Commentary on Sections and Schedules Part 1: the Statistics Board Section 43 Information relating to NHS registration
176.Prior to this Act, the ONS produced population statistics; these included small area population estimates, migration estimates, statistics on birth and mortality rates in the population, and national and sub-national population estimates and projections. In the production of such statistics, the ONS used data held in the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR). ONS was responsible for the operation of the NHSCR, whose main function is the compilation and maintenance of a record of all persons who are resident in England and registered with an NHS General Practitioner. This work was carried out on behalf of ‘NHS Connecting for Health’, which is an Agency of the Department of Health.
177.This section creates an information gateway to ensure that the Board may still receive patient registration information as the ONS did previously.
178.Subsections (3)(a) to (d) stipulate the categories of patient registration information that may be shared with the Statistics Board, including their address, their date of birth, their gender, their patient identification number, and their history of registration. However, this list is not exhaustive and while the list of examples of ‘patient registration information’ provided in the subsection is sufficient for present purposes, it may not be sufficient in the future. This flexibility to share other patient registration information is expressly limited by subsection (4), in that the Secretary of State (or other public authority) may not provide information about an individual’s health or condition or about the care or treatment provided to any person.