Commentary on Sections Part 3: Duty of candour Section 9 – Confidentiality
26.Subsection (1) of this section provides that a report published under section 8 by an NHS body may not name certain individuals. The individuals are: any person to whom health care is being or has been provided by or on behalf of the body; and any person acting on such a person’s behalf. In addition, subsection (2) requires an NHS body, when determining what information to include in a section 8 report, to have regard to the need to avoid including any information which, even though it does not actually give an individual’s name, is in the circumstances likely to enable the identification of that individual. Such a circumstance might arise, for example, where the details of a particular patient’s care have received media attention. The purpose of this provision is to protect confidentiality.