Premier Tony Wakeham says there has been no change to policies related to access to the health information of children, and communications from NL Health Services “should have been handled differently.”
There was recently an uproar from parents after a memo was circulated from NLHS, indicating that, for children aged 12-15, parents and caregivers would have to get their child’s consent in order to access their medical records.
In a statement, Wakeham says the policy governing health information has existed “for decades,” it was not introduced by his government and the existing policy has not changed.
What did change, he says, was the introduction of a new digital health system, which “brought greater public attention to how this long-standing policy was applied.”
Wakeham states that the memo was sent without context, explanation, or senior-level review, and was distributed through NL schools without any additional review.
Neither Wakeham, Health Minister Lela Evans, or Education Minister Paul Dinn was aware of the memo.
He says it resulted in “understandable confusion and concern among parents and families.” NLHS has been directed to strengthen its approval and communications processes, and the department of Education is also strengthening its review processes.
Government has committed to bringing forward legislative changes in the fall to address the concerns of parents while also protecting children.
