(a) All reports and records made pursuant to this Act and maintained by the Department and other appropriate persons, officials and institutions pursuant to this Act shall be confidential. Information shall not be made available to any individual or institution except to:(1) appropriate staff of the Department;(2) any person engaged in a bona fide research project, with the permission of the Director of Public Health, except that no information identifying the subjects of the reports or the reporters shall be made available to researchers unless the Department requests and receives consent for such release pursuant to the provisions of this Section; and(3) the Council, except that no information identifying the subjects of the reports or the reporters shall be made available to the Council unless consent for release is requested and received pursuant to the provisions of this Section. Only information pertaining to head and spinal cord injuries as defined in Section 1 of this Act shall be released to the Council.(b) The Department shall not reveal the identity of a patient, physician or hospital, except that the identity of the patient may be released upon written consent of the patient, parent or guardian, the identity of the physician may be released upon written consent of the physician, and the identity of the hospital may be released upon written consent of the hospital.(c) The Department shall request consent for release from a patient, a physician or hospital only upon a showing by the applicant for such release that obtaining the identities of certain patients, physicians or hospitals is necessary for his bonafide research directly related to the objectives of this Act.(d) The Department shall at least annually compile a report of the data accumulated through the reporting system established under Section 2 of this Act and shall submit such data relating to spinal cord and head injuries in accordance with confidentiality restrictions established pursuant to this Act to the Council.