Patient confidentiality?

[Wishiwasholsk]

In the doctors waiting room today and one of the doctors was making phone calls.

She clearly had the calls on loud speakers and I could hear every word of their conversation.

Aibu to think this is breaching patient confidentiality?

Absolutely, I would be livid if my personal records were broadcast like this
They have committed a gross breach of trust. Contact the practise manage, PALS and the GMC and complain.

Change your GP surgery, no way can you trust them after this.

Yes, I would have reported this to the practice manager or spoken to the doctor directly.

I once had my appointment interrupted by my GP having an argument on the phone with a care home about an elderly lady's care. I heard intimate details about her care.and treatment. He said "I know yiu won't day anything, vyoure a teacher..."

Where was the doctor who was making the calls? Were they aware that the conversation was audible? Sometimes sound carries more than you realise.
I would have spoken to the receptionist at the time, or contacted the practice . manager.

Was a doctor making the calls from the waiting room?

Could you identify the person they were speaking to? If it was just about the treatment, the medicines or the time of a visit but you couldn’t say who they were speaking to, then there isn’t a problem.

Why didn’t you point it out to receptionist at the time?

one of the doctors was making phone calls.

What kind of phone calls though? My advice is very different if the calls were along the lines of "Hello, Jennifer? ... The results of your STI test came back and you tested positive for chlamydia, you need to make an appointment to see me" vs "Hello, Jennifer? ... it's Dr Brown, your test results are in and I need you to make an appointment to come in and see me." The first would definitely be a breach of confidentiality but the second one wouldn't really be.

Also, it depends on the set up - did the doctor realise they could be overheard? Were they in another room but a window/door was open and their voice was carrying or they were just speaking loudly? Were they in the same room and therefore have an expectation that their conversations could be overheard?

I think I would have spoken to the receptionist or practice manager at the time to let them know of your concerns but I don't think it's too late to send the practice manager an email as long as it's along the lines of "I was at X surgery on Y date at Z time and whilst in the waiting room Doctor A (if you know who it was) was making phone calls including private information that were entirely audible to me and anyone else in the waiting room. I feel this is inappropriate and I'm concerned for the confidentiality of my records, as I would assume a phone call to a doctor would hold the same confidentiality as a consultation." and is not just complaining or pitching a fit.

Where was the doctor? If he/she was in a room with the door closed and the sound had carried then I'd have said to the receptionist that you could hear the conversation and that you were concerned about confidentiality. In that case I
Wouldn't complain, just make it known. As a PP has said, sometimes people are unaware of how the sound carries.

If she was in the waiting room on loud speaker then that a) odd and b) unprofessional and yes I'd complain

I once heard - through a closed door - a consultation between a doctor and a very elderly patient with a hernia. Doctor was yelling because the patient was practically deaf.

Agree will depend on what's been said. Dcotors are generally pretty hot on this sort of thing and don't go around broadcasting truly confidential info to the waiting room.

The doctor was in her office and the entire waiting room could hear the whole conversations.

The reception area is downstairs so I wasn't about to leave and go have a word with them and potentially miss my name being called. I had to wait 7 weeks for the appointment.

It assumedly, if they were in an office you could only hear what the doctor said to the other person and couldn’t identify the person or give other personal details such as their address.
If you don’t know who the doctor was speaking to or about then there is no breach of confidentiality.

In that case then I think the doctor clearly wasn't intentionally broadcasting information, but just didn't realise their voice was carrying so far/was so loud so YABU - doctors surgeries aren't sound proofed and a bit of noise is going to carry occasionally.

If there were other people in the waiting area then you could have asked them to let you know if your name was called while you were at reception and/or inform your doctor that you were just in reception and would be back in a moment.

Even if you didn't want to mention something before hand and risk missing your appointment, it wouldn't have hurt to have stopped off at reception on your way out and mention it as a "IDK if you're aware/anyone has mentioned it but whilst I was in the waiting area upstairs I could hear every word the Doctor in Room 29 was saying on their patient phone calls. It might be an idea to let them know that their voice carries/they need to close their office door/that they can be heard, I wouldn't want them to be holding a conversation about sensitive information with a whole waiting room listening in."

I would have mentioned to reception on my way out that phone calls can be heard through the wall. How is the doctor supposed to know as they don’t spend much time in the waiting room

I'd have let reception know.
to the poster suggesting the GMC

I see your point but then when you’re in hospital you know everything about the patients around you as a flimsy curtain doesn’t have much in the way of magical noise reducing qualities and no one thinks that’s a problem. When I was on the antenatal ward I got to know the state of other people’s cervixes very well.