patient confidentiality in hospital

[Alee]

I went for an appointment at the hospital last week. i gave my name to the receptionist at the desk then was asked to take a seat in waiting room. Before i had chance to sit down the receptionist approached me and in introduced herself, turns out she was my cousin from my dads side of the family. i've never had a real relationship with that side of the family as my dad left when i was 3 and never bothered with me after that, met again when i was in my teens, but only lasted a few weeks until i got hurt. Anyway back to the point! since my appointment this receptionist has gone round her entire family telling them i was at the hospital and what for etc! im so angry. is this allowed!?

 

[Alee]

since i dont have any contact with that side of the family i obviously dont want them knowin anything about me. now because of that stupid women they all now know my adress and phone number and my next hospital appointment and god knows what else

 

[tek-monkey]

You could complain to the hospital? Pretty sure thats gross misconduct, would be a firing offence.

 

[wildwood]

I'd say no - it definitely isn't allowed - big breach of patient confidentiality regardless of who she is - potentially she could be in for disciplinary proceedings if you made a complaint.

 

[Bob]

If you work for any large company where you deal with personal information a confidentiality agreement should be in place. The NSH will most definitely have such legislation and she will have had to sign one when she took her job. Your medical records/history/appointments should be kept confidential as a legal requirement.



The next thing you need to ask yourself is, what do you want to achieve? If you report her then there will more than likely be an investigation into her conduct, she may be suspended, face a disciplinary or may even be sacked. I’m not suggesting you don’t report her, She has violated your trust that you put in the NHS it’s just that if you do there is no going back. Would speaking to her be enough? Is she a reasonable person that if you explained that her behaviour has made you feel uncomfortable and that you would be well within your rights to report her, would she apologise profusely and never ever do it again?



Link below explains how to take things further if that's what you want to do.





http://www.midstaffs.nhs.uk/For-Patients/Patient-Services-Advice.aspxn

 

[Withnail]

She definitely shouldn't have done it.

Yes, if you report her she'll be in the sh*t - but if you don't want to land yourself in sh*t, you shouldn't do things that will land yourself in sh*t. It's really not that complicated.

 

[tek-monkey]

Strange how hard it is to grasp for some people.

 

[Glam]

I went for an appointment at the hospital last week. i gave my name to the receptionist at the desk then was asked to take a seat in waiting room. Before i had chance to sit down the receptionist approached me and in introduced herself, turns out she was my cousin from my dads side of the family. i've never had a real relationship with that side of the family as my dad left when i was 3 and never bothered with me after that, met again when i was in my teens, but only lasted a few weeks until i got hurt. Anyway back to the point! since my appointment this receptionist has gone round her entire family telling them i was at the hospital and what for etc! im so angry. is this allowed!?

Omg noooo! It's a total breach of patient confidentiality. We aren't even allowed talk about a particular patient in front of another. Can't even use initials in case they're recognised. Relative or not, you should make a complaint.

 

[Alee]

thanks for the replies everyone! its nice to know i can actually do something about the snooping b**** otherwise half of stafford would probably have a running commentry on my pregnancy and delivery!
i have confronted her about it but she denied everything.

 

[Withnail]

Relative or not, you should make a complaint.

I agree.

im so angry.

So you should be. As Glam alludes to, it's all too easy to think that because they are related it is in some way different - it isn't.

And what's more, given the ease to which this person has broken such easy to understand rules, what about when she has her neighbour next up in the queue? Will it be once more unto the breach of confidence to tell her dear friends? Will those friends, Romans and countrymen lend their ears?

If it were me, with certain members of my family, my anger would be of volcanic proportions. Having said that, it is all too easy to act in haste, repent at leisure, sort of thing - do consider the ramifications of a formal complaint.

And then formally complain...

 

[Alee]

i've just taken note of the address for the chief exec of hospital ..im going to think it over for a few days then more than likely write a complaint...best not do it now, im so angry it probably would'nt make any sense and would just be full of anger and abuse.

 

[Glam]

Actually if we have a patient come in who is a relative or someone we know, we have to tell the Ward Manager/nurse in charge immediately. Mainly cos of the confidentiality bit,but what if there's been a history of trouble? Quite often grievances can come to the boil and the patients/ carers safety could be compromised. Like Withnail says, she could do it again,I wouldn't want my medical history go round all my relatives, i've got nowt hide, but it's personal.

 

[proactive]

I agree.

So you should be. As Glam alludes to, it's all too easy to think that because they are related it is in some way different - it isn't.

And what's more, given the ease to which this person has broken such easy to understand rules, what about when she has her neighbour next up in the queue? Will it be once more unto the breach of confidence to tell her dear friends? Will those friends, Romans and countrymen lend their ears?

If it were me, with certain members of my family, my anger would be of volcanic proportions. Having said that, it is all too easy to act in haste, repent at leisure, sort of thing - do consider the ramifications of a formal complaint.

And then formally complain...

Spot on!

 

[Gadget]

Are you sure receptionists are bound by the confidentiality rules? Did your relative know that you didn't want to know her or the rest of your family so aren't thrilled that they now want to know you? From the sound of it she has told her/your family that you are expecting not knowing it was a secret and should be filed under the confidentiality rule, if she has one. Either way check first.

 

[Withnail]

i)Are you sure receptionists are bound by the confidentiality rules? ii) Did your relative know that you didn't want to know her or the rest of your family so aren't thrilled that they now want to know you? iii) From the sound of it she has told her/your family that you are expecting not knowing it was a secret ...

i) Yes
ii) To answer a question with a question - would you rather be the one to tell your news in this scenario? If so, how astronomically annoyed would you be when your BIG news was OLD news...
iii) Well that's kind of the point - 'not knowing it was a secret' - even if, and this is such a big 'if' that it knocks everything else into the proverbial 'cocked hat', shouldn't the assumption be that this is a secret? Shouldn't someone in receipt of such information rather err on the side of honouring the very secretiveness of it's nature?

If someone were to divulge 'secrets' of mine in this nature, without letting me divulge them in a way, and at a time, of my own choosing i can guarantee you i would be so incandescent with rage that you'd be able to see me in Wolvo.

Either way check first.

That's probably wise - no point going in guns blazing on the wrong rabbit.

 

[Pete1983]

I suggest you contact the patient advice liason service in main entrance. It is throwned upon.

 

[John Marwood]

Some time back we, the nation, were given an option to opt out of our medical records being online

You may have missed it whilst cutting out coupons

Sony a matter of time before all your patient confidentialties are compromised

wikidikidoda

 

[darben]

http://www.midstaffs.nhs.uk/For-Patients/Patient-Rights.aspx#patient_confidentiality

Looking generally online it would appear that all nhs staff have a legal obligation to patient confidentiality. Personally if i was in your position I would be incensed with whom ever breached this. However you choose to tackle this the hospital should be made aware that their staff are breaching patient confidentiality and require retraining in this area before they end up with even more problems than they already have.

 

[monkey bidness]

To the best of my knowledge, disclosure to a third party of information obtained in the course of ones employment is a breach of the Data Protection Act. In many professions the miscreant would be subject to suspension and a disciplinary procedure. Somebody stupid or careless enough to pass on such information, even to family members, should not be entrusted with a position which gives them access to others personal details.

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Having worked in an admin role for the NHS (but a different trust) and in another highly confidential organisation I can assure you that it's totally out of order.