Co-ordinator Dave Page said "Stockport PCT did not want to inform patients that their records had been lost. They claimed it was unlikely the data had fallen into the wrong hands, rather than explaining why it was being carried around on a small personal data stick. It's clear that the NHS isn't interested in even the simplest precautions to keep our information safe from fraud. It is reckless and irresponsible to now put everybody's eggs in one widely-accessible, insecure basket. No technical measures can protect our private information."

The NHS Spine system will allow people's personal information to be accessed from anywhere on the Internet, including people's home PCs, as well as hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies. This wide access leaves it open to fraudsters and crooked insiders. Another massive leak of people's most personal information is inevitable. People's medical records will be put on the Spine without their consent. It has already gone live in Bolton, one of the trial areas for the system.

Manchester NO2ID is calling on Greater Manchester Primary Care Trusts to shelve plans for the NHS Spine. The scheme will cost an estimated £12-£20 billion pounds which will be diverted from primary care, and offers few benefits to healthcare amid great risks of identity fraud.

Dave Page added "It is not too late for most people to opt out of the NHS Spine and keep themselves safer from Government incompetence. Download a form letter from  http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/ and send it to your GP today."

ENDS

For more information or interview, please contact Dave Page on 07982 814
441, or via e-mail at  manchester@no2id.net

For details on recent NHS data losses, see  http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/s/1033161_more_patien...  http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1031694_personal_info_lost... and  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7196198.stm
For more information on the NHS Spine system, please see
 http://www.nhsconfidentiality.org/

NO2ID is the UK-wide, non-partisan campaign opposing the government's planned ID card and National Identity Register. We bring together individuals and organisations from all sections of the community and seek to ensure that the case against ID cards and the database state is forcefully put forward in the media, in the corridors of power and at grassroots level. We continue to actively campaign on all fronts for the abolition of the ID scheme and repeal of the Identity Cards Act 2006.

Manchester NO2ID is the local group associated with the national campaign, working to inform the debate in the Greater Manchester area and across the North-West. Our website is  http://manchester.no2id.net/