The trust is unraveling – Speech

From several quarters there are demands to put the duty of confidentiality aside in order to solve demanding tasks. Whether you want to share information with various commissions, change the legislation, or bring the police into health-related teams. If the legislation is changed, if the duty of confidentiality is softened – across the board – everything will get better, it is claimed. Partner murder will be averted. Youth crime will be prevented. Young sports talent with drugs will be caught. Relatives will feel better. The police will prevent serious violence. But what are the dangers of eroding confidentiality? Antidoping Norway wants legal authority The head of Antidoping Norway tells news that a legal authority is absolutely necessary to carry out effective anti-doping work. He wants a legal basis for handling personal and health information, and a legal basis for the police and customs to share their information with them. They use top sport as a spearhead to break confidentiality, without thinking about the consequences. Where and how should the young person who takes drugs receive health care, whether the health challenges are due to drugs or not, when the person cannot trust the doctor, for fear that the doctor will leak information to the police, customs or Anti-Doping Norway? Could the consequences be that they do not seek health care when they need it? The partner homicide committee asks for a change in the law On Dagsnytt 18, justice policy spokesperson for the Center Party, Else Marie Rødby, recently defended the government’s proposal for a change in the law which means that lawyers and health personnel will be able to set aside their duty of confidentiality and provide information to a partner homicide commission. Bernt Heiberg, head of the Norwegian Bar Association’s legislative committee for criminal law and criminal procedure, says that he is strongly critical of their members leaking classified information. In the consultation response from the Medical Association, they express skepticism about the government’s proposal. Where should the woman or man, friend or girlfriend, who is worried about their partner, or scared, get to tell about their concerns – before anything has happened – if the person concerned knows that what they say can be leaked? Where will we end up if the lawyer’s and doctor’s duty of confidentiality is not to apply? The police and the health services The police and security guards are already inside and assist in mental health care at emergency and security departments. Now there is also a desire to get the police into the outreach treatment teams FACT S (Flexible Assertive Community Treatment) which work in prison and security psychiatry. Even if the police and health work together, it would be objectionable to put the police in these teams, as they would gain access to health information and other sensitive information that they should not have. There is a difference between the look of a nurse and a police officer. Such a solution can weaken trust in the health service and health personnel. If a patient, with or without psychosis, loses trust in health personnel and health services, what will the consequences be? Sufferers often want to know more. At various conferences, relatives advocate for more information. Although relatives are in the vast majority of cases good support persons for the person they are relatives to, they can also be violent, physically or psychologically. The duty of confidentiality should not prevent good cooperation, but it is important that it is observed and that the legal requirements are followed. Nevertheless, next of kin must receive sufficient information, while maintaining trust in the health service and health personnel. If the crackdown on confidentiality continues at the pace we are seeing today, it will be eroded. Trust that our health information is managed correctly will crumble. The hospitals are already leaking. Serious consequences A serious risk of a further erosion of the duty of confidentiality may be that the person with psychotic symptoms does not dare to tell a doctor or other health personnel about them, and thus avoids necessary health care and gets worse. This can mean that people who are insecure in their relationship with their partner or spouse do not dare to seek advice from a doctor or lawyer, for fear that they will leak the information. Another consequence may be that young sports talent who dope do not talk to the doctor about a health problem, for fear that it will be passed on to the police, customs or Anti-Doping Norway. One can also imagine that patients lose trust if confidential information is given to relatives without their consent. The total erosion of the duty of confidentiality thus threatens both legal certainty and patient safety. The duty of confidentiality must not be perforated, but managed in such a way that it does not undermine people’s trust in the health service and health personnel. Send us your opinion Want to write? Feel free to contact us at news Ytring with your post. The guidelines can be found here. Published 25/09/2024, at 11.57



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