If I am injured and unconscious, can my doctor share my health information with my loved ones?

QUESTION: If I am injured and unconscious, can my doctor share my health information with my loved ones?

ANSWER:

Yes, the Privacy Act allows such disclosures for the purpose of your care or for compassionate reasons, as long as it doesn't go against any wishes you may have expressed when you were able to.

The Privacy Act recognises that individuals and their families will often want such information to be shared, such as in health emergencies.

If you are unconscious or incapacitated, health service providers in the private sector can share health information with your close relatives and certain other people.

The decision to share information is up to the provider. This is different from a legal representative accessing information on your behalf (see ‘Related FAQs' below).

However, there are some limits on when and how a provider may share your health information when you cannot give consent (under NPP 2.4). These are:

you must be physically or legally incapable of giving consent yourself
the disclosure must be necessary for your care or treatment, or for compassionate reasons (in the health service provider's opinion)
the disclosure cannot go against your known wishes
no more information should be shared than what is necessary for your care, treatment or for compassionate reasons.

The provider can't disclose your information to just anyone though. NPP 2.5 and 2.6 state who the provider can share your information with in these circumstances:

your spouse, de facto, or someone you are in an intimate relationship with
your parent
your child (if they are 18 or older)
your guardian
a relative in your household or
a person with an ‘enduring power of attorney' for health decisions (a legal document that allows someone to handle certain affairs even if you lose mental capacity)
someone you've nominated as an emergency contact.

Example of a disclosure necessary for care or treatment

A patient is recovering from an accident and is unable to make decisions for themselves. The patient's brother provides care at home. An occupational therapist can tell the brother necessary information about the patient's health, without the patient's consent, as long as this is not against the patient's wishes before they became incapacitated. The occupational therapist might share the current limitations on the patient's physical and cognitive abilities, to explain how to carry out certain personal care tasks. This is permitted by the Privacy Act.

Example of a disclosure for compassionate reasons

An elderly patient is sedated and unconscious following a fall. A doctor tells the patient's daughter about the extent of the patient's injuries, and their likelihood of recovery. Before the patient had his accident, he didn't say anything to the doctor about not wanting his daughter to know about his health. In such cases, the Privacy Act gives the doctor the choice whether or not to discuss the patient's condition with their daughter.

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