Confidentiality and Information sharing:
- The service I offer is confidential. Any information you share will usually not be shared with another agency without your consent.
- Confidentiality is never absolute, the following restrictions and legal obligations may apply:
Confidentiality and information sharing rules apply to any private medical assessment and treatment including an independent child and adolescent psychiatric practice / service. Following principles apply.
- Usually a copy of the assessment report / summary is shared with the GP / referrer.
- Risk to any person may need to be shared with relevant agencies.
- Schools benefit from being made aware of some if not all facts so they can support the young person appropriately.
- Young people above 16 and at times above the age of 14 may have the competence to withhold information they share from their parent / guardian. However any risk issues will have to be shared.
- Courts may order release of reports and notes, there is an obligation this is done in full by law.
- Similarly, the law places a responsibility on professionals to report any safeguarding matters to appropriate agencies such as social services.
The Caldicott principles are used by health professionals, you can read more about this here.