Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Health and Social Care Information Centre does not contravene section 22 of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) takes every precaution to ensure compliance with legislation and that identifiable data is not disclosed without a legal basis to do so. There are strict controls set out within the Data Protection Act that govern the disclosure of sensitive data.

In all scenarios involving patient’s health data being wrongly disclosed, irrespective of the personal circumstances of a patient, HSCIC would seek to ensure appropriate reporting, investigations and corrective actions took place.