Lack of communication across NHS is "completely shocking," says Health Secretary Most NHS users would be astonished that information doesn't flow around the system. This is a really important part of the compassionate care agenda, the safety agenda, the integration agenda. He added: "A few weeks ago I was in the A&E department at Watford and they admitted a lady there with late-stage dementia from a care home. That simply cannot be in people's interest to have those gaps in information. He added that there must be "proper" safeguards in place to protect patients' personal information, adding: "That's why I have agreed that GPs will not share information about what's on people's GP records with the Health and Social Care Information Centre if people object. Mr Hunt's comments followed the publication of Dame Fiona Caldicott's review into how NHS data is handled. Dame Fiona highlighted a number of problems about the way information is handled within the health and social care system in England. Her report says that people's lack of access to their own records causes "great frustration." She recommended that all letters, emails, and other communications that health and social care teams make regarding a patient's care should be replicated for the patient. The report also says that some NHS managers are "unduly restrictive" with information for fear that their organisation will be fined for breaching data protection laws. Mr Hunt has previously set out ambitions to make the NHS "paperless" within the next five years. He also said that GPs should make patient records available online by 2015.