Ever keen to test the outer limits of ‘e-government’ I phoned up NHS Direct earlier to see what would happen.

As part of the telephone menu, there is an option to find out what will happen to the information that you provide to the NHS. There is a message to say that there is a legal obligation to treat any disclosure by the patient as confidential.

A very small vignette from the heady world of e-gov but nonetheless I think of some interest. I would be interested to know if any local authorities have taken this step for services delivered by phone.