There have been some misunderstandings in some of the posts above.
This will not affect your care in any way. Data collected for the purposes of looking after you is called primary use. The GP data grab is only about the secondary use of data, not connected with your care, it is for research and other purposes. All diagnoses and most parts of your medical record are given an appropriate SNOMED code. All these codes will be extracted, along with your name, dob, ethnicity, and first half of your postcode. Make no mistake, this is identifiable data. It will be stored in one vast NHS database held by NHS Digital, who will sell access to any organisation that asks, provided they agree the reason the organisation puts forward. The information released by NHS Digital will be in anonymised form, or pseudonymised, which is at risk of re-identification if you pay extra to link two databases. For example if you have a rare disease and part of your postcode is known, it is not that hard to find you. You might want to hide from an abusive partner, or you might have uncertain immigration status and not want the Home Office or Social Services to locate you through your medical records.
No Goverment will be able to resist giving access to the enforcement agencies. .Don't.confuse The GP extractionnandd aNationalData Opt Oypeneois the one we are talking about, the extraction of all your GP records. You cannot opt out online please understand this. The only way is to tell your GP surgery, and the easiest way to do this is with the form here. medconfidential.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Type_1_opt-out_letter.pdf
Type 2, now known as the National Data Opt Out, is the one you can use to opt out of having your hospital data used for research and other purposes. This too is stored in an NHS Digital database, and you cannot stop them collecting it, only the use that is made of it. The two databases will be linked. You can opt out of giving access to your hospital data on line, and can check your status in the NHS app. But you cannot do this for Type 1 opt outs, that has to be direct contact with your GP surgery.
I am very relieved that this is finally getting into the mainstream media, when I posted the first thread on this, some thought it was a conspiracy theory! ?
If you want to see where your data might end up, there is a list here of who has your hospital data already.
www.theysolditanyway.com/
A legal challenge has been mounted to give more time for an information campaign, but so far Matt Hancock is resisting. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of GPs have written a letter of protest to NHS Digital.
If you can make your friends and family aware that they do have a choice if they act now, we would all be grateful.
