The rules changed last year so this would no longer be allowed. Information like this can only be accessed now if there is a clear benefit to improving health or health systems.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]