Call for tougher safeguards on NHS patients' electronic records

DOCTORS have called for tougher safeguards to protect patients' medical records when they are accessed electronically.

The Scottish Parliament will today debate a previous health committee report on NHS IT which also raised concerns about confidentiality of records.

The British Medical Association Scotland said while it supported technology being used to improve patient care, there were issues that needed to be addressed to make sure information was accessed appropriately.

A system, known as the Clinical Portal Technology project, is currently being piloted in Glasgow and Fife, allowing hospital doctors caring for patients to access specific parts of their GP records by computer. Dr Alan McDevitt, deputy chairman of the BMA's Scottish GPs committee and lead on IT issues, said: "Although BMA Scotland is broadly supportive of the Clinical Portal Technology project, we do have concerns relating to patient confidentiality and how access to the system will be managed.

"If portals are to be accessible from anywhere within the NHS then it is our view that username and password access does not offer sufficient security of data."