Psychology.im Ltd is an independent company and is not part of or tied to any other organisation
Any letters or notes kept are ‘client confidential’ and are treated as such. In all usual circumstances you can expect records and notes to be treated and kept with the same care a medical or educational record and will only be disclosed to others with your agreement or within accepted ethical guidelines.
John is a Registered Practitioner Psychologist and a Chartered Psychologist. He is bound by codes of conduct with respect to his work and conduct. Parts of these relate to confidentiality.
In essence, all of these require confidences to be kept except in exceptional cases relating to the protection of children or others or of other requirements of law.
Extracts from Codes of conduct:
British Psychological Society Code of Conduct
This requires him to:
Keep appropriate records.
(ii) Normally obtain the consent of clients who are considered legally competent or their duly authorised representatives, for disclosure of confidential information.
(iii) Restrict the scope of disclosure to that which is consistent with professional purposes, the specifics of the initiating request or event, and (so far as required by the law) the specifics of the client’s authorisation.
(iv) Record, process, and store confidential information in a fashion designed to avoid inadvertent disclosure.
(v) Ensure from the first contact that clients are aware of the limitations of maintaining confidentiality, with specific reference to:
(a) potentially conflicting or supervening legal and ethical obligations;
(b) the likelihood that consultation with colleagues may occur in order to enhance the effectiveness of service provision; and
(c) the possibility that third parties such as translators or family members may assist in ensuring that the activity concerned is not compromised by a lack of communication.
(vi) Restrict breaches of confidentiality to those exceptional circumstances under which there appears sufficient evidence to raise serious concern about:
(a) the safety of clients;
(b) the safety of other persons who may be endangered by the client’s behaviour; or
(c) the health, welfare or safety of children or vulnerable adults.
(vii) Consult a professional colleague when contemplating a breach of confidentiality, unless the delay occasioned by seeking such consultation is rendered impractical by the immediacy of the need for disclosure.
(viii) Document any breach of confidentiality and the reasons compelling disclosure without consent in a contemporaneous note.
Heath Professions Council Standard of Conduct, Performance,and Ethics
“You must respect the confidentiality of your patients, clients and users.
You must treat information about patients, clients or users as confidential and use it only for the purpose for which it was given. You must not knowingly release any personal or confidential
6 Standards of conduct, performance and ethics
information to anyone who is not entitled to it, and you should check that people who ask for information are entitled to it. You must only use information about a patient, client or user:
– to continue to care for that person; or
– for purposes where that person has given you specific permission to use the information.
You must also keep to the conditions of any relevant data- protection legislation and follow best practice for handling confidential information relating to individuals at all times. Best practice is likely to change over time, and you must stay up to date. You must be particularly careful not to reveal, deliberately or accidentally, confidential information that is stored on computers”
John is very willing to discuss the implications of these codes on his work with and for you at any time.
In addition when working as a family mediator he is bound by the Code of Practice of the Family Mediators Association
With respect to confidentiality this requires of him:
Confidentiality
5.5.1 Subject to paragraphs 5.5.3, 5.5.4 and 5.5.5 below mediators must not disclose any information about, or obtained in the course of, a mediation to anyone, including a court welfare officer or a court, without the express consent of each participant, an order of the court or where the law imposes an overriding obligation of disclosure on mediators.
5.5.2 Mediators must not discuss the mediation or correspond with any participant’s legal advisor without the express consent of each participant. Nothing must be said or written to the legal advisor of one party regarding the content of the discussions in mediation which is not also said or written to the legal advisor(s) of the other.
5.5.3. Where it appears necessary so that a specific allegation that a child has suffered significant harm may be properly investigated or where mediators suspect that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, mediators must ensure that the relevant Social Services department is notified.
5.5.4 Mediators may notify the appropriate agency if they consider that other public policy considerations prevail, such as an adult suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.
5.5.5 Where mediators suspect that they may be required to make disclosure to the appropriate government authority under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and/or relevant money laundering regulations, they must stop the mediation immediately without informing the clients of the reason.