Doctors owe a duty of confidentiality to all of their patients, including after death. All information that, directly or indirectly, might identify a patient is subject to this duty. This includes information that is written, visually or audio recorded, or simply held in a doctor’s memory. Depending on the particular situation and the identity of the patient concerned concerned, different pressures may be placed on the military doctor’s duty of confidentiality.

in an emergency, before that patient is transferred out of his or her care. In contrast, where doctors have an ongoing therapeutic relationship with members of their own unit, they will potentially hold a substantial amount of confidential information and may, on occasion, be asked by the military chain of command to disclose it.

In each scenario, the doctor’s duty of confidentiality remains the same. Any identifiable information relating to a patient, whether civilian or military, should be kept confidential, unless there is a compelling reason why it should not be.

Patients must be able to expect that information about their health will be kept confidential unless there is a compelling reason that it should not be. The duty of confidentiality is not absolute. Confidential information can be disclosed where:

• the patient has capacity and consents to

the disclosure; or

• it is required by law; or

• it is justified in the public interest (the GMC gives the example of there being a potential public interest in protecting individuals or society from risks of serious harm, such as serious communicable diseases or serious crime).