EmailHospital Circular 10/2006
Date Issued: 6 June 2006
Publication: 10/2006
Distribution: Public and private hospitals
Subject: Provision of Patient Information to the Lions Corneal Donation Service – Melbourne
Purpose: To advise hospitals that the Minister has made a declaration under section 141(3) of the Health Services Act 1988 to enable identifying patient information to be provided to the Lions Corneal Donation Service – Melbourne for specific purposes
Some hospitals have been reluctant to provide identifying information
about recently deceased patients to the Lions Corneal Donation Service
- Melbourne because of concerns about the confidentiality requirements
of section 141 of the Health Services Act 1988. Section 141 prohibits
health services (which includes public and private hospitals) from disclosing
information which would identify a current or past patient unless such
disclosure is expressly authorised by section 141(3) or by another law.
To address this concern, the Minister for Health has made a declaration under
section 141(3)(h) that it is in the public interest that information in the possession
of a hospital that could identify a deceased person who is, or has been a patient
in the hospital, or who has received health services from the hospital, be given
to a human tissue donation service, where the giving of that information will
enable the human tissue donation service to:
- ascertain whether it is appropriate and lawful to remove human tissue from such a person for the purpose of the transplantation of the tissue to the body of a living person, in accordance with, and subject to the restrictions in, section 26 of the Human Tissue Act 1982;
and, if it is so appropriate and lawful, to:
- take steps that are necessary to enable an authority to remove tissue after death under section 26 of the Human Tissue Act 1982 to be made.
For the purposes of this declaration, hospital means:
- a public hospital;
- a denominational hospital;
- a private hospital; or
- a multi-purpose service.
For the purposes of this declaration, human tissue donation service means:
- Lions Corneal Donation Service – Melbourne.
For the purposes of this declaration, human tissue means:
- eye tissue, including corneas.
Hospitals were advised via Hospital Circular number 40/2004 that the
Minister had previously made a declaration to this effect. This
declaration expires on 30 June 2006.
This new declaration applies to the giving of information by a hospital
to the Lions Corneal Donation Service - Melbourne until 31 December 2007.
For those in need of tissue transplantation to improve their health and
quality of life, it is important that hospitals and tissue banks are
able to work together to identify potential donors. This is especially
the case with eye tissue, where approximately 50% of hospital deaths
are medically suitable for corneal donation, but where such deaths are
not usually identified as such.
The Department requests that hospitals cooperate with the Lions Corneal
Donation Service – Melbourne in its efforts to identify such deceased
patients who may be appropriate eye tissue donors, to provide information
to enable Lions Corneal Donation Service to assess whether such a deceased
patient would be suitable to be a donor, and to enable the possibility
of such donation to be discussed with the next-of-kin.
Lance Wallace
Acting Executive Director
Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services
