1 Feb 2006, 09:00

A father requested access to his son's blood test results from a District Health Board laboratory. He had a valid power of attorney in respect of his son (who was over 16 years old) and requested the results under that authority. The father was refused access to the results because under the DHB's policy, the results could not be released to either him or his son without the written permission of the son's GP. The results were available through the GP directly.

The father complained that the laboratory's refusal to provide him with access to his son's test results caused an interference with his son's privacy.

Section 22F of the Health Act 1956

Section 22F provides that every person who holds health information shall, at the request of the individual concerned or their representative, disclose that information to the individual concerned or their representative.

I accepted that the father had been lawfully acting on his son's behalf as he had a power of attorney in relation to his son. Therefore, the father was entitled to have his access request considered under section 22F of the Health Act.

However, section 22F includes a limited number of reasons for which a request made by an individual's representative may be refused. One of the reasons is where a refusal is authorised by a code of practice issued under the Privacy Act 1993. In this case, the Health Information Privacy Code 1994 applies.

Rule 11(4)(b)(i) of the Health Information Privacy Code 1994

Rule 11(4)(b)(i) provides that where a representative requests the disclosure of health information under section 22F of the Health Act, a health agency may refuse to disclose information to the representative if the disclosure of the information would be contrary to the individual's interests.

The laboratory considered that it would be inappropriate to disclose the results to the father because it was not in a position to assess whether the release would be contrary to the son's interests. Only the GP was in a position to make that decision.

It was my view that the DHB was entitled to refuse the father's request under rule 11(4)(b)(i). Laboratory results frequently require interpretation and laboratory staff cannot anticipate when the disclosure of the results would be contrary to the individual's interests. The results were available from the GP, who was the appropriate person to decide whether to release them.

The father was advised of his right to take the matter to the Human Rights Review Tribunal and I closed my file.

June 2006

Indexing terms: Access to personal information - health agency - Refusal - Whether the release of information to representative would be contrary to son's interests - Health Act 1956, section 22F - Health Information Privacy Code 1994, rule 11(4)(b)(i).