"My body, my health, the NHS and my medical records, though..." But individuals are not always islands, for example when it comes to infectious diseases and epidemics. How was SARS dealt with? By a network of databases constantly updated that assisted medical staff with planning, containment, quarantine and contingency. http://www.who.int/csr/sars/networkshome/en/index.html May I even dare to say that it would be a moral duty to be on a records system to avoid such scenarios and similar. I'm using this to illustrate the point that a NHS database can have benefits when it comes to epidemics and perhaps research/bioinformatics. But I don't have an answer for the concern about all the information being in one place and accessible at lightning speed. I agree that this can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. It brings benefits and risks. As myself and others have said here, the problem is down to implementation and I agree with the point made here that modern computer systems and techniques today still aren't ready - that's why I originally said it would take many many years to develop.