confidentiality
Confidentiality in the healthcare profession imposes a boundary on the amount of personal information and data that can be disclosed without consent. It is the responsibility of the healthcare worker to ensure that staff and client details are not disclosed to the public.However, confidential policy can be broken if it is in the interest of the service user, staff and members of the public.See below
When to seek advice about Confidentiality
It is very important as a healthcare worker that you understand when to seek advice about confidentiality.Confidentiality is essential in health care to improve trust and working relationships between the service users and their carers. Certain information is however shared amongst teams if it is needed to effectively support service users and others involved in their care.Take for example, when there is a prospect of risk of danger or harm to the service user, staff or members of the public.Additionally if abuse is suspected within the home or seen anywhere, or if there is a misconduct of a staff,it is the responsibility of the staff around to pass such information to the supervisors or the appropriate bodies to take appropriate actions. In most cases organisations have whistleblowing policies to guide protect staff from victimisation after blowing the whistle and also to guide them on how to break confidentiality .
