Queen Victorial Hospital anonymises patient data

Published: 15-Jul-2011


A deal between the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (QVH) in Sussex and healthcare IT services provider, Mastek, will lead to improved privacy around patient data. The trust will anonymise information by implementing the Kameleon solution on 35 IT systems that store confidential patient-identifiable data. Dominic Bailey, head of information governance at the trust, said: "As a result, certain identifiers are now automatically replaced from our patient-level data when it is used for any secondary-use purpose." The improvements were welcomed by Helen Wilkinson, spokesman for the NHS confidentiality campaign group, The Big Opt Out, who said: "Patients may not be honest with their doctors if they are concerned they may be identified and have something they don't want their family to find out about. Also, if they are giving the wrong information, this could mean their research is not valid."

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