Written answers

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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704. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which patient information is made available to third party pharmaceutical companies or any other entity broken down by category of information; if he will instruct the health care pricing office to divulge precisely how much information has been provided by indicating, in tabular format, the entities to which information has been provided; the dates upon which information was provided in the past ten years; the number of patients whose information has been shared; if consent was sought in any case; if any sum was paid in exchange for said information; the stated reasons for which access to this information was sought; if he has contacted the Data Protection Commissioner to ascertain if this data transfer is consistent with data protection legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32636/14]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The HSE has confirmed that the Healthcare Pricing Office (HPO) does not make hospital patients’ personal records available to pharmaceutical companies, insurers or any other commercial entities. The HPO may provide statistics on hospital activity to third parties. Such information is of an aggregate statistical nature which means that patients cannot be identified. More detailed information is provided to bodies including the National Cancer Registry, the Health Research Board as well as researchers in universities. However, I have been assured by the HPO that in providing any such data, patients’ identities are removed from the information given. The issue of consent does not arise in the transfer of the data because all information is anonymised. The HPO does not apply a charge for the provision of information.

It is important to note that the HPO has implemented measures to ensure the confidentiality of hospital patient data. In order to safeguard patient privacy and ensure that no patients can be personally identified, the HPO collects only a reduced range of information about patients at the national level. This means that the HPO does not collect patient names, addresses or full dates of birth. The HPO has advised me that the relevant section of the ESRI (the functions of which have since been subsumed into the HPO) met with the Data Protection Commissioner in 2010. Following on from that engagement the ESRI changed its data collection methodology to improve its data protection procedures. I have been advised by the HPO that it is compliant with the advice given to it by the Office of the Data Commissioner regarding its procedures governing data.

In conclusion, I have been advised by the HPO that it is acutely aware of its responsibilities in relation to patient privacy and is fully respectful of the rights of patients in this regard. My Department does not hold the detailed information sought by the Deputy. For this reason, I have requested that the HSE respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.

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