8 August 2007
We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop any plans of outsourcing work/letters/Medical results/typing from the NHS to India."
Details of Petition:
"Many Primary Health care trusts are already/or in the process of outsourcing work from the NHS to India. This would include any Medical test results or paperwork relating to it being processed and typed up in India. This is totally unacceptable and because of the language barrier will cause major problems especially when it affects life and death situations. Please please support this and put a stop to it - before it costs someones life!!!!!!!!!!.
Read the Government’s response
NHS organisations are legally responsible for managing the health records of their patients and are required by Data Protection legislation, which is reinforced by guidance issued by the Department, to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of information held within records. They are expected to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure confidentiality, including the specification of quality standards in contracts for outsourced services and the establishment of appropriate audit safeguards. However, compliance remains a local responsibility.
There is a range of information governance issues to be considered by NHS organisations intending to outsource services including potential differences in legal systems, patient confidentiality, information security management, records management and risk management.
The Department of Health is working to develop guidance to assist NHS organisations, which will also determine whether proposed outsourcing arrangements are acceptable and identify the level of contract management and information assurance controls necessary.