Oct 23, What is confidentiality? Confidentiality legislation in health and social care Health and social care providers are given extensive training regarding what is appropriate in regards to confidentiality, but to outsiders, it can be difficult to know what legislation is in place and how it is implemented.
There are five rules of confidentiality in health and social care: All confidential information about a client should be treated respectfully and their rights to confidentiality should be respected at all times Confidential information about a client should be shared by a care team only when it is necessary for the safety and wellbeing of the client Any confidential information shared for the benefit of a community should remain anonymous An individual has the right to object to their confidential information being shared.
How is confidentiality maintained in health and social care Confidentiality in health and social care is essential because it helps patients and clients have confidence that they can share information, and this can be extremely important in ensuring they get the care they need. Day to day maintaining of confidentiality means: Ensuring that sensitive conversations are only held in private spaces Recording and accessing only necessary and relevant information Changing log-ins and passwords necessary and keeping security measures and programs up to date for IT systems Reporting any possible data breaches immediately Always alerting patients or clients when their information needs to be shared, and obtain consent where necessary When can you break confidentiality in health and social care?
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Furthermore, clients can compel you to share disclosures where it might be legally relevant for them. When clients self-disclose or request the therapist to breach confidentiality, it does not imply the complete suspension of past or future confidentiality, only the specific disclosure.
If court records containing a disclosure are sealed, even partial disclosures can be put back into the protection of confidentiality. Finally, many municipalities differ with regard to confidentiality as it pertains to clients who are deceased or incapacitated. Generally, therapists should assume that confidentiality remains intact with clients who are deceased.
Nonetheless, there is often wider legal leeway to breach confidentiality for deceased clients, so be aware. A large degree of discretion sits with the individual counselor regarding when to breach confidentiality. Notably, many depressed clients may express suicidal thoughts. Likewise, many clients with anger issues may express violent thoughts. The fact a client has merely expressed these thoughts in the context of seeking help for them is not cause to breach confidentiality.
Instead, the standard which many therapists use is the prospect of intent. If a client expresses something and describes it as a feeling or a desire, it is not necessarily their intent to make good on the action which would be problematic. Thus, therapists should use their best judgment to determine when their clients have an intent to harm themselves or someone else when measuring when to breach confidentiality.
Ensuring the health of the client is the biggest concern, which means the therapist may want to consult the client regarding how to breach confidentiality regarding abuse when it is legally obligated so as to ensure the client gets the best outcome possible.
For younger clients, you will need to understand your role as a legal entity is balanced with your role as a therapist. Some clients may react badly to statements describing your legal obligations. There is a small chance that some clients may become violent towards you. As always, any instances of your client behaving threateningly toward you are not protected under confidentiality.
You should not be afraid to reach out to the relevant legal authorities to get help if one of your clients is threatening you, as in this situation the risk to your health outweighs any confidentiality considerations.
The primary differences between states is around whether confidentiality breaches regarding certain situations are permissible or whether they are mandatory.
Especially with regard to instances of suspected or confirmed child abuse, the penalties associated with not performing your legally obligated duties may be stiff.
If you plan on starting a new practice in a new area, you absolutely must read up on the confidentiality requirements specific to the region. Understanding when clients have a right to privacy and when they do not is critical to being an effective therapist, especially if you plan on working with populations of clients who are at high risk. Most of the time, your primary interactions with confidentiality will be the paperwork that you share with your client during onboarding.
Afterwards, future interactions between you and your client will be covered by the appropriate amount of confidentiality that allows them to access resources like insurance providers or prescriptions without any untoward disclosures. Managing the documentation and information regarding the confidentiality status of your clients may become daunting as you accumulate more history with clients and a broader range of clients.
Read on to find out more. In a health and social care setting, confidentiality means that the practitioner should keep a confidence between themselves and the patient , as part of good care practice. All our training is CPD accredited and fully online, meaning you can study anywhere, anytime and download your certificate in a matter of hours.
See how else we might be able to support you with our Safeguarding Adults course library. There are many legislative requirements surrounding confidentiality in health and social care. Confidentiality is important for encouraging people to come forward with issues and concerns.
However, there are certain offences and provisions where the duty of confidentiality is overridden. For example, if a girl has been a victim to Female Genital Mutilation FGM , then this is a criminal offence and the appropriate authorities need to know. Additionally, if there is a serious safeguarding concern and somebody is at risk, then you have a duty to share this information to keep people safe. The Human Rights Act gives every individual the right to respect for their private and family life.
This includes having any personal information held in confidence. This right, however, is not absolute and can be overridden if necessary, such as for a safeguarding concern. This Act encourages caregivers to take a person-centred approach when safeguarding vulnerable adults. It also sets out a new way of thinking in relation to adult social care by explaining the importance of sharing information at early stages so that people stay safe.
This Act sets out a number of provisions relating to the health and social care services in England. It covers the integration of information relating to users of health and social services. It also explains the sharing of information for individuals who use health and social care services. The Data Protection Act and the GDPR both have provisions that explain the way organisations, charities, and businesses must handle information.
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