Conservative MP opts-out of SCR

A Conservative MP has opted out of the Summary Care Record and is encouraging his constituents to do the same.

Peter Luff, MP for mid-Worcestershire, wrote to his GP requesting that details from his medical records are not uploaded on to the Spine.

Luff told EHI Primary Care that he acted after hearing about the Spine and SCR from Worcestershire Local Medical Committee (LMC).

He said: “The LMC has been highlighting concerns about it and after the recent episodes of data loss by the government in the last three months I have grave reservations about how medical records will be kept confidential. I discussed it with my GP before I wrote to him and he was very supportive”

Luff said he had not been directly contacted by constituents with concerns about the Spine but that there was a high profile campaign in Worcestershire against identity cards and some of the people involved in that campaign had also made it clear they would want to opt-out of the SCR.

Luff added: “I’ve done this not because I have anything to hide, but on principle. I think the collection of so much sensitive information in one place is plain daft and open to massive abuse. It is a fundamental attack on our right to privacy.”

The MP said he accepted that some people would gain from wider availability of access to medical information but claimed it would be a small minority and that the potential benefits of the scheme did not justify the cost.

He told EHI Primary Care: “You might have someone who had a termination early in life and does not want that information to be shared or all kinds of others situations involving people’s privacy. Patients are OK about information being held in their own GP’s record but they are not OK about it being held centrally.’

Fiona Barr