Chris Skidmore has replied in writing to my concerns about the opt-out not really being an opt-out and referred me to the article on the government website.
From what I can see, opting out really does mean opting out despite the concerns raised by the GP magazine, Pulse, that information would merely be anonymised and uploaded anyway.
Your objection will be recorded as a code on your medical record at the GP practice. The HSCIC will collect information from the GP practice that tells us how many objection codes have been registered at that practice and the date of each objection. Currently, no other data relating to those who have made this objection will be extracted from their GP record in relation to care.data.
I’m fine with that – with the caveat that this should not be opt-out in the first place. If it’s such a damn-fine idea, then we will all be tripping over ourselves to opt-in.