Castlegate

Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Castlegate offers an impartial and confidential service for 16 - 25 year olds.

What We Believe

• Confidentiality is based on mutual respect, trust and honesty.
• The boundaries of confidentiality are within the Castlegate Team unless there is specific permission granted by the young person or there are child protection issues.
• Individual young people have the right of access to personal information in all their records, written or computerised, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Other legislation, guidance and practices that govern Castlegate are the Common Law Duty of Confidence, The Caldicott Principles, Human Rights Legislation 1998, Information sharing principles of YorOK, The Children Act 2004, The Learning and Skills Act 2000 and The Freedom of Information Act 2005.
• Castlegate will adhere to the Guidance Council Code of Principles, namely that it is essential that Information, Advice and Guidance delivery is "impartial, confidential, owned by the young person, promotes equality of opportunity, is transparent and accessible." (i)
• Castlegate is committed to the 5 Outcomes outlined in Every Child Matters ( 2003) and believes that good and appropriate information sharing is a key to collaborative and appropriate interventions to support young people. We will therefore share information with other agencies if the young person wants this and gives permission, or there is a duty to share.

What We Will Do

• Castlegate workers will familiarise themselves with relevant legislation and policies outlined above as well as the Youth Service confidentiality policy, Connexions confidentiality policy and the CYC Safeguarding Children procedures.
• Castlegate workers must adhere to the law regarding abuse for those under the age of 18; whereby there is a statutory duty to inform social services of suspected or identified abuse. All workers will receive appropriate training. Young people should be made aware of these regulations at their initial meeting with a worker.
• Workers will discuss the confidentiality policy with young people ensuring that they understand that the confidentiality is held within the organisation rather than with an individual worker (unless the young person is solely using the counselling/ mental health parts of the service.)
• Client details will not be discussed or used outside Castlegate without the specific agreement of the client except for supervision.
• It is good practice to ensure casework discussions between staff cannot be overheard by anyone else.
• Staff have a duty to release/ share information under the following circumstances:
  • Where there is a statutory duty to share
  • Where a child is believed to be at risk
  • When there is evidence of serious risk to an individual
  • For the prevention, detection or prosecution of serious crime
  • When instructed by a court ( data protection act)
• It is also good practice to break confidentiality:
  • Where a worker believes that a young person is in a life threatening situation
  • Where a young person is terrorised by an abuser
  • Where there is a conflict of interest between users of the project ( see boundaries)
• Where a young person's confidentiality may be breached this will be discussed with the Manager and where possible with the young person. In "exceptional circumstances" the Manager may decide to pass this information on to another agency without the consent of the young person. If the Manager is not available then either the Head of Youth service or the Youth Officer should be contacted. The Manager and the key member of staff should ensure that the details of the referral are written down to include the events, relevant facts and what decisions have been made.
• Castlegate workers will not show recognition of young people outside the building unless the client acknowledges them first.
• Young people will be informed of enquiries made about them by other agencies.
• Information about young people should not be left lying around and case files should be locked in the filing cabinet after use.
• When staff are using computerised information about a young person in the drop in they must ensure people passing by cannot read the information.
• The main points of the confidentiality policy will be displayed in the building and in publicity.
• We reserve the right to pass on information to other agencies if a client puts staff or other users at risk through violence or theft.

(i)Supporting choices 11-19+ National Association of Connexions Partners, Institute of Career Guidance and the Association of Career Education and Guidance. December 2006

Information Sharing

Not all information is confidential but sensitive data is confidential. The Data Protection Act 1998 defines sensitive personal data as that which contains information about:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or other belief systems
• trade union membership
• physical or mental health or conditions
• details about an individual's sexual life
• commission or alleged commission of any offence
• any proceedings for any offence committed or alleged, any proceedings or sentence of any court.

Personal Data must be:

• Fairly and lawfully processed - informed consent must be given
• Obtained and processed for specified and lawful purposes - personal data gathered for one purpose cannot be used for another unrelated purpose
• Adequate, relevant and not excessive - data has to be appropriate
• Accurate - data is inaccurate if it is misleading
• Not kept longer than necessary - (hard copies will be kept for 6 years whilst Connexions will keep their computer records until the young person reaches the age of 20, unless they have special needs, in which case it is 25.)
• Processed in accordance with the person's rights - these include the right to know what data is held and for what purpose and the right to access information upon request.
• Secure - all agencies must have appropriate arrangements to control access to personal information records and to ensure appropriate security for the transmission of such information. Practitioners should only have access to personal information when they need it in order to perform their duties. All personal files and confidential information must be kept securely.
• Not transferred to a country outside the EEA without legal advice.

The Caldicott Principles - A Code of Good Practice

1. Justify the purpose(s). Every proposed use or transfer of personally identifiable information within or from an organisation should be clearly defined and scrutinised.
2. Don't use personally identifying information unless absolutely necessary.
3. Use the minimum necessary of personally identifying information
4. Access to personal information should be on a strict needs to know basis
5. Everyone should be ware of their responsibilities with regard to personal information
6. Understand and comply with the law

See CYC policy on the Child Index for further information

Information Sharing Within Agencies using Castlegate

1. When the young person is using the drop in for information and support on a one off or infrequent basis then it is unlikely that the work will be recorded except as a basic statistical one using the Castlegate recording system. After welcoming and building a relationship with the young person they will be referred internally to the most appropriate staff member working in the drop in to offer information and support. However if the young person prefers to work with original worker that will be respected.
2. Work that takes place over a period of time and is intensive will need recording. This requires written permission, which must be recorded. When the young person is working with their Cxs PA in Castlegate the worker will follow Cxs practice. If the young person required practical support from the Castlegate team then the young person will be offered their own file and a written recording system will be used. Counselling and mental health work will have their own recording system as outlined later in this document.
3. When a young person is working with the Castlegate team and it is in the young person's interest for the information to be shared with Connexions and recorded on their electronic system, it will be discussed with the young person. The information should be fit for purpose and necessary. The young person must give "informed" consent - this means that they need to understand why the information needs to be shared, who will see the information, the purpose to which it will be put and the implications of sharing that information. It is best practice for this to be explicit written consent and noted on the Contact Details and Information Sharing Form. Securing consent should be transparent, not secured through coercion or inferred from a lack of response. Information that is shared must be "accurate and up to date, necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, shared only with those people who need to see it and shared securely." (ii)
4. The same criteria applies to information shared between Connexions, CYC staff and any other agency working with a client. i.e. the young person must give informed consent and the information is necessary in order to support them.
5. Young people with case files and/or access the counselling service have their own unique number for statistical purposes.

Staff should familiarise themselves with the protocol for dealing with young people at risk of suicide (Appendix A)

YorOk and The Child Index

Staff will actively seek permission from young people to share information through the Child Index if there are concerns about their safety or well being and/or their children's welfare, in order to provide the most appropriate services or support. Staff will discuss their concerns with the manager who is an Authorised User of YorOK. The Child Index does not replace child protection procedures and is there to record those young people with a vulnerability rather than those who are in serious need or in crisis.

Nightstop

In order to make a Nightstop referral young people will have to give details about themselves that are entered on the form. These details will be kept for 6 years.

Job centre Plus and Benefits Agency

Section 119 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000 enables Connexions to share information with the Benefits Agency and JobCentre Plus to support young people to obtain appropriate benefits. This will be explained to the relevant young people when they start a claim.

Accommodation Panel

Young people aged 16/17 with housing issues will need to give specific permission to have their details discussed at the Accommodation Panel in order to access housing support. This will be recorded on the Contact Details and Information Sharing form.

Parents

Parental consent is not required to provide information, advice, support or counselling to young people over the age of 16.

As Castlegate provides a confidential service to young people information would not be disclosed to a parent without the specific permission of the young person. This would include whether or not they have turned up to an appointment.

Young People

Staff will not disclose to other young people who are using the service without the permission of the individual concerned.

(ii) Information sharing; practitioners' guide HM gov. 2006

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