Liverpool Hope Students’ Union Advice Centre is committed to providing a professional advice service to its users. The principle of confidentiality is crucial to this and the Centre takes it very seriously.

The Centre recognises that confidentiality is the central trust between a service user and an advisor, enabling an open and honest working relationship to develop. Furthermore, the Centre believes that the principle of confidentiality must be integrated across all aspects of the service, thereby ensuring service users’ interests are protected and the integrity of the service is safeguarded.

Confidentiality is about privacy and respect. In simple terms, it means that the Advice Centre will not normally tell other parties personal things about their service users without their express consent.

However, no professional advice service can offer absolute confidentiality and there are very rare occasions where confidentiality can be legitimately breached.

This policy will outline the circumstances when information will be kept in confidence, when it will be shared with other agencies, and in what exceptional circumstances confidentiality can be legitimately breached.

A ‘duty of confidence’ requirement will be included in employment contracts. This requires staff to comply with this policy. All staff will be made aware of the possibly severe consequences of breaching confidentiality without proper authority and that they would be liable for disciplinary action.

The Centre recognises that service users need to feel secure in using its service and has a confidential interview room to provide some privacy during consultations with advisors.

Also, in telephone conversations or third-party discussions, confidential information will only be shared in secure surroundings (e.g. where the details of the conversation / discussion cannot be overheard).

Service Users only requiring signposting to another service and / or basic assisted information will be allocated a Client Number for statistical purposes but no case notes will be kept.

Other service users will be asked to complete a ‘Client Information Form’ that contains a signed ‘Client Consent’ section. This allows the Centre to record personal information about the service user; to correspond on behalf of that service user with relevant third parties; and to allow the service user’s file to be peer reviewed and / or audited as part of the Centre’s quality assurance systems.

Students who have not completed a Client Information Form should be made aware that the Centre needs to keep records of any advice given. They should be informed that, unless the advisor hears back for them requesting that the Centre does not keep any record, an electronic record of the advice given, along with basic personal details (e.g. name, student ID and contact info, etc.), will be made.

Reassurance should be given that the records will be confidential.

A client can refuse consent for the advisor to act on their behalf. However, if a client refuses consent for the advisor to maintain case records then the Advice Centre reserves the right to withdraw the offer of their services.

It is the advisor’s responsibility to ensure all case records are kept in a locked safe box. All case records will be locked away at the end of each working day. All electronic information (including case notes, copies of correspondence, calculation sheets etc.) relating to service users will be put onto a memory stick and then in a locked safe box.

Case records will be kept for seven years after the closure of the case after which they will be permanently deleted.

The Advice Centre will not provide access to client records if requested by other parities, unless this is with the explicit written consent of the client, or unless directed by a court order. Any other request for copies of advisor’s notes will be refused.

The Advice Centre uses a team approach in order to provide the best quality service to our clients. All information that is supplied to the team is regarded as confidential and is kept securely.

The team consists of advisors, other LHSU staff and full time sabbatical officers, peer reviewers (professional advisors from Liverpool SU) and auditors (from the LHSU’s Board of Trustees). Adhering strictly to the ‘need to know’ principle, team members have differing levels of access to confidential information. Nevertheless, all team members are required to sign and adhere to a robust ‘Confidentiality Agreement’.

A ‘Client Contacts Sheet’ is maintained by the Centre. It contains very brief details of all service users. For practicality, this confidential Sheet is available to the staff and the full-time sabbatical officers of LHSU and peer reviewers. However, the Centre recognises that all users should be able to access its service in confidence and that no other party should ever know that they have used the services of the Advice Centre.

Each advisor is professionally required to participate in Quality Assurance systems such as peer review, supervision, annual auditing and performance appraisals. This work is governed by the same principles of confidentiality.

English common law recognises the concept of a confidential relationship and the duty of confidence. The Data Protection Act 1998 and Human Rights Act 1998 have introduced enforceable rights for service users about how the information they provide is used. The Data Protection Act has restrictions on storing personal data in all formats, written and electronic. The Human Rights Act emphasises respect for private life and strengthens the hand of those advocating increased privacy for the individual.

Due to these Acts and the duty of confidentiality, there is a potential conflict between protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the individual, and a duty of care to the service user and protecting the public.

Confidentiality can be breached:

• To ensure the service provides a duty of care in a life-threatening situation (e.g. serious illness or injury, suicide and self-harming behaviour);

• To protect the service provider in a life-threatening situation.

• To protect children at risk of significant harm as defined by the Children Act 1989;

• To protect the public from acts of terrorism as defined in the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1971;

• As a duty to the Courts;

• Under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986;

• To prevent or detect a crime. Section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 gives public bodies the power, but not a duty, to disclose information for the prevention or detection of crime;

A decision to disclose confidential information without the consent of the service user should not be made lightly and usually only after consultation between the Advisor and the Union Development Manager. In emergency situations where the UD Manager is unavailable, an advisor is expected to exercise professional judgment and to act in good faith. All decisions should be recorded in the service user’s case notes.

Every effort should be made to discuss the situation with the service user, encouraging the service user to contact the relevant authorities themselves, unless this would prejudice the outcome of any investigation or criminal proceedings.

The UD Manager is responsible for providing leadership in the implementation of this policy and for ensuring that service planning and performance management systems take account of confidentiality. However, all staff members and volunteers have responsibility for the implementation of this policy.

The LHSU Board of Trustee members have overall responsibility for the direction and scrutiny of this policy and will ensure that principle of confidentiality informs the work of the Centre.

The UD Manager will be responsible for ensuring that those they manage are made aware of this policy and that it is brought to the attention of all those who join the Centre as part of employee induction processes.

The policy will also be made freely available to any student, member of University staff or the public. It will also be made available as a link through the LHSU website.

Breaches of this policy will be managed through the Centre’s Complaints procedure and, where appropriate, LHSU’s Disciplinary procedure.

This policy will be reviewed by the Board of Trustees every two years.