Law And Order 30Th April 2014

[stocktonlad]

I know its just a TV show, a patient dies in suspicious circumstances in hospital and the police are called into investigate, the police are seen reading through the dead patients hospital records at the police station. Is that allowed? Does a patients right to confidentiality expire when they die. They are then seen meeting with the patients GP who discusses her illnesses and medication.

How accurate is this?

[Orderlimit]

Bit of info here:

http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/confidentiality_70_72_disclosure_after_patient_death.asp

For interest, here is a copy of the current Murder Investigation Manual !!!

http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/crime/2006/2006CBAMIM.pdf

[Peter Pedant]

well, yes yes and yes

If that patient's death is being investigated there is very little that is confidential. The first person to intervene is the coroner and he takes and gets everything - notes X rays and so on.

If it is a hospital case, then the police will apply to the data controller and they will probably co-operate. Clearly if it another patient, then they should say no.

If it is a GP, then again there should be a data controller, however the principal would ring up his insurance union whom I would be sure would tell him to co operate if the patient were dead and its their own notes.

I dont think confidentiality was raised at any point during Shipman

No confidentiality does NOT expire when the patient dies - the person who is the dead patient on earth and has every right the dead fella had including to peruse 'his own' notes is the executor named in the will. Following Diana's death, doctors were reminded that facts in the public domain may still be confidential ( what hey say that again ! ) becasue the doctors knew what the terms meant

I think I saw this prog - it didnt strike me as too outrageous to be honest. The coroner can do just about anything with or without the relatives permission to investigate the cause of someone'd death.

With Schumacher - the Frenchie doctors were pretty hot on comment, and then I think they relatives told them to shut up. I did wonder who had given them permission to go into detail and it seems not one had.

[stocktonlad]

Thanks, makes sense