The government has announced that the creation of a central NHS digital database from GP records in England, set to begin on 1 July, will be delayed by two months.

The NHS had been calling for a delay to allow patients more time to learn about the system. The date has now been pushed back to 1 September, with the government stressing that it remains ‘absolutely determined to take people with us on this journey’.

Health Minister Jo Churchill told the House of Commons that ministers would use the extra time to ‘talk to doctors, patients and charities to strengthen the plan... and ensure data is accessed securely’.

Under the proposed system - the General Practice Data for Planning and Research - information from surgeries in England will be added to an NHS Digital database. The includes data from records created up to 10 years ago.

Simon Bolton, head of NHS Digital, said all collected data would be protected or pseudonymised before it leaves the GP ‘to ensure patients cannot be directly identified’. He added that the data would only be accessible to organisations ‘which will legitimately use the data for healthcare planning and research purposes, and they will only get the specific data that is required’.

He also said patients would be able to opt out of sharing their data.