Health record privacy in Scotland

Last week I spoke at a conference on digital health at the Scottish parliament. The talks are now online; my talk is here, and my slides here. At present, medical records in Scotland are organised differently under its fourteen different health boards, with wide variations in privacy, safety and functionality. Needless to say, officials in Edinburgh see this as an opportunity for centralisation; they want to follow the sad story in England. The political dynamic north of the border is much the same: officials want to grab all the data, GPs are not keen, but the public’s not paying attention.

If you’re interested in these issues, save April 24th in your diary; there will be a big medical privacy event in London organised by a number of NGOs.

2 thoughts on “Health record privacy in Scotland

  1. Re Health and Social Care Information Centre
    Ross, I’ve scanned the information available at HSCIC and find that, in relation to children, data on mental health & obesity are noted as being future objectives. There has been a little discussion about similar themes in Australia, eg https://theconversation.edu.au/come-get-the-data-carr-tells-researchers-12675 earmarks a research project on “how to deal with anxiety disorders in children”.
    I’ve commented there, and wonder if you would have a look at what I’ve asserted. If I made sense, perhaps you’d have an idea how HSCIC plans to keep track of individuals as they mature into adults and seek new “identities” within the H & SC systems?

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