The health records of everyone in the NHS will be pooled in a vast database which can be accessed by researchers and pharmaceutical companies. But campaigners warn it could breach privacy.But campaigners warn it could breach privacy.

By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent

he medical notes of every NHS patient are to be pooled in a vast database to improve research.

In the coming days every household in Britain will receive a letter advising them that, from April, their medical histories will be shared with researchers and pharmaceutical companies unless they opt out.

Today leading charities including Cancer Research UK, Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation launch a campaign to highlight the importance of allowing the notes to be accessed for the advancement of medical science.

They say the database will help them understand the causes of disease, spot side-effects to new drugs and detect outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Doctors have promised that patients will remain anonymous. But data protection campaigners have warned that individuals risk being identified and that the notes may be inaccurate.

Health professionals have admitted the ‘care.data’ database could be vulnerable to targets from hackers and criminal networks, but say it is necessary to improve the health service…..

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