§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what restrictions are imposed on a prisoner's medical records being seen by an independent doctor who has the prisoner's consent to see his records; and under what circumstances such restrictions would be lifted.
§ Mr. WhitelawPrison medical records are the property of the Secretary of State, and it is for the Secretary of State to decide whether they should be disclosed.
413WMedical officers may disclose information from prisoners' medical records to medical practitioners who have a legitimate interest in obtaining that information, such as those who have assumed clinical responsibility for the prisoner. The most usual circumstances in which this is appropriate are when a prisoner is referred to an outside consultant, when he is transferred to an outside hospital or when he is discharged from prison into the care of his medical practitioner.