NHS Care.data: We’ve won a breakthrough!

We’ve won a breakthrough in our campaign on NHS Care.data! Last night, NHS England declared they were pausing the new scheme, to address 38 Degrees members and the public’s concerns about the national database of medical records.

On Monday, over 150,000 members of 38 Degrees responded to a poll about Care.data. A massive 93% voted to launch an opt-out website – so we could easily choose to exclude our data from Care.data, if NHS England did not address our concerns.

Faced with the threat of a nationwide, people-powered opt-out, NHS England’s head of data requested a meeting with some of the 38 Degrees team, and fairer economy campaigners Sum of Us.

Our plans for an opt-out clearly added to the pressure on NHS England to pause Care.data.

Today, the Daily Mail, the Independent, the Telegraph, and the Guardian newspapers have all mentioned 38 Degrees members’ campaigning as a key trigger in NHS England’s decision to think twice about rolling out Care.data.

NHS England need to use this pause not just to “listen” – they need to act. 38 Degrees members, along with the rest of country it seems, are appalled by the very idea that private companies could get their hands on our medical records.

Let’s use the next six months to ramp up the pressure on NHS England and make sure any database is for patients and not private companies.