Letter: Surgery video a breach of trust

Sir: In the light of the video Everyday Operations ("NHS blocks sale of graphic surgery video", 26 August), I write as the chairman of the Institute of Medical Illustrators, the professional body for the medical photographers and artists who make clinical recordings, to express my members' deep concern that any hospital could allow the release of confidential records for the production of home-entertainment videos.

Patients place their trust in their medical practitioners and submit to clinical recordings on the understanding that such visual records are useful to their treatment and possibly to the eventual treatment of others. These recordings form part of the patient's clinical record and, as such, are strictly confidential.

Those medical illustrators belonging to this Institute and registered with the National Board of Registration of Medical Illustrators observe a stringent code of practice which insists that informed, written consent is obtained from the patient before any illustrative recording is made. The patient is informed of the nature of the recording, why it is required and how it will be used. If the recording is subsequently required for something other than its original purpose, fresh consent must be sought.

While I am given to understand that no faces or identifying features are revealed in these videos, it is nevertheless a grave cause for concern that such a flagrant breach of patient confidentiality can occur.

DAPHNE LYTTON

Chairman

Institute of Medical Illustrators

London SW7