Understanding confidentiality and disclosure of patient information.

The need to share information about patients is vital to effective care and protection, especially where it relates to children or vulnerable adults. District nurses in common with other health professionals are often reluctant to share information because of a misunderstanding over the extent of their duty of confidence to patients. This has resulted in the needs of patients being unmet and in some cases tragic deaths have occurred. In this article Richard Griffith outlines the extent of the district nurses duty of confidence and considers when sharing patient information is lawful.