Tories: NHS records reports are 'speculation'

The Conservatives today described reports that health records could be transferred to Google or Microsoft under a Tory government as "speculation."

A spokesman said a group of experts was reviewing the NHS IT system for the Conservatives but would not be reporting back for a "few weeks."

"There is still an independent review on going so it is just speculation at this stage," he said.

His remarks come after The Times reported that health records could be transferred to Google or Microsoft under a Tory government.

Patients will be given the option of moving their medical notes to private companies after the Conservatives said that they would replace Labour's "centrally determined and unresponsive national IT system", the newspaper said.

Conservative leader David Cameron told BBC Breakfast that it was important to try to save money on the NHS IT programme.

He said: "For every penny we could save on the computer that isn't really working very well we could put money into nurses and doctors and patient care."

He added: "I don't accept the principle that the safest place for information is with the 'jolly good Government' because actually if we think about it - who has lost all our data recently? It was Revenue and Customs, the Government - I don't accept that somehow our data is safe when it is the Government that is looking after it."