Forum: Public must respect patient confidentiality, too

The Singapore Medical Council is seeking to strike a houseman off the register over a number of offences, including breaching medical confidentiality by disclosing a patient's condition without consent (SMC seeks to strike off man who listed fake co-authors in research, Aug 18).

SMC lays down very strict rules on protecting patient confidentiality in its Ethical Codes and Ethical Guidelines (ECEG), as it should be.

The ECEG states that patients have a right to expect their clinical information to be kept confidential, unless there are very good reasons for sharing them.

In this case, the doctor involved divulged reasons for a patient's medical leave to the patient's employer, which led to the SMC complaint.

As a doctor, I am challenged on this issue regularly. I often receive phone calls, e-mails, and even in-person meetings from patients' relatives, insurance agents, employers, and others to ask about a patient's medical condition.

Often, relatives and insurers complain that I am "difficult" and "uncooperative" when I insist on getting the patient's consent before releasing medical information.

This case is confirmation that I have been doing it right. The punishment for doctors who break the ECEG is harsh.

The public, especially relatives and employers, must also be sensible and understanding.

They should obtain a patient's consent for the release of medical information before sending an inquiry to the doctor.

Desmond Wai (Dr)

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