‘Big Brother’ database will grab children’s health records but parents are being kept in the dark
- Leaflets about the scheme don’t say children’s records will be harvested
- Doctor fears the data grab will ‘undermine trust’ in the medical profession
PUBLISHED: 00:46, 9 February 2014 | UPDATED: 00:46, 9 February 2014
Children’s medical records will be automatically uploaded to the controversial new ‘Big Brother’ NHS database – but parents have not been told.
The records of some ten million youngsters in England will be taken from GP surgery computers this spring to be part of the care.data project.
Leaflets about the scheme contain no mention that children’s records will be ‘extracted’. It is only revealed in NHS guides for patients and GPs on the internet.
Data: The records of ten million youngsters in England will be taken from GP surgery computers this spring to be part of the care.data project, despite there being no mention of children’s data in information leaflets
Last night MPs and doctors said it was ‘highly irresponsible’ not to specify that children’s information would be uploaded.
Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: ‘To do this to children’s data is a very serious abuse of the rights of the child and their parents.
‘The first duty for protecting children is down to the parent, not the State.’
