SAFEGUARD YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY !

IF YOU HAVEN'T seen the above NHS leaflet, you possibly never will!

Why? Because the leaflet has been sent-out as an item of unsolicited mail, and there's a very good chance it will have popped through your letter box HIDDEN among other junk mail items. My copy arrived neatly tucked inside a pizza promotion leaflet and, had I not been aware that an important NHS leaflet was due to arrive, it would have been thrown-away into my paper recycling bag, without a moment's hesitation.

In short, the leaflet reveals a plan to allow your medical records to be shared with organisations OUTSIDE the NHS.

You can, however, opt-out of the plan by telephoning or writing to your local medical centre and telling them to mark your records as 'not to be shared'. But there's a problem. If you don't opt-out by 31st March 2014, the authorities will see that as your agreement for your medical records to be shared with ... to quote the lealet ... "approved researchers and organisations outside the NHS".

I believe this leaflet drop to be an ill-conceived idea, because junk mail is invariably discarded as unimportant. However, the 'essential reading' nature of this particular piece of junk mail cannot be over-estimated. It's about YOUR medical records and YOUR rights to privacy. I urge you to seek-out a copy and read it thoroughly. There's a 'dedicated patient information line on 0300 456 3531' where your questions may be answered to your satisfaction. You may even be able to obtain a copy of the leaflet by asking them to post you one.

In the meantime, I am doing all I can to get the powers that be to extend the above mentioned deadline by at least three months.

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME?

THE RECENT typhoon in The Philippines was, of course, a human tragedy. However, I now find myself wondering whether I’m alone in having deep misgivings over the UK government’s response to the disaster? For instance, in this age of austerity, where did that £50 million Philippines relief package come from? Was it some kind of a conjuring trick?  Or was it carved-out of this year’s huge £10 billion overseas aid hand-out? All indications are that it was neither.

 Nor did it form part of the generosity shown by private individuals, manufacturers and other organisations who donated to the Philippines aid fund of their own free will, and all credit to them for doing so. No, that £50 million appears to have come straight from UK tax payers’ coffers, yet none of us have had a say its distribution to a land many thousands of miles away. Surely, while there are UK pensioners – and others – still going cold and hungry in their own homes this winter, the government’s primary consideration should be to put our own house in order first?