Academic Review 2024

47 ACADEMIC REVIEW 2024

information in the clinic depends heavily on health information technologies’ (Brothers & Rothstein, 2015). In order to be able to effectively store masses of data, the NHS has adapted to rely predominantly on electronic health records, rather than outdated, on-paper records. The usage of electronic health records increases the privacy risk within the NHS because, as electronic health records are much more thorough, data leaks become a much greater threat. All the data relating to a patient over their lifetime can be quickly viewed by anyone who has access digitally. In order to tackle this issue technologies that allow patients more control over their records can be utilised. One way this can be accomplished is by limiting access and segmenting patient data. However these methods are often controversial - they may result in healthcare providers having incomplete access to their patients’ health records, potentially limiting their ability to provide effective treatment. This is crucial, particularly in emergencies where doctors do not have time to search through lots of medical records or request permission and must act quickly in the best interest of the patient, without being able to consult with the patient in some instances. Having much more comprehensive records of data that can be accessed quickly means that doctors can see more patients in a day, and work faster in emergencies. This is a difficult issue as it may increase the strain placed on doctors within the NHS even further. A more feasible solution for this must be developed to allow for additional integration of personalised medicine into the NHS. reflect on the impact of personalised medicine on the economy and argue that, ‘Higher drug development costs are expected due to a need to identify and validate any genetic or other biological markers that may be needed to identify patients in who the drug is most likely to be effective’ (McKinnon & Sorich, 2012). We must consider whether this increase in cost is worth it, as ‘while some may gain a couple of extra years of life, others may gain only extra weeks. The line dividing these groups is not clear, making decisions by the government whether to pay for such drugs challenging’ (McKinnon & Sorich, 2012). The NHS takes a utilitarian approach to healthcare, attempting to distribute resources in a way that provides the maximum benefit to the greatest number of people. The effectiveness of any drug must

personal health records, smartphone applications, and biofeedback systems.’ (Budin-Ljøsne & Harris, 2015). This will not only aid healthcare professionals with research, allowing more effective personalised treatments, but can also be useful to close relatives who are genetically similar and are therefore likely to be at risk of similar diseases. Unfortunately, when striving to expand public participation in healthcare several difficulties arise. For example, ‘Citizens must also have sufficient technology literacy to be able to fully benefit from PM. However, groups of citizens, for instance the elderly, who are the heaviest users of healthcare services, often do not have the necessary skills and abilities to use new technologies’ (Budin-Ljøsne & Harris, 2015). Furthermore, many citizens may not, although capable, be able to access the technology required to share information and properly engage with their healthcare. Conversely, citizens who have both the technological literacy to engage with their healthcare and can afford the technologies required often have busy lifestyles, and therefore cannot find the time to contribute to medical research. These factors severely limit public interaction with the NHS, restricting the amount of data that medical professionals can analyse, slowing down the rate of integration of personalised medicine into the NHS. Personalised medicine relies on lots of data; Kyle B Brothers and Mark A Rothstein described personalised medicine as ‘information intensive’ and claimed that ‘the capability to utilize genomic Issues with cost and availability Another major issue affecting a more widespread adoption of personalised medicine in the NHS is its relatively high costs and, in some areas, low availability. McKinnon and Sorich argued that ‘The developments will increase drug prices and it is certainly the case that the targeted therapies developed for cancer carry a hefty price tag’ (McKinnon & Sorich, 2012). The technology required to map a genome is not cheap and diagnostic testing can be costly as well due to the large number of genes that must be examined. These tests can only be performed by very skilled specialists, who are not always available everywhere. Therefore some patients who live in very rural areas may be disadvantaged due to the lack of a skilled specialist or sufficient technology. Moreover, McKinnon and Sorich also