INTERPRETATION (Hansard, 29 April 1988)

§ Mr. Kirkwood

I beg to move amendment No. 2, in page 1, line 24, after 'to' insert 'the physical or mental health of'. I should like to respond positively to what the Minister has just said. I acknowledge that although she has many other fish to fry, albeit it in polyunsaturated oils, on her political agenda, and in spite of her difficulties in other areas, both she and her Department have taken a special interest in the Bill. That is significant, because the Bill cost only £1.60. If we encourage hon. Members to measure the value of their Bills by the price of them that will only detain the House further on Fridays, because more expensive Bills mean more clauses. I do not know that I would go all the way with that advice.

Amendment No. 2 is also formal. It is one of a series of amendments. We shall deal later with amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 9, which seek to bring the Bill into line with the provisions in the Data Protection Act 1984 for access to computerised medical records. The Bill provides a definition of "medical report" that is consistent with those that have been adopted in the Data Protection (Subject Access Modification) (Health) Order 1987. The Government believe it sensible to keep the definitions consistent on all counts, insofar as they are in the public domain. That is why we have used that definition in the Bill.

§ Mrs. Currie

We welcome the amendment, which clarifies the definition of "medical report". Without it, the Bill would have included, for example, character references supplied by a medical practitioner. As the hon. Gentleman said, the background to the definition lies in the Data Protection Act, a major piece of legislation promoted by the Government, when issues such as what may be included in the report were dealt with in considerable detail in Committee and on Second Reading, Report and Third Reading. It is therefore eminently sensible to make good use of that experience; it is helpful if legislation is reasonably consistent and there is the benefit of having a precise definition.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks when he introduced the amendment. There is a considerable background to access to medical records that goes well beyond the Bill. The hon. Gentleman will be aware of the commitment given by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Waddington), when he was a Home Office Minister, that patients should have far better access to their medical records. Voluntary negotiations are continuing and we are hopeful that there will be some progress. I certainly want progress on developing draft guidelines for general access to medical records, which I hope will be achieved either this summer or in the autumn. It is now a year since my right hon. Friend made his commitment. A year may be a short or a long time in politics, but it is certainly long enough for progress to be made in negotiations between intelligent people. It is in the interests of everyone, and especially the health and welfare of patients, that progress should be made. We believe that the amendment improves the Bill.