'Be careful!' Bev Turner hits out at 'NHS passport' that tracks your health online

'Be careful!' Bev Turner hits out at 'NHS passport' that tracks your health online

WATCH NOW: Bev Turner hits out at online 'NHS passport'

GB News
Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 05/02/2024

- 13:09

The Times Health Commission has found that eight in ten people are in favour of a 'patient passport'

GB News presenter Bev Turner has hit out at a new study which shows growing public interest for a simplified 'passport' to track your personal health.

In new research conducted by The Times Health Commission, figures show that eight in ten people support the idea of creating a “patient passport”, which would provide their health information on a single system.


Conductors of the study concluded that every NHS patient "should have their health information digitally stored in one place", so that any doctor treating them can access their records no matter where they are.

They claim the "patient passport" could be accessed by GPs, NHS hospitals, pharmacies and social care who are caring for the individual.

Andrew Pierce and Bev Turner

Bev Turner warns of the dangers of a 'patient passport' that tracks health online

GB News

The proposal is just one of ten recommendations brought to light in the report by the Commission.

The Commission's report has been published following a year-long inquiry into the data revolution of Britain's healthcare and the NHS.

They stated that "technology has the power to transform healthcare" and recommended a reform of current healthcare data methods.

The NHS currently has an app, which launched in early 2019 and grew in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic, which allows patients to access NHS resources.

Reacting to the study, Britain's Newsroom host Bev Turner warned of the dangers of technologies being sold to consumers purely for "convenience".

Bev stated: "I just want the individual to be in control of it, not necessarily the system.

"I can see the convenience issues, but convenience - be very careful when things are sold to you under the auspices of convenience."

Reading an email from GB News viewer Darren on the idea of patient passports, Bev said: "If a potential future employer starts asking for your medical records and finds a history of certain illnesses, I think this will go against the majority of people. Well, that is a potential threat of course."

Andrew Pierce and Bev Turner

Bev Turner warned of being sold ideas for 'convenience' in a growing world of technology

GB News

Bev then praised the "clever" idea of France's Carte Vitale, a smart card which stores the patient's health records and can only be seen by a special device owned by healthcare professionals.

The card was first introduced to French residents in 1998 in order to allow a "direct settlement" with the medical arm of the social insurance system.

She reacted: "So you have your own information on a computer stick? Maybe you stick it in the computer and then you can take that stick away with you - that's quite clever."

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