Ministers are working on a temporary arrangement to allow inspection in all cases. They want to do this because it allows the large influx of corona patients to be processed faster. Current privacy rules would hinder that. But in a letter to Van Rijn, the AP writes that patients must always give permission first, NRC Handelsblad reports.
Determine increased risk
Due to the high pressure of the corona crisis, patients often end up with a doctor other than their usual doctor, who may not always be able to view the files. This makes it difficult to determine whether a patient is at increased risk and needs to go to the hospital. The regulation envisaged by the cabinet is intended to solve that problem.
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“Because of the corona crisis, the Dutch Data Protection Authority finds it justified that people’s medical data can also be viewed temporarily, but only if patients give their permission on the spot,” said AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen. “Unless the patient is no longer able to do that.”
‘Basic privacy principle’
The AP says that medical data is “sensitive, highly personal information, which is subject to the doctor’s medical professional secrecy. Protecting it is a fundamental privacy principle, which must be maintained today.”
In the Netherlands, eight million Dutch people have given permission to view their medical records. One million people have banned it, and the rest have passed on no preference.
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