Surrey Supporting People

Info for providers

Confidentiality Agreement

Relationship With Young People

It is intended that staff, mentors and volunteers working for RAINER can build relationships with young people based on mutual trust. It is important that young people can feel free to discuss any concerns with their workers, so that they can help resolve issues, give advice and guidance, and help the young person move on positively for the future.

Sharing Information

When young people work with RAINER it must be made clear that any information shared is with their worker as a representative of RAINER. That information may be shared with the project, so that others in the project can offer help and advice when an individual worker is away.

Supervision

All staff, mentors and volunteers working for RANIER are supervised in their work and will, during supervision sessions with their line manager, discuss issues and concerns that have arisen in their work with individual young people. The line managers are accountable for the staff, mentors or volunteers work, and therefore need to know the substance of their work.

Staff Conduct

Staff, mentors and volunteers working for RAINER are obliged to respect information shared with them by young people they are working with. This information should not be discussed outside of the professional network involved. Staff should not discuss such information with other young people or the general public. Where staff are meeting with young people in a public place they should be aware that sensitive information could be overheard.

No question regarding confidential information should ever be answered over the telephone without establishing the identity and authenticity of the caller, by taking their number and phoning back, and if necessary, checking with a supervisor. Staff, mentors and volunteers at all levels within RAINER have a responsibility to ensure that staff preserve confidentiality procedures and be made aware of the seriousness of breaking the procedures.

Breaking Confidentiality

It is important that all young people working with RAINER understand that there may be circumstances when a Project is obliged to share information about a young person to others without their consent.

A decision to act without a young persons consent would only be made in very exceptional circumstances, and would only be taken by a senior manager of RAINER, having carefully considered all the risks involved.

The circumstance where a decision would be taken to break confidentiality would be where there is evidence that failing to disclose the information might endanger the life of the young person or that of some other person or seriously endanger others in the community.

Examples Of Circumstances Where Confidentiality May Be Broken

In recognising that RAINER also has a duty to provide a safe environment for young people and workers, as well as a duty to act responsibly in the context both of the wider community, there are occasions when confidentiality will be broken.

Where a young person is making active threats to physically or psychologically harm another person who is either working in or using the project and s/he is refusing to change or modify his/her behaviour.

Where acts of sexual or violent nature have been committed or where there are serious grounds for believing that threats will be acted on.

Where it is appropriate to do so, staff are expected to alert the “offending” young person of the need to contact the relevant emergency service.

Criminal Acts

Except where someone is likely to commit an offence under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, there is no duty to reported committed or threatened criminal acts.

However, a number of RAINER projects work in partnership with the Probation Service or with Youth Offending Teams. In these settings it may be a requirement of the partnership agreement that information about offending behaviour is disclosed to the partner agency as these services act as agents of the court. If such a requirement exists then any young people working with staff, mentors or volunteers will be informed of the obligation to disclose information concerning offending at their introduction to the project.

Medical Needs

Where a young person is in need of medical treatment due to self harm, a suicide attempt or physical harm from another.

Disclosure of physical, Sexual or Emotional Abuse

RAINER respects young person’s desire for confidentiality and recognises that a young person may come to RAINER to get help with difficulties arising from past abusive relationships. A decision to break confidentiality because of reported abuse needs to be treated on an individual basis, taking into account the age of the young person and current risk to the young person themselves or to others, perhaps younger or more vulnerable than themselves. The young person should be kept informed at all times.

Third Party Information

The project may receive information about young people from other agencies or individuals. On rare occasions the project may not be allowed to share their information with the young person involved.

An example of such information would be if the young person was subject to an investigation. During the process of that investigation the project would not be allowed to tell the young person.

HIV/AIDS

RAINER recognises the right of people with HIV/AIDS not to disclose the fact. If a young person does disclose this information that disclosure should not pass beyond the individual worker without the young persons agreement. Without such agreement the worker should seek advice a “no name” basis. The information would not be shared outside of the project.

Procedure For Breaking Confidentiality

The project receiving confidential information has the responsibility of judging the sensitivity of the information. Any consideration of breaking confidentiality would, in the first instance, be discussed with the Line manager. If the circumstances were considered serious enough, and the young person themselves continued not to give permission for information to be disclosed, then consultation would take place with a senior manager of RANIER, who would make the final decision. The young person would be kept informed , and would have the reasons for disclosure discussed with them and supplied in writing, stating who the information is to be passed to and why.

Complaints Procedure

All young people who work with RAINER are given copies of the Complaints Procedure Leaflet.

If a member of staff was found to have broken confidentiality outside of the procedures outlined, this would be viewed as a serious misconduct and they would be disciplined accordingly.