Even in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, the UK and its healthcare sector will not be exempt from compliance with the incoming new data protection laws, formerly ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR), expected to come into effect by May 2018.

What could be seen as a final warning was sounded to European businesses on Data Protection Day 2017, when commercial organisations, including those in healthcare, were asked to prepare for what appears to be much stricter regulations pertaining to the use of data under GDPR.

Those who fail to get in line with the changes to data privacy could be at risk of being landed with heavy fines. It appears to be wishful thinking that Brexit will somehow exclude the UK from the legislation’s reach, so it might be prudent to adopt a policy of ‘better safe than sorry’.

Written by Ollie Capel of Medico Digital