Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 May 1996

Vol. 466 No. 1

Written Answers. - Access to Medical Reports.

Declan Bree

Question:

95 Mr. Bree asked the Minister for Health whether general practitioners are required by law to provide a patient with a copy of medical reports contained in a patient's file if so requested by the patient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11016/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): In matters concerning the provision of information to patients, general practitioners are guided by the Medical Council's Guide to Ethical Conduct and Fitness to Practice which states as follows:

Doctors may be requested by the patient or the patient's solicitor to provide medical reports on the patient whom they have treated. A doctor has a moral professional responsibility to supply this report when so requested by his or her patient or the solicitor acting as the patient's agent.

In relation to personal information stored on computer, the Data Protection Act, 1988, makes provision for the supply, to an individual, of information held by a data controller e.g. a general practitioner. The provisions of the Data Protection (Access Modification) (Health) Regulations, 1989, allow for restrictions to the supply of information in certain circumstances i.e. where it might cause harm to the physical or mental health of the person concerned.