| Most British
people support compulsory central registration of the identities of
cancer patients, according to the results of a survey published in April
(BMJ Online, 28 April). Transfers of identifiable medical records
to the National Cancer Registry are at present made without consent.
They are only lawful under a ministerial directive issued under the 2001
Health and Social Care Act, overriding the confidentiality provisions of
the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA).
The authors of the report claim their results
contradict the NHS’s code of practice on confidentiality, which states
that it cannot be assumed that patients are happy for information about
them to be used for purposes other than their direct care.
Full story in bjhc&im June 2006 (366 words)
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