On the pages of this site you’ll find information about the planned extraction of medical records from GP surgeries. In particular we recommend that you read the whole of ‘What’s the Story?’ and follow up the links that we provide. All of these are to reputable sources, and mainly to NHS England’s own documents or those of their new Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Our aim has been to bring together the facts so that the public can understand what’s going on, and journalists can ensure that everything they write is based on the available evidence. We hope to save everyone the research leg-work that would otherwise be necessary in order to understand a dauntingly complex story.

Politicians and NHS England have repeatedly stressed that all patient information will be anonymised. Recently one or two journalists have been quick to pick up on this mantra. But if you read ‘What’s the Story?’ you will see that this is not true. What they really mean is that patient data will be anonymised unless there is a legal exemption that allows the use of identifiable information. NHS England has obtained just such an exemption.

But don’t simply take our word for it. Please take a bit of time to read the detailed information and if you think it isn’t accurate, let us know and send us all relevant links so that we can correct it where necessary.

If you’re new to this whole issue, there is a simplified FAQ sheet here but note that this doesn’t contain any links.