GMC ‘New Confidentiality guidance’ 12th October 2009

The new GMC Building in Manchester

Here is the “official” GMC guidance on confidentiality. It is in PDF format.

Just one or two snippets from this esteemed document:

8 Confidentiality is an important duty, but it is not absolute. You can disclose
personal information if:

(a) it is required by law (see paragraphs 17 to 23)

(b) the patient consents either implicitly for the sake of their own care
(see paragraphs 25 to 31) or expressly for other purposes
(see paragraphs 32 to 35)

(c) it is justified in the public interest (see paragraphs 36 to 56).
Confidentiality 06 General Medical Council Principles

9 When disclosing information about a patient, you must:

(a) use anonymised or coded information if practicable and if it will
serve the purpose

(b) be satisfied that the patient:

(i) has ready access to information that explains that their personal
information might be disclosed for the sake of their own care,
or for local clinical audit, and that they can object, and

(ii) has not objected

(c) get the patient's express consent if identifiable information is to be
disclosed for purposes other than their care or local clinical audit,
unless the disclosure is required by law or can be justified in the
public interest

(d) keep disclosures to the minimum necessary, and

(e) keep up to date with, and observe, all relevant legal requirements,
including the common law and data protect

And those are the sneaky bits (in bold) “Justified in the public interest”, who decides whether giving our personal medical information to any Tom Dick or Commercial Company is “justified in the public interest”?

Certainly not the patient, is it left to the doctor to decide? or maybe the accounts dept, perhaps the cleaners should be given the final decision.

This piece of GMC ‘policy’ is designed to take away our right of confidentiality, because even if we refuse to give permission; the “Powers that Be” can sell, distribute, give away or lease our medical records to anyone they like as long as they consider it to be “Justified in the public interest”

You decide.

I have tagged this with piss poor because I want the GMC to notice it, as they seem to like this blog.

Angus

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