The Information Privacy Act 2009(Qld) (IP Act) recognises the importance of protecting the personal information of individuals. It contains a set of rules or ‘privacy principles’ that govern how Queensland Government agencies collect, store, use and disclose personal information. The IP Act also allows an individual to make a complaint about an agency’s breach of the privacy principles.
In essence, it makes into law the ethic of confidentiality that doctors have long held. Dr Curson will not seek information from you or about you without your consent. Although in rare or emergency situations it may be necessary to get information about you from an acquaintance or relative without consent, but in these circumstances no information about you will be given to that person unless the emergency calls for it.
As a part of your treatment, Dr Curson may share your information with other doctors, hospitals or health service providers to help with any current or future medical treatment relating to the condition sheis treating you for. This includes writing letters back to your referring doctor.
If you do not want Dr Curson to communicate your health information in this way, you just need to tell her. You can also ask Dr Curson to run through your file notes with you at any time.
There are sometimes legal circumstances where confidentiality is expected to be waived. If you have any questions about this, you can discuss them with Dr Curson.
For more information on what the law says about your privacy, you can visit www.privacy.gov.au.