The government has announced that patients will have online access to their personal medical records. The plans were unveiled as part of George Osborne's autumn spending review.
The public will also gain access to new data on GP performance from this December via the NHS Choices website.
"The government will ensure all NHS patients can access their personal GP records online by the end of this parliament," the review states.
"Not only will this approach to open data support research and knowledge-based services, it will crucially empower patients to take decisions about their own care and so drive up equally. This will fuel advances in treatment, as well as positioning this country as a centre of excellence for research," adds health secretary, Andrew Lansley.
The Department of Health is hoping that the new link between GPs and hospital data will, "stimulate medical research and enable patients to take informed decisions about their care," as well as providing health services with, "unequalled levels of information about the journeys of patients through the care system and the outcomes of different treatments."