Reality comes crashing in

The NHS "Spine" seems like a very good idea. Having once been a medical secretary myself, I know how useful it will be for staff to access patients' details anywhere in the country. It saves time and, eventually, perhaps money.

However.

This is reality. Smartcards get shared. Logins get shared. What is important to clinical staff is not adherence to the trust's IT policy, but getting results as quickly as possible - patients are also rather keen on this. Hence, all the wonderful security restrictions that are supposed to keep the Spine secure don't stop the real world crashing in. And it doesn't crash in out of malice, but necessity.

So why oh why do the powers that be consider it a good idea to make these details available across Europe too?