The NHS is due to embark on a step-change in the way it uses and shares patient data.

The following link sets out some of the privacy concerns with this (as well an instructions on how to opt out - which I have copied at the end of this article):

https://bylinetimes.com/2021/05/19/the-government-wants-to-sell-your-gp-medical-records-heres-how-to-opt-out/

The Health Secretary has long been convinced that the use of AI crunching bulk patient data will have huge benefits for patient outcomes:

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252488719/Matt-Hancock-announces-50m-for-healthcare-AI-projects

He would, no doubt, claim that the privacy concerns above have been overblown.

I try not to weigh in on national politics on this website, nonetheless residents ought to know that, rightly or wrongly, it has been decided to make this an opt-out process, rather than having patients specifically opt in to data sharing.

For residents that do wish to opt out clear instruction can be found on the bylinetimes article above (a broadly left of centre news outlet) however, these instructions have, in turn, been taken from the medconfidential website, and can be found here:

https://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/

While there is a ticking clock at the top of this website the NHS maintains that you can opt-out of data sharing at any point (including after 23rd June). However, clearly if data has already been shared with outside organisations prior to your opting out, it is unlikely that it can be easily "unshared" so if you do wish to opt out, and you are reading this in early June, you'll probably want to do it fairly soon.