We ask you for personal information so that you can receive appropriate care and treatment. This information is recorded on computer and we are registered with the Information Commissioners Office The practice will ensure that patient confidentiality is maintained at all times by all members of the practice team. However, for the effective functioning of a multi-disciplinary team it is sometimes necessary that medical information about you is shared by members of the team.
We will only share information about you with other healthcare professionals who need to know in order to help you. To protect your confidentiality we will not normally disclose on the telephone any medical details unless we are sure we are talking to you, or have your consent to speak to a third party. All our staff are bound by the confidentiality policy on display in our waiting room. The doctors and nurses have been specially trained in offering confidential advice to teenagers and young people.
We are part of Care and Health Information Exchange https://careandhealthinformationexchange.org.uk/ which enables other medical professional (i.e. at the hospital) to access some of your basic medical information in order to better care for you. This information may not be accessed without permission, however you may opt out of this – Please inform the practice in writing if you choose to do so.
Young person’s confidentiality
We provide a confidential service to all our patients and this includes the under 16s
This means that you may decide to tell others about your visit here but we will not. What you tell the staff here will be respected as STRICTLY confidential. It can only be passed on to a third person (whoever that person may be) if we have your written consent to do so.
There are a few exceptional circumstances in which we will feel it is vital for us to pass on information, for example if we feel you are in personal danger.
In this situation we will do nothing until we have talked it over with you and discussed all the possible options.
What the law says about consent:
- If you’ve had your 16th birthday, no problem, you count as an adult. There is no problem with consent.
- If you’re under 16, we’ve got to make all reasonable efforts to persuade you to tell one or other of your parents yourself – we would never do it ourselves (unless, let’s say, you’re unconscious and you need emergency treatment to save your life).
- If it looks like you’re going to do something anyway – and the most common thing we are talking about here is sex – the law says we can sort you out for contraception without anyone else knowing.