Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of changing general practice data sharing from an opt-out to an opt-in system.

In line with the National Data Guardian's independent ‘Review of data security, consent and opt-outs’ in 2016, which considered an opt-in approach, an opt-out model provides the best balance between providing high quality services and providing individuals with a choice on how their data is used.