From 1 July 2021, and every day thereafter, the Government has Directed NHS Digital to take from your and your family’s GP records:

• “data about diagnoses, symptoms, observations, test results, medications, allergies, immunisations, referrals, recalls and appointments, including information about physical, mental and sexual health” (more details)
• “data on sex, ethnicity and sexual orientation”
• “data about staff who have treated patients”

You can opt out if you wish.

NHS Digital states that: “Data may be shared from the GP medical records about … any living patient registered at a GP practice in England when the collection started – this includes children and adults”.

It goes on to say the data will be shared “from 1 July 2021”, although NHS Digital says that you only have until 23 June 2021 to opt out – if you haven’t opted out by the time your entire GP history is first sent to NHS Digital this summer, your information will never be deleted.

From later this year, data collected from your and your family’s GP records will be disseminated dangerously by NHS Digital alongside your other NHS records, including into the secret ‘VIP lanes’ for GP data. 

Documents about the programme (formally called ‘General Practice Data for Planning and Research’) were published on 12 May 2021 – the morning after the Queen’s Speech (in which none of this was mentioned)…

• Legal Direction from the Secretary of State to NHS Digital
  • NHS Digital ‘Data Collection’ information
  • NHS Digital ‘Data Provision Notice’ to GPs
  • NHS Digital ‘Transparency Notice’ which YOU are supposed to know about…
  • NHS Digital’s FAQ and our answers
• ‘Type 1’ opt out form – the only opt out that will stop NHS Digital taking your data
• National Data Opt-out page – this opt out won’t stop NHS Digital from taking your GP records; it may stop it sharing your NHS data with others. (You will also see that the forms separate you and your children.)
• Data Protection Impact Assessment – no DPIA has yet been published