In accordance with the common law, the ‘public interest’ can be appealed to in specific instances within the healthcare context to lawfully justify disclosures of confidential information to others. However, as evidenced by the main guides for healthcare professionals (such as the UK General Medical Council’s Confidentiality guidance), there is no comprehensive step-by-step toolkit to assist decision-makers in making a robust and defensible public interest determination. My research addresses this gap by providing a novel ethico-legal framework. In my presentation, which focuses on the English context but has application to other jurisdictions, I will outline the framework, which consists of two principal parts, reflecting the distinction I draw between what ‘is’ and what is ‘in’ the public interest, and which applies a principles-based approach to decision-making. My presentation will focus on the second part of the framework, which guides decision-makers in determining whether a proposed measure is ultimately justifiable in the public interest. I will justify why I am proposing an ethico-legal framework at all to address this issue; discuss the substantive and procedural content of this part of the framework; explain the distinctions I draw in the framework; and elucidate how I intend the framework to function in practice. Ultimately, I argue that this framework will assist healthcare decision-makers in reaching a well-rounded, robust determination on the public interest – one that is made with sound social, ethical, and legal justification.