Dr H was faced with a problem. He was working with a patient, M, over the course of several months, and seemed to be making good progress. One day, he was contacted by a government agency. It requested sensitive material about M’s health—so sensitive, in fact, that Dr H felt that to comply would breach patient confidentiality.
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After voicing his concerns to the government agency and discussing the situation with M, Dr H felt that they would be able to come to a mutually beneficial conclusion. Unfortunately, just a little while later, Dr H received a demand for the requested information, citing several pieces of legislation that Dr H was not fully familiar with. Worse still, they were expecting the patient records to be provided almost immediately.
Despite the intimidating nature of such a request, Dr H put his patient and his code of practice first, and reached out to the advisors at New Zealand Medical Professionals Insurance (NZMPI) to clarify whether or not he had to comply with this government request.
With time being of the essence, Dr H called NZMPI directly. He was put through to medicolegal experts to explain his situation—and the urgency. He was provided with the clarification he needed later that day over the phone and by email. As it turned out, the legislation that the government agency was citing was not applicable to this situation in the slightest.
Dr H had no legal obligation to provide the demanded information, and now he had the evidence to prove it.
Rather than having to study the law and risk arguing against the agency himself, Dr H was able to protect his patient and his practice through the help of NZMPI, who resolved the problem in less than 24 hours.
“It was extremely useful to have prompt and professional advice in a demanding and complex legal situation.”
As a result, Dr H was able to confidently refuse the request from the government agency, maintaining adherence to his code of ethics without putting himself at legal risk.
As Dr H puts it himself:
“It was extremely useful to have prompt and professional advice in a demanding and complex legal situation.”
Situations like this are why it pays to ensure that your medical indemnity insurance cover includes access to medicolegal support. If you’d like to learn more about these benefits, and others, get in touch with one of the experts at NZMPI today.