Confidentiality Policy

​In the course of work, staff may find that they come into contact with sensitive and confidential information relating to individual children or parents. Most things that happen between the family, the child and the setting are confidential to the setting, unless there is a child protection concern where information will be shared with other professionals including social care, the police.

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Confidentiality definition

 

Personal information of a private or sensitive nature, which is not already lawfully in the public domain or readily available from another public source, and has been shared in a relationship, where the person giving the information could reasonably expect it would not be shared with others.

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Procedures and Best Practice

 

Staff can be said to have a ‘confidential relationship’ with families. Some families share information about themselves readily; members of staff should consider and check whether parents regard this information as confidential or not. Staff, students, volunteers and those on work experience are made aware of our Confidentiality, Data Protection and Privacy Policies. They read and understand our policy, sign a confidentiality agreement on their first day at work and annually as part of our continued suitability procedures. Confidential information will only be shared with employed staff who have signed agreements.

Staff are made aware by the setting regarding the needs and the rights of parents and children’s confidentiality and those which are designed to protect the health, safety, rights and best interests of the child. Individual children or their families will not be discussed outside of the setting.

Staff discuss children’s general progress and well-being regularly to best support their general needs, but more sensitive information is restricted to designated persons and key persons and may be shared with other staff on a need-to-know basis. Members of staff do not discuss children with other parents or anyone else outside of the organisation, unless in a formal and lawful way. Discussions with other professionals should take place within a professional framework, not on an informal basis and consent to share will be sought via our enrolment form or later by email. Staff should expect that information shared with other professionals will also be shared in some form with parents/carers unless there is a formalised agreement to the contrary, eg. if a referral is made to children’s social care, the identity of the referring agency and some of the details of the referral is likely to be shared with the parent/carer by children’s social care. Sometimes it is necessary to write things down in a child’s file for their heath, wellbeing, and as best practice.

Not everything needs to be recorded, but significant events, discussions and telephone conversations must be recorded at the time that they take place. Records are non-judgemental and do not reflect any biased or discriminatory attitude. Records should be relevant, proportionate, and necessary.

 

When deciding what is relevant, the things that cause concern should be recorded as well as action taken to deal and timeframes where appropriate. When recording general information, staff should ensure that records are legible, dated correctly and the time is included where necessary, and signed by the person making the notes. General welfare is recorded on a child’s general welfare log and any concerns may be recorded in further detail via a Safeguarding Form. Safeguarding /child protection concerns are recorded on a Safeguarding Form. Information is clear and fact based, although it may include the educator’s thoughts on the impact on the child. Information shared with other agencies or professionals is done in line with these procedures. Where a decision is made to share information (or not), reasons should be recorded. Advice should be sought if unsure whether to share.

Issues surrounding employment of staff and other staff related information will remain confidential to the people directly involved with personnel decisions or confidentially within the team with consent and if appropriate.

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Parent Groups and Information Sharing

 

Parents sometimes share information about themselves with other parents as well as staff; the setting cannot be held responsible if information is shared beyond those parents whom the person has confided in. Information shared between parents in a group is usually bound by a shared agreement that the information is confidential and not discussed outside. The setting is not responsible should that confidentiality be breached by participants. Where third parties share information about an individual; staff should check if it is confidential, both in terms of the party sharing the information and of the person whom the information concerns.

 

Consent

 

Parents routinely share information about themselves and their families. Most information parent’s share will be regarded as confidential unless it would be harmful to the child’s physical or mental wellbeing or in cases of child protection. Our Privacy Notice provides full details of what information we share and why and any exceptions to confidentiality. Parents are advised that their informed consent will be sought in most cases, as well as the circumstances when consent may not be sought, or their refusal to give consent overridden. Our enrolment form clearly states which information is consensual and which is not and contains permissions and consent to share with professionals. Should we need consent for anything else we will always email to request this. Where there are concerns about whether or not to gain parental consent before sharing information such as a child protection referral, the DSL or Deputy DSL may seek advice from the local authority professional’s helpline to seek clarification on the best pathway. Consent must be informed - the person giving consent needs to understand why information will be shared, what will be shared, who will see information, the purpose of sharing it and the implications of sharing that information.

 

Separated parents

 

Consent to share need only be sought from one parent. Where parents are separated, this would normally be the parent with whom the child resides. Where there is a dispute, this needs to be considered carefully and clarification may be sought. Where the child is looked after, the local authority, as ‘corporate parent’ may also need to be consulted before information is shared.