19th December 2024

Palantir: How to opt-out
The site MedConfidential says “We cannot guarantee that you will have any more information in future than you do now” about whether you can opt out of your data being collected for the Federated Data Platform (FDP). So you might as well complete a form to give to your surgery, to refuse consent for your identifiable information to be collected for the FDP.

The Data (Use and Access) Bill
This is passed into law it will a) reduce data protections and increase access to our personal health data for the private sector and public authorities; b) redefine ‘scientific research’ to include commercial activities; c) change the meaning of ‘consent’ so that agreeing to the use of your data for one research project means also consenting to future but yet unknown projects. Write to your MP and ask them to vote against the Bill. Here’s a briefing for MPs and a letter template.

“Ban PAs from seeing patients 1-to-1”
The Royal College of Physicians has called for a rethink of government plans to increase the number of PAs from 3,000 to 10,000 by the mid-2030s. They should not be allowed to run clinics on their own, without a senior doctor present, because left unsupervised they could pose a risk to patients’ safety.

Streeting’s definition of anti-semitism
Israel is bombing Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Wes has said no one in the NHS is allowed now to say I oppose this, or say, ‘I am an Arab, my people are being wiped out’. Is he right, do you think?