Guidance on confidentiality

You should keep the following principles in mind when handling information

Confidentiality means protecting personal information, this information might include details of a service user’s lifestyle, family, health or care needs which they want to be kept private

Information about a service user can be ‘identifiable’ or ‘anonymised’, by identifiable information we mean any information you hold about a service user that could identify them, you must treat this information as confidential

You need to take all reasonable steps to protect information about service users. By ‘reasonable steps’, we mean that you need to take sensible, practical measures to make sure that you keep the information safe.

It is important that you get the service user’s permission, or ‘consent’, before you share or disclose their information or use it for reasons which are not related to the care or services you provide for them

In most cases, you will need to make sure you have consent from the service user before you disclose or share any identifiable information

There are a small number of circumstances where you might need to pass on information without consent, or when you have asked for consent but the service user has refused it

Sometimes, you may be asked for information directly under the law – for example, if a court has ordered you to disclose the information

There are a number of regulators – such as the General Medical Council, the Care Quality Commission and us – who may need you to pass on information to them

You need to make informed and reasonable decisions about your own practice to make sure that you always respect and protect the confidentiality of service users