The controversial planned mass extraction of patient data from GP records will be delayed from July to September, the Government has announced.
Patients will also be given a longer window to opt-out of the extraction, than the previously planned 23 June deadline.
Health minister Jo Churchill today told the House of Commons that the Government has ‘decided we will proceed with the important programme, but we will take some extra time, as we have conversed with stakeholders in the past couple of days’.
She said: ‘The implementation date will now be on 1 September and we will use this time to talk to patients, doctors, health charities and others to strengthen the plan, build a trusted research environment and ensure data is accessed securely.’
Later in the session, health secretary Matt Hancock also confirmed that patients would be given longer to opt-out of the data extraction.
Source: www.pulsetoday.co.uk