NEW LAW GIVES POLICE GREATER ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION

The provincial government has enacted amendments to the Health
Information Protection Regulations to enable police officers to obtain
health information critical to drug and criminal investigations.

"We want to strike the correct balance between public safety and
protecting privacy," said Justice Minister Frank Quennell.

"We are putting in place regulations to clarify the legislative intent
of the Health Information and Protection Act. This is to facilitate
the work of the police, but it is also to clarify the responsibilities
and the extent to which health workers can disclose information to the
police.

"The purpose of these amendments is to protect individuals' personal
health information and, at the same time, ensure the safety of
communities in our province."

The regulations are something that the police community in
Saskatchewan has been working towards, to establish some clarity
around what information can and can't be shared, said Regina Police
Service Insp. Rick Bourassa said.

"It will be very helpful," he said, explaining that having a
framework to work with will alleviate any concerns that individuals
may have had about overstepping the privacy legislation.

"These regulations will allow us as police officers to receive
information on sort of the general condition of somebody when we are
conducting a criminal investigation and it will also allow us to get
information on pieces of potential evidence that may be at certain
scenes that health people have been involved with."

The amendments will improve communications between the health sector
and police agencies in Saskatchewan and bring the province's
regulations in line with similar rules in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta
and British Columbia, Quennell said.

However, he said Saskatchewan's proposed regulations are much narrower
in respect to the circumstances and the information that can be
provided than in a number of provinces.

"Manitoba, Ontario and B.C. all have much broader language that
applies to all provincial offences and other police investigations. We
are limiting the ability of the police to ask for information in those
cases where there are indictable offences or lawful investigations
under the Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and Substances Act,"
Quennell said.

Police may request personal health information from health authorities
only when they conduct Criminal Code or Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act enforcement or investigations, execute arrest warrants,
serve a subpoena or are trying to locate a missing person who may have
recently sought care at a health care facility.

The information that can be released by hospital and emergency
services personnel is limited to the health facility where the
individual received health services and or the nature and severity of
an injury suffered by the individual.

The regulations also enable health authorities to disclose the
personal health information of a deceased person to a coroner.

Each request for information will be assessed to determine what
information is needed and why it is needed.

Health care providers and police officers will receive training about
their responsibilities under these amendments.