The Evolution of Confidentiality in the United Kingdom and the West
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15747687 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Angus H Ferguson (University of Glasgow, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 9 |
| Pages | 738-742 |
| Publication date | 2012-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The AMA Journal of Ethic (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2376-6980 • E-ISSN: 2376-6980 |
| Publisher | American Medical Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1001/virtualmentor.2012.14.9.mhst1-1209 |
| PMID | 23351354 |
| OpenAlex | W68117261 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
By its very nature medical practice involves the opening up of private lives to external scrutiny. The understanding that medical consultations are confidential encourages openness, trust, and frank disclosure of all possibly relevant information between patient and doctor. This in turn facilitates efficient and effective diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of illness and disease. Confidentiality is therefore an integral element of the patient-doctor relationship, playing a vital role in the primary healing purpose of the profession. As such, it can be considered essential to the moral nature of the practice [1]. However, medicine is not practiced in a vacuum. The boundaries of confidentiality have not been determined solely by the nature of the patient-doctor relationship. Rather, the concept has been affected by a variety of external factors. Historical research into the evolution of approaches to medical confidentiality reveals an enduring ideal that has been interpreted through a variety of theoretical lenses and influenced by more pragmatic concerns
Bioethics · Confidentiality · Family medicine · Kingdom · Medical ethics · Political science · Psychiatry · Ethics in medical practice · Health and Conflict Studies · Law · Medicine · Torture, Ethics, and Law
| Highly cited | No |
|---|