Alarm at NHS patient records being put under control of US private equity firm
U.S. private equity firm TPG has acquired Optum UK, the company behind the electronic patient record system used by most GP practices in England, in a deal valued at approximately £300 million. The acquisition means a American private equity firm will now control the health records of millions of NHS patients, prompting concern from doctors and MPs.
Why this matters: Most people in England have never heard of Optum UK. But it holds their GP records — diagnoses, medications, mental health notes, test results. That data just changed hands to a U.S. private equity firm. Private equity firms are not charities. They buy things to make money from them. The concern is not hypothetical: health data is among the most sensitive personal information that exists, and the people it belongs to had no say in this deal. Doctors and MPs are right to push for scrutiny. The question is whether that scrutiny comes before anything goes wrong, or after.
Who should care: Healthcare professionals · Privacy officers · Compliance
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