CONFIDENTIALITY

Confidentiality arises where a person disclosing personal information reasonably expects his or her privacy to be protected such as in a relationship of trust[15]. Practitioners are in a position to come into possession of many personal details about families that they work with. They may be given confidential information verbally, and may however have access  to confidential records depending on their position. Passing on  an information when you should not do so can have serious consequences. It can upset people, trust may be lost, causing damage to working relationships. Respecting confidentiality is extremely important[16].

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Confidentiality is an important principle in children’s and young people’s setting as it imposes a boundary on the amount of personal information and data that can be disclosed without consent.
Practitioners must handle sensitive information about children and families with confidentiality and care[17].The obligation to preserve the child’s confidentiality  binds all professionals equally. Records should only show information that is essential to provide the service, and in many instances should be available to the scrutiny of the child and his or her family[18].
Confidentiality is an important principle in children’s and young people’s setting as it imposes a boundary on the amount of personal information and data that can be disclosed without consent. Confidentiality arises where a person disclosing personal information reasonably expects his or her privacy to be protected such as in a relationship of trust[19]. In the multi-agency working private information about a child or young person may often be shared with other professional persons within the partner network. The obligation to preserve the child’s confidentiality then binds all professionals equally. Records should only show information that is essential to provide the service, and in many instances should be available to the scrutiny of the child and his or her family[20].

The need to gain a young person’s trust and to build a positive relationship with him or her often leads to misunderstandings. To maintain a trusting relationship, practitioners should:

·         Be explicit with young people regarding the boundaries within which they work; the boundary will normally exclude information which if withheld, may leave someone exposed to danger.

·         Not lie on behalf of young people and it is important that they make them aware of this.

·         Be aware that young people may assume that, through implication, confidentiality goes further than it actually does.

·         Understand that they may need to make a tactical withdrawal so that they do not witness an anticipated incident[21].

All settings should have a designated person to deal with child protection issues. If you have concerns that a child is being abused it is our job to disclose this information to the designated/manager of the setting unless you think by disclosing the information will put the child/young person in further danger. This can be very hard to work out so having colleagues to discuss this will help you come to a quick conclusion and more accurately. This can become very difficult if you feel that there is child/young person abuse issue and the designated /manager thinks that there isn’t. I think if you have a doubt then it is better to be safe than sorry, maybe monitor the child and gather more information but if the child is in significant danger then report it to the safeguarding board immediately. Parents will have had a copy of the child protection policy which states that information regarding every child will be disclosed if it is deemed that any child is in significant harm/danger. This gives us the right to report any kind of abuse to the safeguarding board without the parents/carers permission. It is important to follow the right steps whilst reporting a case of abuse or a suspected case,we need to gather the correct information.

There are potential tensions between maintaining an individual's confidentiality.
When a child/young person discloses information to you,do not promise to keep a secret. If the child/young person confides in us we cannot promise to keep it a secret because we will have to disclose the information given and this will make the child think that they cannot trust that person anymore, they trusted you in the first place to disclose the information[22].

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15]    C. Meggitt(2011) Children and young People’s Workforce, Hodder Education p.186

[16]  M. Walker (2009),Children’s care, Learning and Development 2^ndedition,NelsonThornes p.4

[17] M. Walker (2009),Children’s care, Learning and Development 2^ndedition,NelsonThornes p.22

[18] C. Meggitt(2011) p.187

[19]  C. Meggitt(2011) Children and young People’s Workforce, Hodder Education p.186

[20] C. Meggitt(2011) p.187

[21] C.Meggitt(2011)p.187

[22] www.studymode.com/.../analyse-the-potential-tension-between-maintaini.

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