Table 2.

Perspectives taken and information provided by impartial and partial witnesses who presented to both juries.

Witnesses		Perspective taken	Information provided
Impartial witnesses
	Dr Ralph Sullivan, general practitioner and medical informatician	To explain what is in a patient record, and how patient records are used in the NHS.	General Medical Council requirements for record keeping, content of multiple patient records, and how they are used in practice both for direct care and secondary uses
	Dawn Monaghan, group manager for public services at the Information Commissioner’s Office	To tell jurors a little about the law that protects access to patient records.	Outline of relevant privacy law, (common law duty of confidence and Data Protection Act 1998), how data are protected, and limitations to access to data
Partial witnesses
	Dr John Ainsworth, senior research fellow at the University of Manchester	To argue that it’s important that patient records are used for research and other purposes that bring benefits to the public.	How data are used to create medical evidence as to the effectiveness and safety of treatment in the public interest
	Sam Smith, medConfidential coordinator	Oo make the case for stronger control over access to patient records and better information and choices for patients about the use of patient records.	Risks of reidentification, differences between opt out and opt in, uses of data for decommissioning services, and misuse by commercial companies. Argued the case for greater control of patient records
	Professor Søren Holm, professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester	Ethical arguments for patients controlling access to patient records, and ethical arguments for wider use of patient records for the benefit of the public.	Potential benefits of sharing data, problems with sharing data, and difficulties with specific informed consent models. How these conflicting interests can be reconciled. Identified ethical considerations both for patients sharing and for patients controlling patient records for uses other than direct patient care