Consent and Confidentiality

Question 1

DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY

• Pharmacy professionals have a professional and _ (DPA, 1998) duty to keep confidential the information they obtain during the course of their practice.
• This applies to information about any person, whatever their age and continues to apply after a person’s death.
• A duty of confidentiality arises when one person discloses information to another in circumstances where it is reasonable to expect that the information will be held in confidence. This duty applies to all information that pharmacy professionals obtain during the course of their professional practice.

Answer 1

Legal

Question 2

WHAT IS CONSIDERED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION?

• Electronic and hard copy data personal details
• Information about a person’s _ (prescribed and non prescribed)
• Other information about a person’s medical history, treatment or care that could identify them
• Information that people share that is not strictly medical in nature, but that the person disclosing it would expect to be kept confidential

Answer 2

Medication

Question 3

WHAT IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION?

• Anonymous information − information from which individuals cannot reasonably be identified
• Coded information − information from which individuals cannot reasonably be identified, but which enables information about different people receiving care to be distinguished
• Information that is already legitimately in the _ domain

Answer 3

Public

Question 4

WHEN IT MAY BE ACCEPTABLE TO DISCLOSE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

• There will be limited situations where disclosure of confidential information is necessary
• Usually this is not urgent, but there may be rare occasions where to delay is not practical, for example if delay may cause a _ to another person.
• Pharmacy professionals should take the necessary steps to satisfy themselves that any disclosure being asked for is appropriate and meets the legal requirements covering confidentiality.
• If possible, seek advice from appropriate person without disclosing identify of the patient/person concerned
• When you have the _ of the person under your care to do so
• When you have to disclose by _.
• When it is in the public interest to do so.

In the course of your practice you may receive requests for confidential information about people under your care from a variety of people (for example a person’s relative, partner or carer) or organisations (for example the police or a healthcare regulator). Decisions about disclosing information should be made on a case by case basis and after fully considering all relevant factors.

Answer 4

Risk

Consent

Law

Question 5

WHAT IS CONSENT?

Answer 5

Expressed willingness, agreement or permission for something to happen.

Question 6

WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF CONSENT?

Answer 6

Explicit

Implied

Question 7

FOR CONSENT TO BE VALID:

The person must have capacity to give consent (Mental Capacity Act).

The person must act _, not under pressure.

Have sufficient balanced information to make the decision (e.g. benefits and risks).

Must be given information in a clear and appropriate way for the individual.

Give person opportunity to ask _.

You can delegate consent talking to others but be careful in doing so

Consent is an ongoing process and can be withdrawn at any time (if the person has capacity).

Answer 7

Voluntarily

Questions