GDPR Question: re medical info being released without permission

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Does anyone know what can be done if a doctor releases medical information
without getting the patient’s permission to another party ? Is it something to report to the GMC? What else can be done aside from making a formal complaint to doctor’s lawyers?
 
It would depend who the other party was, and what the circumstances behind the release were
 
What I was told is that the required info or report was already filled out by the patient’s doctor, and sent, as requested, to the a local government department by the patient. However, for some unknown reason, the government department wrote again to the practice, unbeknownst to the patient and a different doctor (not the original one) filled out the new form without telling the patient. The second doctor’s report was completely different to the first doctor’s. The second doctor did not know the patient. It therefore appears that the second doctor did not see the first report written by the other GP in the patient’s file. I hope that makes sense.

The same GP practice had been asked to give the patient copies of their medical records. They filled out a GDPR form about a month ago, and was told,when asked recently,that there was no record of that request. It was then that the *new* report written by the second doctor was given to the patient. The patient then had to fill out a new GDPR form in order to obtain the previously requested records.

I am trying to help and support this person with a number of things to do with their medical treatment as they have had some shocking negligent treatment at this GP practice.
 
Its difficult to say without knowing the facts and both sides of the story. I'd recommend you contact the information governance team for the CCG that covers the GP practice.
 
What I was told is that the required info or report was already filled out by the patient’s doctor, and sent, as requested, to the a local government department by the patient. However, for some unknown reason, the government department wrote again to the practice, unbeknownst to the patient and a different doctor (not the original one) filled out the new form without telling the patient. The second doctor’s report was completely different to the first doctor’s. The second doctor did not know the patient. It therefore appears that the second doctor did not see the first report written by the other GP in the patient’s file. I hope that makes sense.

The same GP practice had been asked to give the patient copies of their medical records. They filled out a GDPR form about a month ago, and was told,when asked recently,that there was no record of that request. It was then that the *new* report written by the second doctor was given to the patient. The patient then had to fill out a new GDPR form in order to obtain the previously requested records.

I am trying to help and support this person with a number of things to do with their medical treatment as they have had some shocking negligent treatment at this GP practice.
still not enough info to say really - based on this post - there’s still a lot of questions/unknowns.

1.Id want to know why the government were requesting a new form? Were they requesting the same form or a different form? If the same form what did they do with the original? Because if they’ve misplaced or lost it - that’s a gdpr issue right there. also if the patient sent it why did they write to the gp practice to re request it and not the patient?

2. I don’t know what the form is but at my GP I’ve had various drs fill out forms for me who don’t know me - peoples medical history is on the System for all the drs at the surgery’s to see so it doesn’t normally matter who fills one in.

3. How do they mean the forms been filled in incorrectly?

4. So the patient asked their dr to fill a form in. Dr does it. Patient sends it off to government. Government write to GP and ask for new form. GP fills it in and sends it off. Patient isn’t happy cos they weren’t aware of it. Is the patient not happy with the info the dr has shared cos it’s wrong or they didn’t want some of their personal info shared with the goverment and it has been?
 
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Under GDPR a patients info can be shared without their consent as long as there is a legitimate reason to do so. So an obvious example would be if there is a safeguarding concern. Patients can opt out of this but most NHS organisations wont share with patients that this is possible, as to be quite honest who has got the time to manage that process.
 
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So it depends which government department you are talking about.
Common exceptions to the confidentiality rule are the DVLA and child protection services.
I would start with the person concerned contacting the practice manager and requesting a meeting to discuss the concerns. If need be they should bring a second person with them for moral support and to take notes etc.