In 2024, coroners have issued 36 warnings in relation to the inadequate sharing of NHS patient information, clinicians being unable to access key information being a factor in a number of patient deaths.
Problems including restricted access to medical records, obstacles to information being shared with organisations outside the NHS and conflicting IT systems have been included in a number of Prevention of Future Deaths Reports, leading the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, to state that no patient should lose their life in 2024 because different parts of the NHS cannot share information.
In November 2024, the UK Information Commissioner, John Edwards, the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty and the National Data Guardian, Dr Nicola Byrne, published a joint video statement (click here to watch the video), stressing that, in most situations the benefits to patients and social care users of clinical data being available for use in their treatment far outweighs the manageable risks of sharing data. "Whilst it is right to be diligent about confidential data, this should never come at the expense of people's care, and we strongly urge you to use and share information with confidence".
Recent years have seen a significant rise in claims for breach of the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation, with some solicitors seeking to recover very large sums in costs which are many times the level of damages claimed. Concerns about the risk of claims are likely to be a factor in decisions to prevent the sharing of patient data which in turn lead to less favourable patient outcomes than would be the case were the data shared.
The extension of fixed recoverable costs across claims with a value of up to £100,000, implemented from 1 October 2023, should deliver significant savings in compensation claims and may in turn result in fewer claims being presented. It remains to be seen whether any such reduction in the number of data-related claims together with the encouragement to share patient information in confidence when necessary leads to greater sharing and a positive impact on patient outcomes.
