A HEART transplant patient claims he has gone without vital blood pressure monitoring for more than six months after refusing to sign a form which would allow his medical data to be passed on to others.
Pensioner David Rowlands, of St Albans Road, Woodford Green, has required regular medical care since undergoing the life-saving procedure two decades ago - and was told to have 24-hour blood pressure checks in April this year after being injured in a fall.
But the 65-year-old was left in shock when staff from InHealth Netcare - which provides medical services on behalf of Redbridge Primary Care Trust (PCT) - allegedly told him they would not provide the monitoring unless he signed a form granting permission for his results to be disclosed to third parties.
Mr Rowlands refused to sign the document and has still not received the monitoring, despite complaining to Redbridge PCT.
The PCT has since sent him a letter confirming that the form needs to be signed prior to treatment and that patients' data may sometimes be used for research purposes.
Mr Rowlands said: "I refused to sign the form because I don't believe you should have to agree to have your data disclosed to third parties just to get medical care.
"This is about patient confidentiality. It's about not putting up with bureaucrats simply imposing their will on the rest of us.
"Who knows who this information will be passed on to. Saying that they will simply 'disclose it to others for research' is unacceptable.
"They said you will not be indentified by your data, but what guarantee is there of that? Why should it be passed to a third party in the first place?"
Mr Rowlands fears he could be one of a large group of patients across Redbridge faced with going without treatment after refusing to sign the form.
The Guardian has since seen a copy of the form given to Mr Rowlands which read: "InHealth Netcare may use data, from which you cannot be identified, or disclose it to others for research, statistical or educational purposes or for administrative or contractual purposes (for example audit and continous improvement."
A spokesman for Redbridge PCT said: "Patients are required to sign the form with InHealth before treatment and their details may be used in any clinical audit to assess the effectiveness of the service.
"This information is restricted in use."
Nick Mayhew of InHealth Netcare said: "InHealth comply with strict patient confidentiality policies which cover clinical data sharing.
"Where data is shared, it involves the transfer of images for clinical reporting which provides data for the patient's referring consultant or GP and for clinical audit purposes."
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