SENIOR doctors are encouraging a mass revolt against the government’s £12 billion national health database by supporting a campaign to urge patients to opt out.

Activists in the British Medical Association (BMA) have produced a pro forma letter that people can send to their GP to stop their records going onto the database.

The doctors fear that patients’ records could be misused if they are made available to health workers across the country, as is planned under the Connecting for Health system.

The campaign is modelled on the recent widespread protest against excessive bank charges, which was also coordinated through the internet. The letter can be downloaded from the website of the BigOptOut campaign, nhsconfidentiality.org.

Dr Paul Cundy, chairman of the BMA’s general practitioners IT committee, helped compose the protest letter.

He said: “Some doctors are actively encouraging their patients to rebel. This letter is an easy way for patients to express the rights that the BMA feels they ought to have by default.”

The Department of Health confirmed yesterday that people sending the letter to their GP would be able to opt out of the database, but warned that patients might not receive the best emergency care if their records were not available.

It said the database would improve diagnosis and treatment – particularly out of surgery hours and in emergencies.

However, nearly two thirds of GPs surveyed by the BMA have expressed deep concerns about the database.

They argue that many of the NHS’s 1.3m employees could gain access to highly sensitive health information, including patients’ sexual and mental health histories.

The government has conceded that patients can check their records for accuracy and ask for intimate matters to be withheld. But doctors fear that most patients are still unaware of their rights.

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