Healthcare workers in Castilla y León are receiving a document from the Ministry of Health (Sacyl) urging them to sign a “commitment to confidentiality and duty of secrecy,” beyond the professional codes and Hippocratic oaths that already govern their work. According to the letter received by healthcare professionals, the agreement affects internal use information, which they describe as available to public employees but not classified, meaning it is not confidential, but they state that it cannot be disclosed to avoid what they call “a moderate impact on the citizen or health management.” Unions and professionals denounce this “pressure” and “extreme control” and insist that they have “a very clear understanding of the level of confidentiality and secrecy” in the performance of their duties. They also see it as possible that “going overboard” could generate an adverse reaction and lead to more leaks.
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EL PAÍS has accessed a copy of this official document addressed to “public employees of the regional health management, which must be signed in compliance with current regulations on data protection and information security.” The management divides types of information into three: public, which, they explain, generates no impact and is available; confidential, referring to personal data and administrative files; and internal use. It is in this last category where the conflict lies, as the consulted healthcare representatives reiterate that they already know that what is public is public and that confidential data can never be disseminated, as required by their professional commitment and ethical codes.
This internal use information, which could cause a “moderate impact” despite not being “classified” and being available to employees, according to sector sources, seeks to increase control over complaints, criticisms, or deficiencies that may emerge regarding the functioning of Sacyl and its material or human resources or waiting lists. Furthermore, they condemn attempts to restrict “freedom of expression.”
Mercedes Gago, regional general secretary of the Satse nursing union, rejects the new request. “It’s like the Data Protection law, it obliges us to protect the data of workers and patients; furthermore, we already have a code and an oath. It’s redundant,” she believes, and makes a comparison: “When your parents try to control you to the extreme, what do they achieve? You find your own way. They want to push, but they won’t succeed.” Gago assures that 99.99% of the profession will never disclose private matters and encourages “taking measures” against anyone who oversteps, but believes there are other things “that eventually come out because we all know them,” such as when a piece of plaster fell from the hospital ceiling in Zamora because a pipe was broken. The unionist believes they “are going overboard” and predicts that so much pressure will generate an opposite effect. “Healthcare professionals have a very clear understanding of the level of confidentiality and secrecy,” she concludes.
Sacyl, consulted by EL PAÍS, insists on “cybersecurity” as the core of its motivations and points to state regulations on the matter, although the aforementioned “internal use information” clause does not refer to virtual, confidential, or restricted information, but rather “unclassified” and “accessible to all employees of the management” to whom it corresponds, meaning neither restricted nor inaccessible. They also add that “the Hippocratic oath is ethical/symbolic in nature, has no legal or regulatory validity, and only affects doctors, whereas the confidentiality document is signed by all workers” and emphasize that “this document has nothing to do with the freedom of expression of professionals.” The last point of the file, above the signature space, states that “refusal to sign the commitment will result in restricted access to information.”
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