Care Information Choices: UK GP Practice Patient Opt-Out Data

UK data on patient opt-out information received from GP Practices. It details two types of opt-outs for sharing patient information outside a practice or the HSCIC. The dataset is provided by NHS Digital and was last updated in July 2026.

Use Cases

• Compare levels of type 1 and type 2 patient opt-outs based on the description of their different counting methodologies.
• Analyze geographic or practice-level variation in patient privacy choices based on GP practice-level reporting.
• Monitor trends in patient consent for data sharing for purposes beyond direct care based on the opt-out concepts described.

Strengths

• Data is provided by NHS Digital, the national provider of UK health statistics.
• Explicitly describes the difference between type 1 (instance-based) and type 2 (de-duplicated) opt-out counts.
• Available under the OGL-UK-3.0 license for open use.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes type 1 opt-out counts are not de-duplicated, which may affect direct comparisons.

Provenance

Source

NHS Digital

Collection Method

Data received from GP Practices.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:23.267580; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom (implied by source and platform)