When visiting my GP in Weymouth last week, I was invited to say whether I would give permission for my medical details to be communicated throughout the health service.

There was no pressure to do so but I understand that the Government had asked all surgeries throughout the country to make such an enquiry.

It seems to me that this is an entirely sensible move. If a person should be taken ill when away from home it is desirable that the local service can access such information, especially in an emergency.

I was very willing to agree to this as long as it applied only to the NHS.

But I would not want my private information to go beyond the NHS to the pharmaceutical companies and the clutter of private heath providers that the Government has insisted on introducing into health care. Personal health information is the property of the patient. Unlike the NHS, private pro-viders of health care are in it for profit, and should not be entitled to free use of such information.

Unfortunately, the question-naire devised by the authorities allows for the patient only to agree to the proposal, not to agree, or not to reply. There is no provision for patients to say that they will share their information but only within the NHS.

I gather that there has been a public outcry against this and there is some talk that the wording of the questionnaire will be revised.

In the meantime, I would urge all patients not to agree to the proposal until it is restricted to NHS agencies.

Alan Chedzoy, Spa Road, Weymouth