Confidentiality. 14: Powers of the police and access to information

Staff nurse Paula Rose was on duty in the accident and emergency (A&E) department early one Sunday morning when a police constable came in asking for details of any patient who had been brought in and for whom there was evidence of a fall from height. The constable explained that a girl had been assaulted and raped while in her bedroom by an assailant who came in through the window. Her screams brought help, but he made his escape from the window and she believed that he had fallen and may have suffered fractures or bruises.