Introduction
1.1 The responsible party, facilitates the holding of multidisciplinary meetings ("the meetings") from time to time and in so doing is a "responsible party" for the purposes of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("the Act").
1.2 The persons attending the meetings ("the operators") present cases for discussion at such meetings.
1.3 The persons attending the meetings are accordingly "operators" as defined in the Act.
1.4 At such meetings, and for the purposes of presenting, discussing, and studying cases primarily in order to seek consensus on the optimal treatment of the patients whose cases are discussed, the operators disclose certain personal information regarding their patients (the "confidential information").
1.5 The operators acknowledges the importance of the confidentiality of the information discussed and acknowledge that they are required in terms of the Act not to disclose that information to any third parties save for legitimate purposes.
1.6 The operators are prepared to disclose the confidential information inter se for the disclosing purpose on the terms and conditions set out herein.
Terms and Definitions
Unless the contrary is clearly indicated, the following words and/or phrases, when used in this agreement, shall have the following meaning:
2.1 "Agreement" means this written document amendments to it from time to time.
2.2 "Operators" means the persons attending the meetings from time to time who present cases for discussion at such meetings and/or participate in discussing such cases;
2.3 "Disclosing purpose" means the disclosure of confidential information for the purposes of presenting, discussing, and studying medical cases at the meetings primarily in order to seek consensus on the optimal treatment of the patients whose cases are discussed;
2.4 "Confidential information" and/or "personal information" means information relating to an identifiable, living, natural person concerning the medical condition of that person and the possible treatment regimes for that condition;
Confidential Information
3.1 Any confidential information disclosed by any of the operators shall be received and used by the other operators only for the disclosing purpose and for no other purpose, save with the prior written consent of the patient whose confidential information is discussed.
3.2 The operators shall disclose such confidential information which in their sole discretion is necessary for the disclosing purpose.
3.3 The operators acknowledge that any disclosure of the confidential information to outside third parties might cause irreparable harm to the patients whose confidential information is discussed and could result in the criminal prosecution of the operator disclosing such information and of the responsible party.
Non-Disclosure
The operators undertake that they will:
4.1 treat the confidential information as private and strictly confidential and will safeguard it and will not disclose any confidential information to any outside third party;
4.2 take all such steps as may be reasonably necessary to prevent the confidential information falling into the hands of unauthorised persons or entities;
Data Protection
In receiving the confidential information the operators shall:
5.1 comply with the provisions of the Act, and/or any other privacy and data protection legislation governing the collection, use and processing of personal information as defined in the relevant legislation;
5.2 not process personal information for any purposes other than for those set out in this agreement;
5.3 not disclose or otherwise make available the confidential Information to any third party other than treating medical professionals who require access to such confidential information strictly in order for the medical treatment of the persons whose information is disclosed;
The obligations contained in this clause shall endure, even after the termination of this agreement for whatever reason.
General Terms
6.1 The parties acknowledge that this agreement and the undertakings given by it in terms hereof are fair and reasonable in regard to their nature, extent and period and go no further than is reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the parties and the patients whose confidential information is discusses at the meetings.
6.2 The parties agree that, if any provision of this agreement is found by a court to be invalid, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
6.3 The parties hereby confirm that they have entered into this agreement with full and clear understanding of the nature, significance and effect thereof.
6.4 This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts that together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
6.5 Each of the operators shall sign this agreement and forward a scanned copy to the responsible party at shirley@breastwellness.co.za or deliver such a copy by hand to the responsible party's practice at Linksfield Johannesburg.
6.6 For the sake of certainty it is recorded that nothing contained in this agreement shall preclude any of the operators who present confidential information at the meetings from disclosing that information to medical professionals involved directly in the treatment of the patients whose confidential information is discussed.
