Pulse's care.data survey results

The care.data scheme is currently on hold with extracts now not due to take place until the autumn. Do you believe that patients should have to provide explicit consent (ie opt-in) before records are extracted from practices?

Yes – 321 (74.65%)

No – 82 (19.07%)

Don’t know – 27 (6.28%

Total answered – 430

Which of the following measures do you think NHS England should take when seeking to further inform patients about the care.data scheme?

Send a second unaddressed information leaflet to every household

Yes – 112 (27.59%)

No – 256 (63.05%)

Don’t know – 38 (9.36%)

Total answered – 406

Send an addressed letter to patients

Yes – 277 (66.27%)

No – 115 (27.51%)

Don’t know – 26 (6.22%)

Total answered – 418

Send new publicity material for practices to use to inform patients

Yes – 298 (70.95%)

No – 106 (25.24%)

Don’t know – 16 (3.81%)

Make it easier for patients to opt out e.g. include an opt-out form

Yes – 382 (89.88%)

No – 33 (7.76%)

Don’t know – 10 (2.35%)

Total answered – 425

Launch a national TV and radio advertising campaign

Yes – 369 (86.82%)

No – 45 (10.59%)

Don’t know – 11 (2.59%)

Total answered – 425

Rewrite the publicity material to make the implications of care.data sharing clearer to patients

Yes – 375 (89.29%)

No – 32 (7.62%)

Don’t know – 13 (3.10%)

Total answered – 420

Some GPs with concerns about care.data have opted all of their patients out of data-sharing by default unless the patients choose to opt in. If care.data extracts proceed in the autumn after a renewed publicity campaign but with no substantive changes to the data-sharing or consent model, do you intend to automatically opt out all of your patients?

Yes – 34 (7.91%)

No – 240 (55.81%)

Don’t know – 156 (36.28%)

Total answered – 430

About the survey: Pulse launched this survey of readers on 24 February 2013, collating responses using the SurveyMonkey tool. The 29 questions asked covered a wide range of GP topics, to avoid selection bias on any one issue. The survey was advertised to readers via our website and email newsletters, with a prize draw for a Samsung HD TV as an incentive to complete the survey.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked to specify their job title. A small number of non-GPs were screened out to analyse the results for this question. These questions were answered by 430 GPs.