Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits to the NHS of increasing the extent to which patient-level data is shared between organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Effective sharing of patient information between organisations as part of a person’s direct care has enormous potential to improve patient care, services and treatments and can only be done effectively if patients are given a say over how their personal information is used.

The sharing of patient information, whilst protecting confidentiality, ensures the highest standards of care and clinical safety are consistently met throughout the National Health Service and where standards drop, allowing prompt action to be taken. It also helps to understand what happens to people, especially those with long term conditions, who are cared for away from hospital, and to ensure their needs are met and provides vital information needed to assist and support research into new medicines, and the better treatment of disease.