21/05/2026
🚨Important information to our Patients🚨
(Although the information is relevant to all NHSE GP Surgery patients)
We are taking part in collective action, and at this stage, patients remain unaffected. We hope you understand our concerns and will support our action.
Further below is a link to a letter we sent to Essex Integrated Care Board on 20.5.2026. Once we have received a response, we will consider further action.
Why are we taking part in collective action?
We take our data protection responsibilities seriously, and recent changes in NHS Commissioners and our imposed General Medical Services Contract for 26/27 has made it unclear how our regulators use patient data, and that if any data is flowing out of our clinical system, it is used securely, proportionately and safely for the clinical benefit for our patients.
We are also concerned regarding national reports of data breaches (for example UK Biobank) and the use of US based data companies (for example Palantir) having access to our patient’s data. As data controllers we need to ensure any data about our patients is managed confidentiality and within standard NHS regulatory frameworks. Whilst we appreciate the benefit of sharing data to improve patient care and safety we also want to ensure we are very clear about who has access to the data and for what purposes.
Wes Streeting published a Bill before resigning as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care last week, which causes further concerns, as it indicates no meaningful way for patients to opt out of data sharing agreements in the future. Whilst a Mandatory Single Patient Record sounds appealing and positive for patient care, firm assurances need to be in place to guarantee that data will not be shared inappropriately. Your GP Surgery will not have any influence on whether this bill passes or not – only voters have the influence. If you have concerns, you need to raise them directly with your Member of Parliament.
You can view the Bill and it’s progress here https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4124
Link to our letter – Letter to NHS Essex ICB – Data Sharing Agreements
If you have concerns about the current use of your data at the moment, you can take the following action:
(note – we do not think that the opt-out options below will still stand if the new bill is passed – information and intentions are scares to come by)
You can choose whether or not your data is used for research and planning. There are different types of data-sharing you can opt out of.
Stop your GP surgery from sharing your data This is called a Type 1 Opt-out.
This opt-out applies to practices and requires GPs to prevent the records of patients on their list from being lifted out of their systems for purposes beyond direct care (research and planning purposes)
To do this a patient will need to fill in an opt-out form and return it to your GP surgery. Only your GP surgery can process an opt-out form To download the form:
https://assets.nhs.uk/nhsuk-cms/documents/Type1Opt-outform.docx
Stop NHS England and other health and care organisations from sharing patient data for research and planning in specified circumstances
This is called the National Data Opt-out. For a patient to opt out online or find out more, visit https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice/
If a patient chooses this opt-out, NHS England and other health and care organisations will not be able to share any personal data with other organisations for research and planning, except in certain situations. For example, when required by law, or when the data has been pseudonymised.
Teresa Buglass, Practice Manager
Peacock Surgery
