Comments on: Richard Smith: Are we too concerned with confidentiality? A fable

By: Torres859

Torres859 — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:15:00 +0000

Helo Richard,
It sounds like a non-sense novel or a Groucho Marx’ piece of literature.
Sometimes people takes the power in their own hands and try to rule the world even against basic principles and rights.
Kind regards.
J.Torres

By: Richard Smith

Richard Smith — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:41:00 +0000

You’re right, we should. And blogs are perfectly designed for documenting nonsensical happenings–because they should be written fast and can be posted immediately or within hours. I hope that you will follow your own advice.

By: Dr Simon Jenkins

Dr Simon Jenkins — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Hi Richard. Good to hear from you even if the reason for your story is an unfortunate encounter with one of the new breed of protectors of confidentialiy within the NHS. Not quite a Caldicott Guardian I fear! The real problem here is not one of confidentialiy but a culture of suspicion which has replaced that of trust, not only in the NHS but in society as a whole. Wishing you all the best. Simon Jenkins

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:39:00 +0000

The thing is that your example has nothing to do with confidentiality – you were not asking for any information you didn’t already know to be disclosed. It has a lot to do with administrative lack of understanding of what “patient confidentiality” is.