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The problem of psychiatric confidentiality in the context of non-medical staff access to patient information

Błażej Kmieciak

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
PSYCHIATR. PSYCHOL. KLIN. 2014, 14 (1), p. 50–54
DOI: 10.15557/PiPK.2014.0006
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Streszczenie

Medical confidentiality is a phenomenon that has special meaning. Since the time of Hippocrates, it has been emphasized that the physician is responsible for the protection of patient information. As a result, a therapeutic relationship may be built. In the Polish law, psychiatric confidentiality has been presented in an even more distinctive way: it is emphasized that the psychiatrist may not post information regarding the patient’s admission of her/his fault. According to the Law on Mental Health Protection, all persons involved in the therapeutic process are obliged to keep the information secret. However, do these provisions apply also to employees cooperating with the hospital? More and more such people: security guards, catering staff, hairdressers, perform their duties in the hospital ward. They have direct access to some information about the patient, such as her/his name, appearance and behaviour. The hospital administrative staff’s situation is similar. Furthermore, it is worth considering whether or not the medical confidentiality applies to medical students. The Polish law mentions only the presence of students during the medical examination conducted by a doctor. On what basis do students receive precise information about a given patient and a consent for an access to her/his medical records? These issues are particularly important in psychiatric practice. This article shows the importance of psychiatric confidentiality and the present challenges related to the reported problems (especially an access of students and non-medical employees to information about the patient) and contains proposed solutions.

Słowa kluczowe
medical confidentiality, psychiatric confidentiality, patient rights, medical documentation, medical students, mystery of the profession of psychologist