Confidentiality: reporting gunshot and knife wounds

This guidance will help you to balance the patient’s right to confidentiality with the risk of harm to others. It helps you decide whether you can disclose personal information without the patient’s consent. It helps you interact with the police, saying what you can disclose to them with or without the patient’s consent.

This guidance came into effect 25 April 2017. It was updated on 25 May 2018 to reflect the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.

The guidance was updated on 13 December 2024 when regulation of physician associates and anaesthesia associates by the GMC came into effect.