Don't fear covert recordings

The increasing use of smartphones makes it easier for patients wishing to make an audio – or in some cases video – recording of a dental appointment.

MDDUS dental adviser Rachael Bell believes dentists should not resent patients who record their consultation and instead simply accept that the prospect of covert recording is a product of the digital age.

“The law offers little or no protection from patients covertly recording consultations,” says Bell. “A dentist may think that a patient would require their permission to record a consultation and that any recording made covertly was illegal.

“However, patients don’t need a dentist’s consent to record the consultation as section 36 of the Data Protection Act 1998 considers that the information in the recording belongs to them. Therefore, patients are within their rights to record the consultation and could use the information obtained to challenge the dentist’s actions.

“Conversely, dentists always require patients’ permission to record consultations, with the resulting data being subject to a number of protections.