ABSTRACT
Patients have traditionally expected doctors to keep their secrets and to maintain silence regarding their confidential information. If doctors break that obligation, they may be disciplined by their professional body, the General Medical Council, and find themselves defendants in an action in a court of law for breach of confidence. In the light of such an expectation many patients and doctors are surprised to be told that the doctor can be forced to give evidence in the courtroom about the patient’s confidential information. That surprise borders on incredulity when they find that special rules of evidence protect lawyer-client information from disclosure. Why does this anomaly exist, and what is so important about confidential information anyway?
