Streeting calls on Government to ‘face down’ powerful interests over NHS data

Rhiannon James, Abbie Llewelyn, George Thompson and Harry Taylor, Press Association Political Staff

Former health secretary Wes Streeting has called on the Government to “face down powerful producer interests” when it comes to NHS patient data.

Patients should control who can access their data, Mr Streeting said, as he urged MPs not to delay legislation aimed at modernising England’s health service.

It came as ministers faced criticism over plans to abolish Healthwatch England and Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) in new legislation.

The NHS Modernisation Bill, also known as the Health Bill, will establish a system for fragmented health information to be joined up across the country.

A single patient record will mean all NHS providers, including hospitals and GPs, will be required to share data, so that doctors and nurses across England can securely see a patient’s medical history, no matter where they are treated.

Mr Streeting described this as “one of the most important reforms of the NHS for decades”. Meanwhile, the new Health Secretary said it is “nothing short of a game changer”.

Along with virtual care, the single patient record is expected to reduce A&E attendances for frail patients by around 10,000, thanks to better community care, and another 10,000 from fewer misdiagnoses.

It is also estimated to result in 6,000 fewer people being admitted to hospital each year, based on avoided A&E visits, better heart failure management and improved mental health care co-ordination.

Opening the Bill’s second reading, James Murray told the Commons: “Patchy records are not just an annoyance or a source of anxiety or distress, they can also be a risk to patient safety.

“In other areas of our lives, getting the information wrong or not having it immediately available might be an inconvenience, but in a health service the consequences can be profound.”

He pledged to “accelerate our fundamental transformation and modernisation of the NHS”, adding: “I am determined to make sure that we benefit from the fullest possible use of technology, digitisation and AI to renew the NHS for the future.”

The Bill will abolish NHS England, which Mr Murray said will “reduce bureaucracy, so that more energy, time and funding in the NHS can be focused on the front line helping patients”.

Healthwatch England will also be scrapped under the legislation, with a new patient experience directorate established by the Department of Health and Social Care.

Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Helen Morgan criticised this move, arguing it will “ultimately strip patients of their voice”.

“It’s so crucial that we have an independent patient voice, rather than leaving the department or the ICB (integrated care board) to mark its own homework,” she added.

Paulette Hamilton, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, said one of her “biggest concerns in this Bill is the reduction in independent patient representation, including the abolition of Healthwatch structures”.

Ms Hamilton, who worked as a district nurse for 25 years, said: “If patient voice is weakened at the same time as local representation is reduced, there is a real risk that health inequalities become even less visible within the system, and we cannot allow that to happen.”

Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said the removal of Healthwatch and the HSSIB was a “terrible mistake”.

He said: “HSSIB gives members of staff who work in the NHS, the confidence to come forward and be a whistleblower. We need that. We need people to feel they’re in a safe environment.”

Labour MP Rachael Maskell (York Central) said the HSSIB “should continue”, while Labour’s Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale), asked for “strong reassurances” that there will still be “an independent investigative function”.

Mr Murray said the Bill “simplifies the patient safety landscape, streamlining and consolidating functions, making the system more effective and efficient”.

Health minister Karin Smyth said the current system “doesn’t work”, adding: “For 50 years we have had these sorts of bodies and patients are now currently saying the system does not work, and they’re not reporting into it.”

Speaking from the Labour back benches, Mr Streeting had earlier said the NHS “hasn’t got time to waste”.

He added: “The Government must face down powerful producer interests on patient data. Our health data is precious. Two things matter above all else: that our data is held securely and that it’s used ethically.

“But the single patient record is one of the most important reforms of the NHS for decades, and it is frankly unsafe as well as absurd that patients are still being asked to repeat their medical history every time they access a different service.

“We’ve also got to take on the producer interests who think patient data belongs to them, rather than to patients – our health, our data, our NHS.

“Patients should control who can access their data, and they should control their own data.

“So, by all means, let’s scrutinise this Bill, suggest improvement, but don’t slow it down.”

The British Medical Association (BMA) has raised fears that the new law will open the possibility that patient data is used inappropriately.

Mr Murray said: “Under our plans, strict safeguards, strong cybersecurity, and clear controls on who can read information will be backed by an audit trail of who has accessed what.”

Jen Craft, Labour MP for Thurrock, said there were opportunities for the Bill to go further, particularly on support for special educational needs.

She said: “Health are just not at the table when it comes to commissioning services for disabled children or meeting the needs of children with additional needs, and this basically means that there is an onus on local authorities who have a statutory duty to provide services that it is not in their gift to provide.”

She added: “I believe one extra way that the Bill could go slightly further is putting a duty of partnership and a duty of commissioning on ICBs around Send services, and particularly paediatric services.”

The Bill was passed unopposed at second reading, it will be further scrutinised by MPs at a later date.