Hi Paula,

Quick search on the ‘tinternet’:

Before allowing access to anyone other than the patient or colleagues involved in the patient’s care, generally speaking, you will need to confirm that the person making the request has the patient’s consent. You need to be clear about exactly what part of the record the consent applies to.

 Occasionally, there will be circumstances where you have to disclose a patient’s records without their consent (and, rarely, in face of the patient’s clear objection to disclosure). There are three possible justifications for this:

1.     If you believe that a patient may be a victim of neglect or abuse, and that they lack capacity to consent to disclosure, you must give information promptly to an appropriate person or authority, if you believe disclosure is in the patient’s best interests.

2.     You believe that it is in the wider public interest, or that it is necessary to protect the patient or someone else from the risk of death or serious harm. Examples of this might be to inform the DVLA if someone may be unfit to drive, or to assist the police in preventing or solving a serious crime, or informing the police if you have good reason to believe that a patient is a threat to others. You should follow GMC guidance on disclosure within the wider public interest.

3.     Disclosure is required by law – for example, in accordance with a statutory obligation, or to comply with a court order or a disclosure notice from the NHS Counter-Fraud Service. You have a duty to protect the confidential data of your patients under the Data Protection Act (1998) and civil monetary penalties can be imposed for serious contraventions of the act.

In any of these cases, you should only provide the minimum amount of information necessary to serve the purpose, and you should carefully document your reasons for making the disclosure.

 

In your situation, I would go back and ask for copies of consent from the individual or provide you with the court order. If they provide you with neither don’t send them.