Clause 17 - Co-operation between health bodies and other organisations
Health Bill
2:45 pm
Jane Kennedy (Minister of State, Department of Health; Liverpool, Wavertree, Labour)
We do not feel that the amendments are necessary. I hope to reassure the hon. Gentleman that the necessary safeguards already exist. We already plan to provide advice to organisations to ensure that patient confidentiality is upheld. We have already issued for consultation draft guidance on strengthened governance arrangements that makes it clear that organisations should follow existing NHS guidance on confidentiality and protect patient confidentiality. As part of that, the guidance makes it clear that patient information should normally be used only in an anonymised form. Where it is needed in an identifiable form, patient consent should be sought. The only exceptions to that would be where the organisation judges that there is a serious risk to health and safety that outweighs the need to maintain confidentiality. Guidance on confidentiality can already be issued under clause 20(1)(b), which we have not reached yet. That provision allows for guidance to be issued on the discharge of the accountable officer’s responsibilities.
I appreciate the spirit in which the hon. Gentleman has moved his amendment. He is right to reinforce the need to protect patient confidentiality. We believe that the clause does that and that the protocols and procedures are already in place to ensure that. However, I take his point. I hope that he will withdraw his amendment and accept the reassurances that I have offered.