Legal advice: can my son’s friend undertake work experience at the GP surgery where I work?

Allowing a non-health professional access to patients or patient records risks breaching confidentiality and raises issues around consent, says legal expert Marc Cornock

The first thing you need to do is seek approval from the relevant person at the practice. This could be your line manager, the practice manager or one of the partners.

Once permission is in place, and if you want your son’s friend to observe you as you work, there are two main areas that could pose a problem: patient consent and confidentiality.

Anyone attending a GP surgery is entitled to believe that the health professionals interacting with them are suitably qualified, and are there for the benefit of patients.

Precarious position

This would not apply in the case of your son’s friend. He