Confidentiality and Safeguarding

Confidentiality

I take your confidentiality very seriously and will only consider speaking to someone else if I am really worried about what you have told me and I feel that you are unable to make decisions.

Vulnerable children and adults

If I am worried about your safety or that you are being hurt either by your own actions or by someone else, I would want  to help you to find the best way to keep yourself safe.

I’ll do this by listening and by talking to you about what you want to do. Most of the time whatever you tell me will stay between you and myself.

However, if I feel that you are unable to make decisions for yourself sometimes I might need to tell someone else what you’ve told me to be able to help you.

This will apply to all children. Under some circumstances it may also apply to adults, if for example, you are not able to make a decision about your own safety because you don’t understand the risks, if you cannot remember the situation you are in, or if you lose consciousness whilst you are on the phone/online to me. I can only help in these situations if I have information which identifies you.

It is important to know that you can decide what information you choose to share. Even if you have told me this information, it does not mean I will automatically tell someone else.

I would always want to help you to explore your feelings about your situation and to help you make the decisions that are right for you. I will ask you questions when talking to you to help you do this, and to make sure I understand what you are telling me.

If I determine that I do need to tell someone else, these are  some of the things that might happen:

• Your details may be passed to people who’ll be able to get help to you, like the ambulance service
• If you’re in immediate danger of being hurt by someone else, I may ask the police to come and check, or do something to make sure that you’re safe
• If you’ve told me that a child is in danger, I may need to get them help. Sometimes the only way of doing that will be to contact you and ask you for more details. It may be the police that help with this
• I might ask social services to arrange to speak to you and see how they might be able to help you.

If you do not share your details with me, I will be unable to contact you other than replying to an email you may have sent.