GPs Want Guidance On ‘Excessive’ GDPR Workload

Members of local medical committees (LMCs) in the UK have called for greater recognition from the government over the additional workload created by the GDPR legislation.

In a series of votes at the UK LMCs Conference in Belfast this week, GPs asked for clearer guidance to be issued about what constitutes an excessive workload when responding to subject access requests, GP Online reported.

By being able to properly define what is excessive, GPs would be able to charge a fee if the subject access request fell into this category, allowing them to pay for extra staff to carry out such work.

Dr Ashok Rayani, from Morgannwg LMC, said that the current act doesn’t define excessive, which means it’s open to interpretation.

When proposing the motion, Dr Rayani stated: “The ICO has decided excessive means repeat requests for the same information. In our opinion, excessive should also include the volume of the paper record and the time taken for GPs to redact third party information.”

The General Practitioners’ Committee (GPC) responded by stating that it is working on a code of conduct that GPs and those making subject access requests can follow.

Attendees at the UK LMCs conference also agreed that it’s no longer possible for GPs to be data controllers and run a general practice. Dr Paul Evans, from Gateshead and South Tyneside LMC, said that most practices don’t have the staff or resources to meet the demands placed on them by the GDPR legislation, the news provider reported.

At the end of 2018, research released by the British Medical Association revealed that subject access requests have increased by more than one-third since GDPR was introduced, and that they’re taking doctors away from treating patients, Pulse Today reported.

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