By Steve Taylor, Doctor’s Association UK
Since last Friday 1 May GP practices across England are being urged by the BMA to take part in collective action. This follows insufficient assurances from the Government in response to widespread concern over the national 2026/27 contract that was imposed last month, despite it having been rejected by 99% of almost 17,000 BMA GP members in March’s referendum.
Negotiations between the BMA’s GP committee and the government have shown some progress, most notably providing some assurances and safeguards to address BMA concerns around how GPs may refer patients onward for specialist care.
However, the key priority of explaining how GPs might fulfil their contract when faced with unlimited same-day urgent care demand, outstripping practice capacity, remains a profound concern.
For collective action, the BMA is recommending practices to halt any further sharing of GP patient data outside practices, in the form of practice data sharing agreements (DSAs). The BMA describes the action in this way:
“Patient data can be accessed by the patient (the ‘data subject’), or other health and social care providers involved in a patient’s direct care. Patient data held within GP IT systems has the software supplier themselves acting as the ‘data processor’, a position that makes the system supplier accountable to act on the instructions of the data controller -the GP contract holder(s).
“The information collected about a patient can also be used for and shared with other organisations for purposes beyond their individual direct care. This is known as data processing for Secondary (Indirect) Care Purposes. This is the information we urge practices to stop sharing.”
This proposed action is lawful and likely to be welcomed by patient groups keen for greater transparency of data sharing in light of developments with third-party organisations such as Palantir and widely reported data security breaches across organisations such as UKBiobank.
Is your NHS data being protected? GPs don’t think so.
Why is protecting patient data the first thing that GPs are doing as part of collective action against the imposed GP contract?
It may seem a little odd … until you realise that the Government is planning to take away the data controller role from GP practices.
That again may pass you by … until you find out that GPs have in effect been data protectors. They have guarded NHS information shared with GPs over decades, some statistical data, and other personal information about patients and their treatment.
The reason ministers want to do this is simple: they want to allow easier access and sharing of data with third parties, who may potentially invest the money in the NHS.
That’s what they see as the good bit: but at what real cost would any such investment be made?
The Government is signing contracts with Palantir, the US technology company behind the CIA, ICE and many other Government agencies in the US. The company already has many Government contracts in the UK. Yet as many campaigners warn, it is by no means entirely benign. Recent and past comments from its founder and CEOs are extremely troubling. The Swiss government recently ended its contracts with Palantir.
But back to GPs and the reason that they have picked a seemingly obscure fight with Government over the imposed GP contract. Why refuse to share data?
First and foremost, because GPs care for patients, the data was intended just to be shared information between patient and GP as an aide memoire for each encounter. It was never intended as database to be shared or traded more broadly.
Even though the data has now become a potentially lucrative asset, that was never the intention, and there has never been any consent for using it in this way.
GP NHS Data is already being shared in some ICBs and Trusts without explicit consent. Even with the ‘opt out’, some ‘anonymous’ data is being shared.
Perhaps this may not concern you, but you haven’t been consulted or asked, have you?
GPs, too, have been increasingly sidelined by NHS England and Governments, despite (or perhaps because of) their clear intention at putting patients first.
Lack of funding, and the imposition of additional work without resources have meant we have both unemployment of GPs and fewer GPs per patient, and (despite media propaganda) no increase in GP appointments.
The Government has imposed online access without providing more GPs, restricted referrals, ignored GPs’ views on its new ideas for community care, and in the middle of all this Wes Streeting has imposed a new contract which 99% of GPs have rejected.
GPs can’t strike, and don’t want to: so they are looking at ways of getting the message across that GPs are on the side of patients, but are struggling due to lack of funding, imposed restrictions and failure of Government to listen.
Refusing to share data does not harm patients, but disrupts government plans to give away (or sell on) that data to companies that have no respect for patients or their right to privacy.
If we don’t want GP services to end up in a similar situation to Dental care – where there is a stark divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ and a majority of dental care in many areas is privately provided, not NHS – then we need to stand with, and help GPs.
We GPs are patients, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons too. We do understand the issues better than most given the unique position we find ourselves in. GPs are standing in the gap, and at the moment they are shouting but not being heard.
Processor acting on behalf of ICBs
Palantir Technologies UK LTD: The data platform contractor, Palantir Technologies UK LTD is a processor acting on behalf of the ICB who are using this Product. They provide the data platform and the technology that the Product uses and only act on the instructions of the ICB.
IQVIA: will act as a data processor via the NHS PET national tool in relation to ‘treating data’ so that a person can no longer be identified. IQVIA teams will not have access to the identifiable data processed.
Your rights under UK GDPR
You have the following rights under UK GDPR in relation to the processing of your personal data by the ICB for the purposes above:
• Right to be informed
• Right of access
• Right to rectify
• Right to object
Further information about these rights is in the NHS Federated Data Platform Privacy Notice:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/
The NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board privacy notice is available on the ICB website and includes more information about how the ICB processes your personal data, your rights and how to exercise them, as well as contact details for data protection officers.
Does the National Data Opt Out or any other opt out apply to this Product?
The National Data Opt Out policy does not apply to this Product as the data shared with the ICB to create the Product has been collected and shared under a legal obligation (the Legal Direction) and therefore the National Data Opt out does not apply. More information is available on the NHS website:
https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/
Type 1 Opt Outs do not apply to this Product because the Datasets used to create the Product does not contain Confidential Patient Information that has been collected by the ICB from GP Practices.
More information
For more information about how personal data is processed within the Federated Data Platform please see the NHS Federated Data Platform Privacy Notice:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/privacy-notice/how-we-use-your-information/nhs-federated-data-platform-privacy-notice/
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