HC Deb 08 July 1993 vol 228 cc250-1W
Mr. Denham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will make it her policy that no other Government Department or body will have access to information stored on national health service administrative registers;

(2) what action the Government will take to ensure that information stored on national health service administra-tive registers will be used only for the purposes for which it is intended.

Mr. Sackville

Administrative registers are being developed in the national health service to enhance the care of patients and improve the management efficiency of the service. Any access to and use of information on the registers by other bodies will be strictly controlled for those purposes in accordance with agreements reached with the Data Protection Registrar.

Mr. Denham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total estimated cost of establishing the national health service administrative registers.

Mr. Sackville

There are five pilot projects in England to trial the establishment of local national health service administrative registers. These sites are due to complete their work in late 1994 and the lessons learnt, including information on costs, will be the basis for decisions on national implementation.