Te Whatu Ora Privacy

Te Whatu Ora Bay of Plenty – Privacy Policy: Requests for information from General Practice teams and third-party providers As a result of several requests from general practice to Te Whatu Ora - Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty for patient results and information and the responses received, clarification has been sought from Te Whatu Ora on their current policy.

The following is the clarified instruction for Health Records staff (at Tauranga and Whakatane) that has been circulated with the Te Whatu Ora teams by the Privacy Coordinator.

Clarification on when consent is needed for Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty to provide a copy of patient notes to someone other than the patient.

1. The GP is the primary healthcare provider for the patient and therefore (unless the patient has indicated otherwise) is able to request copies of any patient documents that the GP is not able to access directly from the electronic record – NO CONSENT REQUIRED. 1. When Hauora a Toi BoP refers a patient to a third-party provider, part of the referral process is getting the patient's consent to the referral and making the referral requires the sharing of the patient's healthcare information – NO FURTHER CONSENT REQUIRED. 1. When a request is received from a third party (eg ACC, Police*, Insurance Companies, pharmacy etc) or another healthcare provider that has been engaged privately by the patient or through a referral from the GP (eg, physio, counsellor, dietitian, naturopath) CONSENT IS REQUIRED for Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty to release relevant notes to the requestor, no consent = no documentation. (*If there is no consent the Police are required to provide a Production Order.)

Please send all requests for Health records via the health records staff (not medical schedulers or clinical teams) as there is a specific process that has to be followed before records can be released.