![]() ![]() Digital transformation has increased the supply of data moving, and data breaches have scaled up with it as attackers exploit the data-dependencies of daily life. ![]() Then that immediate threat is not there.In today’s data-driven world, data breaches can affect hundreds of millions or even billions of people at a time. It is a different case when a nurse who is no longer in the profession would tell in the treatment room years later that he once committed criminal offences. The fact that the nurse had not been active at the WZA for some time makes no difference in the case, according to Buijsen: "As long as he is still employed, there is an imminent danger, because it is conceivable that he would resume working with patients in the foreseeable future. It is easy to follow that healthcare professionals felt compelled to break confidentiality to prevent him from repeating his behaviour." "Then there is a moral duty." "In the case of this nurse, that threat to end lives is quite clear. "What matters is whether there is a serious threat of health damage that you can prevent", the Health Law Professor explains. When is a breach justified?īuijsen says that having knowledge of criminal offences is not, per se, a valid reason for breaching the duty of confidentiality. The nurse in question had been inactive at the hospital for some time, but was officially suspended after the report. GGZ Drenthe took this so seriously that they decided to breach confidentiality and report the story to the WZA. The man was being treated at GGZ Drenthe, where he claimed to had prematurely ended the lives of 20 patients during his job as a lung nurse during the corona pandemic. The discussion about the duty of confidentiality of healthcare professionals flared up after the arrest of a nurse at the Wilhelmina Hospital Assen (WZA) last month. After all, a healthcare professional is also able to threaten to breach. A professional bound by secrecy may not disclose the secret if, in case of emergency, the danger can be averted in a less drastic way. Breaking it too soon can result in a prosecution or conviction of the healthcare professional in question. Wrongfully breaching the duty of confidentiality by a healthcare professional constitutes an independent criminal offence. "That consideration is incredibly complicated", according to Buijsen It is not clear when exactly a healthcare professional is allowed to break his or her duty of confidentiality. "This is when serious health damage or termination of life can be prevented," Buijsen says. Those are the clear categories." Then there is the so-called state of emergency. If the patient himself gives permission, a doctor is also allowed to breach professional secrecy. Or if a caregiver cooperates in terminating life on demand. He gives three clear scenarios: "For example, if there is an imminent threat of an outbreak of a dangerous infectious disease. Breaking confidentialityīut when is a healthcare professional allowed to break their duty of confidentiality? "Sometimes it has to be done", Buijsen explains. If such a robber has to fear that a doctor will pass on that information to the police, this would form an obstacle to asking for care," Buijsen said. This requires being able to freely tell how an injury occurred. Such a person is also entitled to proper care in our society. "Suppose a bank robber is injured in a robbery. "Confidentiality is a precondition for unimpeded access to healthcare," Buijsen states. The legislator made the choice that, in principle, a healthcare professionals’ duty of confidentiality outweighs the detection of criminal offences. This may be information that surfaces during an investigation or interview, but also information that a healthcare professional hears or sees unsolicited. The essence of the duty of confidentiality is that healthcare professionals are obliged to keep everything that they learn about their clients a secret. News & Calendar Open submenu News & Calendar. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |