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89
by you on the inst., viz.:—
"Will you be good enough to let me have some information
with regard to this case? For instance, what was the age of the
mother and how many previous confinements had she had; also
was the still-birth, in your opinion, due to any of the following
causes:—
(a) difficult labour?
(b) mal-presentation?
(c) specific disease in the parents?
(d) kidney or heart disease in the parents?
(e) any other cause?"
and I have in previous Annual Reports expressed my thanks for the
great help so willingly given in answer to my letters. Up to the close
of 1927 in no case had I been met with a refusal, but recently I have
been refused the information asked for on the grounds that so to do
would be a breach of confidence (although my letter was marked
''private"), and that the Medical Defence Union, when appealed to,
had supported the contention, stating that to answer my questions
would be a grave breach of confidence, and that they would not be
responsible for any consequences which might follow.
In view of the fact that the communication is a private one from
the doctor to myself, that the notification of the still-birth by him
comes into the same category as a communication to the Medical Officer
of Health, and is not a notification to the Local Authority, I communicated
with the Medical Defence Union drawing their attention to the
possible far-reaching effect of their decision, and to the fact that the
inquiries hitherto conducted had resulted inter alia in the appointment
of consulting obstetricians available for medical practitioners in all
cases of difficulty or abnormality, as we had discovered by means of the
inquiries that the great majority of still-births were due to difficult
confinement or mal-presentation. In reply I was informed that for a
medical practitioner to supply the information asked for, without his
patient's consent, would constitute a "grave breach of confidence."
Work of the Special Sub- Committee.
During 1927 the Committee has considered severally and in detail
the following:—
64 Deaths of infants under 2 years of age.
35 Still-births.
5 Maternal deaths.
4 Cases of Puerperal Fever.
11 Cases of Puerperal Pyrexia.