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Controversial plans to give private companies such as Google responsibility for storing people's private personal health data could be revived, a minister has suggested.

Life sciences minister George Freeman, a Conservative, told business leaders that NHS data could be given to companies to look after as they are best placed to use it securely.

A tape recording of the discussion, passed to the Daily Mail, reveals Mr Freeman told guests at the Institute of Directors: 'The presumption at the heart of this debate at the moment is "well, only by the government doing it". I'm not so sure about that.'

Plans to give private companies such as Google responsibility for storing people's private personal health data could be revived, a minister has suggested (file picture)

Labour said it appeared that the Tories were planning to resurrect proposals for medical data to be 'bought and sold'.

The Government plans to make 'anonymised' NHS records from hospitals and GPs available to researchers through a scheme called Care.data.

Ministers initially suggested there could be a role for private firms in managing giant databases of records, but was forced into shelving that idea. Instead, a central database is to be run by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Life sciences minister George Freeman, a Conservative, told business leaders that NHS data could be given to companies to look after as they are best placed to use it securely

Care.data was supposed to start in spring 2014, but has been subject to a series of delays following a public outcry over the NHS's failure to properly consult on the programme.

There was widespread concern about the potential risks and a failure to make people aware of their rights to opt out.

Officials behind the £50 million scheme say it will improve healthcare and promote medical advances, with the information used by NHS researchers and drugs companies to spot trends, identify poor care and develop targeted treatments.

Hospital data played a role in uncovering both the Bristol heart and Mid-Staffordshire hospital scandals.

It also provided some of the evidence that led to targeted bowel cancer screening being introduced in 2006.

Unless patients choose to opt out, confidential information about their illnesses, test results and medication will automatically be uploaded from theirGP or hospital file to a central database. Data to be extracted from GP systems includes family history, vaccinations, referrals for treatment, diagnoses and information about prescriptions.

Mr Freeman, addressing guests at the IoD in March, said there was an 'interesting question here about what's the best way to safeguard the privacy of data'.

'The presumption at the heart of this debate at the moment is "well, only by the government doing it". I'm not so sure about that. It may well be that the best way to safeguard the use of the data is to let people who are really good at using data securely, access it, with massive penalties if they fail,' the minister added.

Hospital data played a role in uncovering the Bristol heart scandal and provided some of the evidence that led to targeted bowel cancer screening being introduced in 2006

Health data also helped uncover the scandal at Mid-Staffordshire hospital (file picture)

'You know, in banking and finance we all merrily, all day long, use our swipe cards, share our most precious information in a system that we trust, and it basically works. And if there is ever an error or a fraud everyone knows that you will be reimbursed, you can trust the system.

'And I'm not sure at the moment we, the real danger is if the politics of Care.data drives us into a cul-de-sac of thinking that the only people who can get data confidentiality right are civil servants in Whitehall.

'We really lock ourselves into a cul-de-sac where we do less and less and less, and we get cut off. I think that the model probably needs to be that we embrace the best people at using data and give the public reassurance that if things were de-anonymised or not used in the right way there are real sanctions and real penalties.'

Labour MP Ian Mearns said: 'David Cameron wants to resurrect his plan for people's private details to be bought and sold on the open market. This government is intent on privatising healthcare.

'Ministers want to hand people's personal health details to private companies, with all sorts of dangerous consequences.

The Government plans to make 'anonymised' NHS records from hospitals and GPs available to researchers through a scheme called Care.data (file picture)

'People's privacy and safety would be threatened by this secret plan, and ministers must now confirm their exact intentions over patients' personal records.'

Mr Cameron suggested before the last election that medical records could be stored with companies like Google and Microsoft.

A report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics earlier this year warned forcing patients to take part in the Care.data scheme unless they make a specific request to opt out is not acceptable in its current format.

Professor Martin Richards, the chair of the Nuffield Council's working party, said the scheme had been marred by bad planning and poor explanations about why GPs are being asked to upload all patients' records and hospital admissions to the central database.A Conservative source dismissed the idea that private firms could be involved in running Care.data.Data sharing within the NHS to improve patient care 'has actually been in place for decades - it's this Government which has changed the law to protect confidentiality, and for the first time given patients an opt-out, both of which Labour didn't do,' the source added. 

YOUR SECRETS FOR SALE: DETAILS OF PATIENTS WHO BOUGHT PRESCRIPTIONS ONLINE ARE SOLD OFF

Andy Burnham, Labour's health spokesman, has described this as an 'extremely serious matter'

A Daily Mail investigation earlier this year revealed that thousands of users of an online prescription service had their data sold without their knowledge.

Their names and addresses had been handed to companies that target the sick.

Many of the patients used the Pharmacy 2U service because they were disabled or too ill to travel to their nearest surgery. Others used the firm's online doctor consultations.

Pharmacy 2U, which is the country's leading NHS approved online pharmacy, even gave the patients' email addresses, dates of birth and date of their last prescriptions to a marketing firm.

MPs said the company was putting thousands of patients at risk and should face a police probe. 

Undercover reporters were also able to buy private medical details – including names of people suffering from arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure and even bladder problems – for just 19p each. 

The details sold to Alchemy Direct Media by Pharmacy 2U, which has a turnover of £17million a year, include the names and addresses of people who have requested online doctor consultations using the site.

On its website, Alchemy described those on the list as people who had used Pharmacy 2U to 'place their GP prescriptions and have them delivered to their home address'.

The details appear to have been passed on without the proper consent of patients.

When registering for online prescriptions, patients using Pharmacy2U have to agree to terms and conditions but these do not cover anything about their information being passed on to third parties.

The Mail's undercover team contacted Data Bubble, which is run by Mrs Clayton, and found its selling sensitive pension details for as little as 19p

That is only stated in the small print of the website's privacy policy.

Pharmacy2U admitted to the Mail that it had sold the names and addresses of 'up to 5,000' patients on three occasions, refusing to say how much it had charged. It said it had decided to stop selling the information and stressed no medical data had been passed on.

But Andy Burnham, Labour's health spokesman, said: 'This is an extremely serious matter. The Government must initiate an inquiry and call in the police to see if a crime has been committed. Pharmacy2U should immediately be suspended as an approved distributor.

'Jeremy Hunt has failed in his primary duty to protect vulnerable patients. He must make an urgent statement to set out how widespread this practice is, whether there have been other breaches and what action is being taken against Pharmacy2U.'

Daily Mail investigation reveals your medical records are for...

Dr Sarah Wollaston, the outgoing Tory chairman of the health select committee, called for a criminal investigation into Pharmacy2U. 

The Mail's revelations on the sale of medical and financial data have sparked a major inquiry by the office of the Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham.

Nick Sayer, a director of B2C Data, offered to sell details of 15,000 people to undercover reporters in a Mail expose this week

Mr Graham praised the Mail's investigation and rubbished the firms' claims that people 'opted in' to having their medical details sold on.

He said: 'It's just beyond belief that people have signed up to be col called about their bladder problems.

'What the Daily Mail team appear to have discovered is that there's a nice little trade going between different commercial companies where our personal info has value to others.'

A spokesman for Pharmacy 2U said: 'Only name and address information has been sold and no permission for any other data to be sold has been provided by Pharmacy2U.

'Alchemy Direct Media (UK) Ltd work for Pharmacy2U under a strict agreement and other data was provided to them under that agreement for internal purposes, such as understanding the recency of the data, but not for sale to external parties.

'This type of data processing for companies by their agencies is normal business practice. No medication information or data relating to medical conditions has been shared with Alchemy Direct Media (UK) Ltd.'

Michael Smith, managing director of Alchemy Direct Media, said: 'We are an ICO registered company and are satisfied that the information held on this database complies with current data protection and ICO regulation.'