Labour 'has double standards on MMR rules'

The Tories have accused Tony Blair of double standards over new rules which could let the Government identify parents who will not allow their children to have the controversial MMR jab.

The Prime Minister has refused to reveal whether his son Leo, who will be two tomorrow, has received the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab which has been linked to autism and bowel disease.

He claims under patient confidentiality rules that he has no obligation to reveal his family's private medical details.

But regulations expected to be approved in the House of Lords this week mean that Ministers will be able to access patients' medical records without their consent.

If the numbers given MMR continue to fall and there is a measles epidemic, for example, the Health Secretary could demand patient records to identify areas of low uptake. If doctors, nurses or other health workers refused, they could be fined £5,000.

Tory health spokesman Dr Liam Fox accused Mr Blair of hiding behind patient confidentiality when it suited him.

'It's bizarre that the Prime Minister should say that the common-law defence of confidentiality is one which he thinks is suitable and necessary in the case of his own family and then to come forward with legislation which will effectively abolish it,' Dr Fox said.

He warned that the move could mean that the Blairs' medical records were accessed too. And he condemned the fact that the Health Secretary would be able to decide who should have access to private medical records and to punish doctors who failed to hand them over.

'Absolutely no justification has been given for taking these wide powers,' he said. 'The Secretary of State will be prosecutor, judge and jury.'

The Department of Health stressed that patient information will be kept strictly confidential and only health organisations will be able to access it for research or monitoring immunisation programmes, outbreaks of infectious disease and adverse reactions to vaccines and medicines.

Private companies - including pharmaceutical and insurance companies - will not be allowed the data, it said.

A spokeswoman added: 'Who can have this information will be very restricted. It will be available only in limited circumstances to protect public health and sustain essential NHS activity and for research.

'If there was a severe problem with the uptake of MMR and there was a risk of an epidemic, that could be an example. There is no way the records will be made public.'

Organisations who want access to patient records will have to apply to the Patient Information Advisory Group - an independent, statutory watchdog whose members represent patients' groups, healthcare professionals and regulatory bodies.

However, the regulations raise concerns that confidential information will be passed between Government departments. A poll of 1,000 people for the Patients' Association revealed that 95 per cent of patients do not want civil servants to have access to their records without their consent.

Simon Williams, of the Association, said: 'We all have to be confident that if we discuss matters of great personal detail with a health professional, this remains private. We are not confident at the safeguards introduced to ensure patient information is not misused.'

Meanwhile, a former Government scientific adviser has condemned Labour's handling of the MMR crisis.

Latest figures show that only 70 per cent of toddlers due to have the jab in March did so - down six per cent since the end of last year and well below the target of 95 per cent.

Lord May said the current crisis was caused by the 'excessively confident assertion that there is no risk attached to MMR rather than what I believe to be correct, that there may be a small risk'.