Expert Witness: OH confidential

Implications of the revised GMC guidance

Summary:

OH legal expert Diana Kloss examines the GMC’s revised guidance on confidentiality and what it means for occupational health practitioners.

On 25 January 2017 the General Medical Council (GMC) published revised good-practice guidance on confidentiality in handling patient information1, which will come into force on 25 April 2017. This article explores issues particularly relevant to occupational health (OH) practice. Although it is by definition directly relevant only to physicians, in practice other regulatory bodies like the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) regard GMC guidance as authoritative and usually follow suit. The Faculty of Occupational Medicine in its guidance on ethics in OH practice also treats GMC advice with great respect. A special section about disclosing information for employment, insurance and similar purposes is published in addition to the main body of the document…

 

Diana Kloss is a barrister, former part-time employment judge, Acas arbitrator and author.

 

Author: Kloss D

Tags case law confidentiality consent gmc general medical council law NMC - Nursing and Midwifery Council

Occupational Health at Work April/May 2017 (vol. 13/6) pp18-20

Download full article CPD