The demand for electronic patient records from health professionals and researchers is becoming increasingly shrill. The House of Lords has now joined the chorus in a recent report that argues that they are essential to the development of genomic medicine.

Genomics is the next big thing in medicine. ‘Genome’ refers to the entire DNA of an organism, including all its genes. This includes staggering amounts of data and collecting and analysing it is time-consuming and expensive. An understanding of genomics can aid the diagnosing and treatment of health conditions that are hereditary or those such as cancer or diabetes which incorporate many different genes within the genome.

Significant advances have already been made in genomics but professionals are concerned that the lack of a joined-up records system might stop the NHS achieving the potential of genomics. To get the most out of the knowledge, the NHS will need to test and upload DNA on a much larger scale then ever before. The report argues that the full benefits from genomics will come only “when the information can be linked to medical records” in order to cross-reference. The NHS will need to move fast if it’s going to keep up.

However, adding genomic data to patient records is likely to intensify the concern that patients have around the protection of data. Perhaps because it’s not well-understood, genomic data is seen as being particularly sensitive. And the idea of a central database of genomic data, however secure, is likely to cause consternation amongst some.