ABSTRACT
Confidentiality is often said to be the cornerstone of good medical practice. There is a long standing tradition of confidentiality among healthcare professionals which has been an integral part of a code for many centuries. For doctors, it is contained in the Hippocratic Oath which dates from around 500BC, from the Greek philosopher/medic Hippocrates. That part of the Hippocratic Oath states:
The undertaking to preserve confidentiality even after death is significant and the well known controversy in the 1960s that ensued when Sir Winston Churchill’s doctor, Lord Moran, published details about him illustrates the depth of feeling that revelation even (or, perhaps, especially) after death, can arouse. The book’s publication provoked critical comment from fellow members of the medical profession and the same furore occurred in 1983 when the British Medical Journal published graphic details about General Wingate’s death in an obituary which the GMC regarded as a breach of confidence.
