§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure confidentiality, after general practitioners have asked social factor questions of new patients from April 1990, when they are passed on to the local family practitioner committee.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyMany general practitioners, in accordance with their training, already seek and record information about their patients concerning social and
78W
§ Mr. FreemanThe available information is given in the table:
lifestyle factors relevant to their health, for example housing circumstances, diet, exercise, use of tobacco and consumption of alcohol.
General practitioners will be obliged to record from April 1990 the history and findings arising from a health check-up to ensure that a full medical record is maintained. However there is no requirement that specific information about social factors should be passed on to family practitioner committees.
General practitioners have always been obliged to return patients' records to the family practitioner committee so that they can be forwarded to a new doctor. Both general practitioners and family practitioner committees have a duty to maintain confidentiality and there is no suggestion that the arrangements to be introduced from April 1990 will result in a greater likelihood of breaches of confidentiality.