"Medical confidentiality and the magic curtain."

I just had a stay first in A&E, via MAU to Cardiology at Derriford Hospital. When not in hospital I am a researcher who has to jump through multiple hoops just to confidentially ask people innocuous questions in questionnaires or interviews.

Yet in the clinical world of the ward, I have found confidentiality to be a joke. Ah yes, pull round the ‘magic curtain’ that does not stop sound and all will be well. Nurses ask patients for their name and date of birth every time they dispense medication – even though patients are also wearing a band on their arm that identifies them. In my ward I could tell you the name and date of birth of every other patient, I could look them up on an internet search and find everything about them, to which of course I could add much of their current medical history including their everyday bowel movements. 

Given that all patients are wearing a name band, could some level of anonymity not be adopted by using that rather than have the whole ward know full name and date of birth every time? That would be one small step. Having better sound insulation would be a more significant change – but staff remembering that the magic curtain may stop vision but does not stop sound, would also help.