Is informing the police of the patients name an issue of doctor/patient confidentiality?
If the information is confidential the doctor must decide whether the offence qualifies as a “serious offence”. A serious crime is defined by the General Medical Council as “a crime that puts someone at risk of death or serious harm and would usually be crimes against the person, such as abuse of children” – GMC guidance “Confidentiality: Protecting and Providing Information paragraph 37. The Department of Health, defines serious crime as “murder, manslaughter, rape, treason, kidnapping, child abuse or other cases where individuals have suffered serious harm… Serious harm to the security of the state or to public order and crimes that involve substantial financial gain or loss will also generally fall within this category.” – DH: Confidentiality NHS Code of Practice page 35 figure 7. If the individual had stolen a small quantity of drugs for their own use then the offence does not qualify as a serious offence. However if it is part of a drug dealing ring, the offence would be likely
