GP has disclosed medical information to employer without consent

[PerfectlyUnhappy]

What can I do more than cry? I signed a consent form specifying which information was to be released and this has been completly ignored by GP. The information released, is of a completly different nature to what I agreed to, it is not in any way criminal or terrible, but for my current employer it has opened a can of worms and im fuming!

I have spoken to the GP and they are deeply apologetic and agree its their fault but what else can I do? Is there a way to issue a formal complaint?
Any advice appreciated.

If you contact your local health authority or primary care trust (a google search should help you find them) they will have details on how to submit a formal complaint.

this may be helpful www.ico.org.uk/complaints/handling

An apology is not enough - this sounds like a massive breach in confidentiality, please make a complaint

shocking. very sorry OP

God how awful, I agree you need to make a formal complaint via your PCT

Assuming you're in England, your CCG should have a complaints procedure similar to this one on my CCG's website. If you're not sure which CCG is yours, you should be able to find out from here. (If I put my home postcode in, this correct shows that I live in one CCG area but my practice is in another, so you might want to consult your practice's website if need be).

Your GP should have reported him/herself to the practice's Caldicott guardian - usually the senior partner or practice manager. However, I would start with the CCG - if you're on Twitter, you could ask your CCG on there how to make a complaint about a breach of confidentiality. I guarantee this will get you a rapid response!

Absolutely not on in any way, OP - you are right to be fuming.

Unfortunately the error has been made now and nothing your GP surgery can do will wipe the information from your employer's memory.

What do you want from a complaint? All complaints will be first dealt with locally by the practice - the CCG will simply hand it to the practice in the first instance. It only goes further if you haven't resolved it.

Usual outcomes would be an apology and some evidence about how they have taken steps to ensure this won't happen to someone else.

If they have already done this, a complaint, although 'official' won't achieve much more.

Thank you all for your advice, all very useful.

Blazin you raise some good and valid points, and I did tick the box to see the report from the GP before it was submitted to the employer, but never saw anything until work called me in to discuss it.

I have since found out that my gps administrator had been on leave and my employer were nagging them for the report so I am unsure who authorized what and I am getting suspicious as to what my employer asked for to warrant the information given. Its a huge mess and the GP is at least admitting fault and willing to meet me to discuss further so I am happy to keep talking to see where it all leads.
Thank you again for all the information.