DOCTORS have warned that plans to identify Scottish taxpayers using NHS data risks a ‘Poll Tax-style’ boycott deterring people from registering for health services.

Proposals to allow HMRC and other public bodies to use patient data gathered by on the NHS Central Register were attacked as “irresponsible” by privacy campaigners when after being put forward by the Scottish Government last year.

Now the issue will be raised at the British Medical Association’s (BMA) annual meeting taking place in Belfast later this month, with Scottish doctors lodging two motions to “strongly oppose” the proposal.

Dr Maeve McPhillips, a consultant paediatric radiologist and chair of the Lothian division of BMA, said there were concerns it could deter people from registering for health services.

She said: “What I would be scared of is that people who were thinking of going under the radar for tax purposes would then not register with a GP - or if they moved from one place in Scotland they wouldn’t actually re-register.

“You would not want anything out there that would discourage people from actively engaging people with healthcare, because they perceived it as a potential financial thing.”

She added: “For me it almost has echoes of the Poll Tax, where people didn’t register to vote as they would then have been on a list where they were going to end up paying more tax.”

The introduction of Margaret Thatcher’s hugely unpopular Poll Tax led to a drop in the number of people registering on the electoral roll in the early 1990s to avoid having to pay the charge.

The Scottish rate of income tax came into effect in April this year. While the Scottish Parliament has powers to set the rate, responsibility for collecting it remains with HMRC.

Currently the income tax rate remains the same as the rest of the UK, but HMRC will have to identify Scottish taxpayers who will be liable if the rate varies upwards or downwards in future, based on their main place of residence.

The motion due to be put forward by the Scottish Council at the BMA’s Annual Representatives meeting in Belfast, which takes place from 20-23 June, states: “This meeting strongly opposes the use of patient demographic data collected by the NHS to populate or compile a database of Scottish tax payers. Any such action is likely to deter those most at risk from registering with NHS Scotland or seeking necessary treatment.”

McPhillips said the motion intended to voice objections to the “repurposing” of the register.

She added: “The fact I work for the Scottish NHS and I am paying tax means they can easily identify me as a Scottish taxpayer.

“But if I was an 18-year-old, I might not already be on the taxpayer’s list and the idea of my NHS registration making me eligible to pay a higher rate of tax could easily put me off – even though you risk losing out on so much more by not being registered with the NHS.”

A consultation held by the Scottish Government’s on proposals to widen access to the NHS Central Register – including HMRC - closed in February last year. Currently only limited number of bodies, including health boards, police and medical researchers, can access the electronic database, which holds details of everyone who is or has been on the list of a GP.

The register does not include medical records themselves, with the main purpose to help transfer records when patients move on.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “There are no plans to compile a taxpayer database using health data. To make sure Scotland gets its fair share of tax revenues under the new income tax arrangements, we have proposed using the postcode supplied to GPs to help confirm if existing taxpayers were Scottish residents.

“Scottish income tax revenues will fund Scottish public services, including the NHS.

“We are carefully considering responses to our consultation and will outline the way forward to Parliament in due course.”