Doctors already have a statutory duty to notify their local authority of suspected cases of certain infectious diseases. With the increasing number of cases of monkeypox being diagnosed in the UK, this has now been added to the list of notifiable diseases under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010.
As a result of this change in legislation, all doctors in England must notify their local council or Health Protection Team if they suspect a patient has monkeypox. Full guidance can be found here.
In line with GMC guidance you do not need to ask for the patient’s consent to allow you to disclose relevant information which is required by law. However, under most circumstances you should tell the patient that you will need to disclose personal information. Different diseases are notifiable in different UK countries and the reporting arrangements may differ. You should follow the arrangements where you work by seeking advice from Public Health England, Public Health Wales, Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in Northern Ireland and Health Protection Scotland.
Further MDU guidance on notifiable diseases is available.
This page was correct at publication on 08/06/2022. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.