Doctors are required to respect the duty of patient confidentiality according either to a deontological approach that patients have an absolute right to privacy regarding their personal information and also on a teleological reasoning that patients would feel more secure to provide all information without hesitations.
The legal duty of confidentiality is set in common law and AG v Guardian Newspapers (No2) explained that the information itself must be confidential and not already in the public domain. It was stressed that confidentiality is not an absolute right and the public interest in certain circumstances may suggest the disclosure of information.
The Data Protection Act states that sensitive personal data, related also to physical or mental health or condition of the individual, must be processed fairly and lawfully . The Human Rights Act (HRA) provides protection for the right to confidentiality and privacy, but limitations are applicable in relationship to the interests of public health and safety, national security, prevention of crimes .
From Hippocrates the duty of confidentiality has been recognised as important in medical ethics. The General Medical …show more content…
Thus, doctor may disclose information regarding the sexually transmitted disease of a patient to the known sexual contacts. A question arises when a healthcare provider is diagnosed suffering from an infectious disease, particularly AIDS. The Department of Health in a recent consultation suggests that healthcare workers can safely practice and throughout the paper is stressed the importance of confidentiality . The courts previously in X v Y and H (A Healthcare Worker) v Associate Newspaper Ltd declared that revealing identities of infected health workers is not justified in the name of public
The legal duty of confidentiality is set in common law and AG v Guardian Newspapers (No2) explained that the information itself must be confidential and not already in the public domain. It was stressed that confidentiality is not an absolute right and the public interest in certain circumstances may suggest the disclosure of information.
The Data Protection Act states that sensitive personal data, related also to physical or mental health or condition of the individual, must be processed fairly and lawfully . The Human Rights Act (HRA) provides protection for the right to confidentiality and privacy, but limitations are applicable in relationship to the interests of public health and safety, national security, prevention of crimes .
From Hippocrates the duty of confidentiality has been recognised as important in medical ethics. The General Medical …show more content…
Thus, doctor may disclose information regarding the sexually transmitted disease of a patient to the known sexual contacts. A question arises when a healthcare provider is diagnosed suffering from an infectious disease, particularly AIDS. The Department of Health in a recent consultation suggests that healthcare workers can safely practice and throughout the paper is stressed the importance of confidentiality . The courts previously in X v Y and H (A Healthcare Worker) v Associate Newspaper Ltd declared that revealing identities of infected health workers is not justified in the name of public