# Boots, Tesco and Superdrug to get access to NHS medical records



## Northerner (Aug 10, 2015)

High street pharmacies such as Boots, Tesco and Superdrug will be given access to NHS medical records, under a national scheme which privacy campaigners fear could expose patients to “hard sell” tactics.

Health officials have drawn up plans to send sensitive data from GP surgeries to pharmacies across the country, starting this autumn, without considering the views of patients.

NHS England says the scheme will ease pressures on family doctors, and improve the care given to patients in the High Street.

But campaigners fear major commercial chains will be able to exploit the valuable data, and use it to push the sales of their products.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hea...rug-to-get-access-to-NHS-medical-records.html

OK, they say there are safeguards, but what about when these companies get their databases hacked? The more places you disseminate this volume of data in digital form, the more vulnerable it becomes to attack and exploitation. On the one hand, governments of all shades have witnessed massive failures and breaches of confidentiality in computerised systems, but on the other they all seem to exhibit supreme confidence in their security and success


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## Ralph-YK (Aug 10, 2015)

I'm not even sure about my doctor seeing my doctor's records.


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## Vicsetter (Aug 10, 2015)

a) this says it's NHS England so it's not nationwide at all.
b) Fat lot of good it will do Tesco, Boots or Superdrug, I don't go to any of them, its a 35 mile hike.


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## Northerner (Aug 10, 2015)

Vicsetter said:


> a) this says it's NHS England so it's not nationwide at all.
> b) Fat lot of good it will do Tesco, Boots or Superdrug, I don't go to any of them, its a 35 mile hike.



I don't think you were uppermost in their mind when the project was mooted, Vic


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## AlisonM (Aug 10, 2015)

So glad I don't live in England any more. Westmonster has absolutely no regard for people's privacy and their ignorance about data security is simply shocking.


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## Northerner (Aug 10, 2015)

AlisonM said:


> So glad I don't live in England any more. Westmonster has absolutely no regard for people's privacy and their ignorance about data security is simply shocking.



I like the way they always invoke the Data Protection Act, as though that is some magical, impenetrable spell that renders all attempts to thwart it powerless and futile


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## Ralph-YK (Aug 10, 2015)

Vicsetter said:


> b) Fat lot of good it will do Tesco, Boots or Superdrug, I don't go to any of them, its a 35 mile hike.



On line shopping.  My delivery charge was £1.  Although they weren't taking it as far as 35 miles.


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## Vicsetter (Aug 10, 2015)

Don't think they deliver prescriptions!  Asda and Tesco both deliver here but no point for us as we shop for commercial stuff.


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## Northerner (Aug 12, 2015)

*Pharmacists hit back at 'misleading' patient data article*

Health and pharmacy chiefs have defended plans to give pharmacists access to patient data after a “misleading” article in The Daily Telegraph warned ‘Tesco can see your medical records’.

The article says “high street pharmacies such as Boots, Tesco and Superdrug will be given access to NHS medical records, under a national scheme which privacy campaigners fear could expose patients to ‘hard sell’ tactics”.

But in a joint letter to the paper, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Comittee and Pharmacy Voice write: “it is wholly misleading to assert that commercial companies will have access to the NHS Summary Care Record” and that “Private medical information will never be linked to patient’s store loyalty cards or any marketing promotions”.

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/..._back_at_misleading_patient_data_article.aspx


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