Health records a target for ‘the wicked’

Richard Jeavons, senior responsible owner for service implementation at Connecting for Health has admitted to the Commons Home Affairs Committee that the NHS Care Records Service database is open to misuse by “the wicked”.

Given evidence to the committee, as part of their inquiry into ‘A Surveillance Society’, Jeavons, who is also director of IT implementation at the Department of Health, said that some people would attempt to misuse data, and every effort would be made to stop them.

According to BBC News online, Labour MP Margaret Moran asked Jeavons: “Even if we get the technology right, the problem is abuse by people or misuse of data. How confident are you that there won’t be problems over data and privacy?” 

He replied: “You cannot stop the wicked doing wicked things with information and patient data…of course, we have examples where staff do abuse their privileges and have to be pursued through disciplinary procedures.”

He added that the government had to “make sure” that people who abused the system knew they were “going to get caught” and that these instances would be “pursued”.

Last week, the Department of Health refused to make public breaches of security in their response to the Health Select Committee’s report on the electronic patient record.

Instead, the DH said that they supported calls from the Information Commissioner to increase penalties for breaches of the Data Protection Act and to look into guidance and training for NHS staff on the risks of being duped and consequences which would face anybody who improperly disclosed information

This followed reports that the records of a celebrity were illicitly viewed by over 50 members of staff at an NHS hospital in the North-east.

In the hearing, the MPs were told different departments could not share information without legal guidelines being followed and rights of access clarified.

Clare Moriarty, constitution director at the Ministry of Justice, said efforts to make data protection as “robust” as possible were essential.

Questioned as to whether information had sometimes gone between departments unofficially, she replied: “I’m not aware of any department sharing data by stealth.”

Government chief information officer John Suffolk told the MPs that setting up a nationwide database going across Whitehall departments and other government agencies would create more problems.

He said: “When you work at a national scale, to continue to put more eggs in a single basket is a foolhardy approach.”

The Home Affairs Committee meeting was held earlier this week as news broke of the major accidental loss of data at HM Customs and Revenue.