Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on taking steps to keep the NHS data of serving military personnel confidential.

My Rt. Hon. friends, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Defence, are united in their commitment to ensuring serving military personnel receive excellent health services through the Defence Medical Services working in partnership with the National Health Service.

The Defence Medical Services provide primary healthcare for serving personnel. All serving personnel will have a Defence Health Record which records their healthcare through their military service, whether provided by the Defence Medical Services or the NHS. Serving personnel are provided with a medical care summary and a patient’s full Defence Health Record can be provided on request from their NHS general practitioner (GP).

There is an existing process for the transfer of healthcare information to the NHS when they leave the Armed Forces. A secure email gateway exists between the Ministry of Defence and NHS networks, permitting the secure transmission of email classified up to, and including, OFFICIAL SENSITIVE PERSONAL material.

To improve the transfer of healthcare information, the Defence Medical Services are working towards a greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from Defence Medical Services to NHS GPs.