Protecting patient confidentiality in telephone consultations in general practice

摘要

An anxious Mrs Jones calls the GP to obtain the results of her 16-year-old daughter's blood test. For reasons of confidentiality, the GP declines to offer any information about his patient. Disgusted by the GP's refusal, Mrs Jones asks her other teenage daughter to phone the surgery and impersonate her sister. She successfully extracts the information. Can anything be done to prevent such violations of confidentiality?