Chloroquine-induced mania

Access to Health Records Act, 1990 the record is held by a health service body the ‘¿ appro priate health professional' must be consulted.If the holder ofthe record is the General Practitioner (GP), he or she can give access but need not consult with the specialist.Hence, any psychiatrist writing to a GP and conveying information which he or she feels might be damaging to the patient to know might be well advised to state this in the letter.The decision about potential harm, however, rests with the record holder â€"¿ the GP.It is important for there to be liaison between psychiatrists and GPs before extracts from psychiatric records are released.The record holder may reveal information given by a health professional without the consent of that person.If the information relates to, or is provided by, another individual, not a health professional, it may not be revealed without the individual's consent.This will mainly apply to two groups â€"¿ patient's relatives, and other non-health professionals such as social workers or teachers.