Doctors stressed that the doctor-patient relationship is built on trust and that protecting patient confidentiality is a fundamental principle of medical ethics. Patients must be able to share information about their health with a doctor, confident that it will not reach others.

"The current situation, in which police and other state agencies have access to health records, is unacceptable and threatens trust in the entire healthcare system. Patient confidentiality must remain intact even after information is entered into a database," said Neeme Tõnisson, president of the Estonian Medical Association.

The health information system and its administrator, TEHIK, fall under the social affairs minister's authority. The minister is responsible for protecting the data.

The association is calling on Social Affairs Minister Karmen Joller (Reform) to stop access to health records through government information systems without patients' consent. It says access in exceptions clearly defined by law should require a court order.

"The medical association is breaking through an open door here because a legislative amendment is already being drafted with the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs and will soon go before the government. They know this very well," Joller wrote on social media.

Joller said TEHIK had done nothing wrong, as it had acted and continues to act under current law.

"The Police and Border Guard Board, whose employees sometimes requested health records without sufficient justification, has already changed its practices," she added.

Joller also stressed that no matter how good the systems are, people will always be the weak point. "And here I would also expect the doctors' representative organization to contribute."

Joller said she wanted the association to address healthcare workers who share patients' health information on social media.

The minister said the association should remind its members that sharing patient stories at a conference, training session or elsewhere requires the patient's written consent in a reproducible form. That consent must explain where, when and how the person's information will be used.

She also expects the association to stress to its members that they may not even disclose that a particular person is a particular doctor's patient.

Joller noted that the Data Protection Inspectorate (AKI) has also said patient confidentiality covers all information learned about a person during treatment, not just their diagnosis.

"Disclosing the information requires the patient's consent or a clear legal basis. I have asked AKI to assess the conduct of some doctors to determine whether proceedings should be opened. Why doesn't the medical association do that itself?" Joller wrote.

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