Proposed EU laws could render £50 million NHS database illegal

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EU proposals could outlaw giant NHS database
Proposed EU laws could render £50 million NHS database illegal, senior officials warn

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent

10:00PM GMT 20 Jan 2014

Plans for an NHS database containing records of all patients in England could be scuppered by proposed European Union laws which would render the scheme illegal.

Every household is being sent a leaflet this month informing them that from April, their medical histories will be shared with researchers and pharmaceutical companies on the database unless they opt out.

But board papers drawn up by NHS senior officials ahead of a meeting today suggest that a draft EU law — which will not go to a vote until next year at the earliest — would mean the national scheme and other large research projects already under way would have to be scrapped.

Read Philip Johnston: 'Don't mislead us about our NHS medical records

The documents also disclose that the initiative would cost the taxpayer at least £50 million and the scheme has yet to be approved by the Treasury.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10585305/EU-proposals-could-outlaw-giant-NHS-database.html

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