The Conservative Party is considering proposals that would allow citizens to store their own medical records using Microsoft HealthVault or Google Health.

The proposals would mean the end of the government's centralised Integrated Care Records Service, also known as the NHS Spine, that is estimated to have cost between £12bn and £20bn and has been continuously stalled by set backs.

The suggestions have been put forward by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), but the Conservative Party has commissioned its own research into the IT underpinning the UK health system, and is likely to consider all research before setting out a clear agenda.

The report was written by Liam Maxwell, IT expert at the CPS, which was set up under Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s.

Maxwell believes that there are two options for healthcare IT. Either the government continues with the huge central computer on which all medical records are stored, or individual citizens are allowed to store and analyse their own health records.

The latter would eliminate the need for the NHS database, and be practically cost-free, according to Maxwell, and citizens would benefit because their data would be more secure and private.

"This report starkly highlights the grotesque intrusion by state officials into our everyday lives and the wanton waste of taxpayers' money," said Adam Afriyie, shadow minister for science and innovation.

"We are working on a different view of the government's use of IT, and Maxwell's ideas offer a reason to be hopeful and an alternative path for an incoming government with change in mind."