GMC updates confidentiality guidance

The GMC has revised its guidance on confidentiality for all doctors practising in the UK

The GMC has expanded, updated and reorganised its guidance on confidentiality to reflect the way doctors use information.

Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information was published by the GMC in January 2017 and comes into effect on 25 April 2017.

Revisions have been made to the guidance, last published in 2009, following an extensive consultation exercise. While the principles of the current GMC guidance remain unchanged, it now clarifies the following:

• The public protection responsibilities of doctors, including when to make disclosures in the public interest.
• The importance of sharing information for direct care, recognising the multi-disciplinary and multi-agency context doctors work in.
• The circumstances in which doctors can rely on implied consent to share patient information for direct care.
• The significant role that those close to a patient can play in providing support and care, and the importance of acknowledging that role.

The GMC has also published a decision-making flowchart and explanatory notes to show how the new guidance applies to situations doctors may encounter and find hard to deal with, such as reporting gunshot and knife wounds, or disclosing information about serious communicable diseases.

Charlie Massey, Chief Executive of the GMC, said: “This refreshed, revised and restructured guidance on confidentiality will help doctors better understand their responsibilities when handling patient information in their everyday practice.

Doctors are advised to continue to follow the current guidance until the updated version comes into effect in April.

Read the latest guidance here

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