It looks as if the backlash to care.data has had an effect.
The start of a new NHS data-sharing scheme in England involving medical records is being delayed by six months.
Work to start compiling the largely anonymised records on to the Care.data database was meant to start from April.
But NHS England has now decided that will not now happen until the autumn.
The organisation has accepted the communications campaign, which gives people the chance to opt out, needs to be improved.
There has been widespread criticism that the public have been “left in the dark” over the plans amid reports not everyone received the leaflets explaining the project.
Well, that’s the good news. The bad news is that they are only delaying it not belaying it. Still, there is more time to opt out if you have not done so already.
Sometimes if enough of us make a fuss loudly enough, it does have an effect. Nice when it happens even if it is not nearly enough.
It could be one of several things, including the reasons they give, although there seem to be more plausible explanations:
We can hope they have quietly decided to drop the scheme but in order to save face have advertised it as a “delay” so they can cancel it at a later date when the fuss has died down and nobody’s looking.
Or, as per practically every other government IT project under the sun, it has hit technical and management problems causing delays which they hope to catch up on in the next few months now they have a nice cover excuse.
Or they are consulting with their lawyers and civil servants as to how they can legally (or at least without getting caught) implement the scheme on the quiet despite massive public opposition. I wouldn’t put it past them.
I don’t doubt there are IT problems, but I don’t see it going away, either. Rather, they are retreating like a wounded animal and waiting for the fuss to die down before they try again.
Also, the opt out option will still see data uploaded but with the identifying information stripped – so it isn’t opting out at all. Cunts.