The leaflet states that cancer registration is ‘allowed by law’. What is the legal basis for the national cancer registration scheme?
Cancer registries for many decades operated on the principle of implied consent. This was in line with the contemporary NHS guidance on confidentiality. It was assumed that patients were willing for information collected about their illness and treatment to be used for legitimate purposes other than direct patient care. The implementation of the Data Protection Act (1998) and the publication of guidance from the General Medical Council in 2000, however, raised concerns about the validity of a system based on implied consent and highlighted the need to have a clear legal basis for the cancer registration system if it was to continue without explicit consent from individual patients.
Related Questions
- The national cancer registration scheme has been established for more than 50 years. Why is a patient information leaflet being distributed now for the first time?
- The leaflet states that cancer registration is ‘allowed by law’. What is the legal basis for the national cancer registration scheme?
- What are the benefits of the national cancer registration scheme?
