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Legal Terms – confidentiality
n. (in medical law) a stringent and long-standing common law duty on the part of doctors to maintain the privacy of any patient information. When a doctor consults with a patient, they instantly take on this responsibility. AG v Guardian (No. 2) [1990] 1 AC 109, 260 states that it is not essential to prove that the patient's personal information was made public in order for confidentiality to be violated if it is viewed by an unauthorized party.
Breach of a patient's confidentiality may occasionally be acceptable, or even required, for example, in cases when the patient has an illness that requires reporting. It's interesting to note that the UK has not declared HIV to be a reportable illness in an effort to entice patients to seek testing and care. This implies that the patient has a legal obligation to disclose the virus to any prospective sexual partners, and the doctor is obligated by law to advise the patient on safe sex practices while maintaining patient confidentiality.
n. (in medical law) a stringent and long-standing common law duty on the part of doctors to maintain the privacy of any patient information. When a doctor consults with a patient, they instantly take on this responsibility. AG v Guardian (No. 2) [1990] 1 AC 109, 260 states that it is not essential to prove that the patient's personal information was made public in order for confidentiality to be violated if it is viewed by an unauthorized party.
Breach of a patient's confidentiality may occasionally be acceptable, or even required, for example, in cases when the patient has an illness that requires reporting. It's interesting to note that the UK has not declared HIV to be a reportable illness in an effort to entice patients to seek testing and care. This implies that the patient has a legal obligation to disclose the virus to any prospective sexual partners, and the doctor is obligated by law to advise the patient on safe sex practices while maintaining patient confidentiality.
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