Sometime in early 2014 you may receive a leaflet via junk mail, entitled ‘Better information means better care‘

It may not be clear from the leaflet that a significant change in what is done with your medical records is about to happen.

The leaflet says you should “speak to your GP practice” if you want to stop your or your family’s confidential medical information being uploaded and passed on.

This is misleading.

You do not have to speak with your doctor or book an appointment. The choice to keep your medical records private is completely down to you; all you need do is inform your Surgery - not necessarily the doctor themselves - which you can do simply by writing a letter or dropping a form into your surgery.

To make things more straightforward, please follow the below link. Print it off, fill in your details, sign it and send it or drop it into the surgery reception for their attention.

Opt out document

Opting out will not affect the care you receive and you can change your mind at any point and opt back in if you like. If you have any specific concerns, we recommend you speak with Mike Neville – Managing Partner (Practice management)

As you will see from the letter, there are TWO codes that your doctor will need to add to your record – one to prevent identifiable information being uploaded from your GP practice and one to stop the Health and Social Care Information Centre from passing on identifiable information about you that it gathers from anywhere else, e.g. hospital records, clinics or testing laboratories.

Remember, the choice is yours. You don’t need to justify it but if you want to keep your medical records private and confidential you do need to act now.