Hayfield Ltd Charity No. SC00436
 

Confidentiality

Guidelines For Staff

Hayfield Support Services works specifically with Deaf individuals who have additional disabilities.  All these individuals have identifiable special needs and many are vulnerable and require high levels of care and assistance.

Individual service users are initially referred to Hayfield by a statutory authority (e.g. social work or social services department or health authority), who agree to retain responsibility for finance and monitoring throughout the placement period.

Hayfield staff will be required to work with other agencies and service providers (doctors, hospitals, therapists, police etc.) depending on the needs of each service user.

Because of the nature of the placement and the needs of the service users and their carers and families, Hayfield’s policy is to ensure that all aspects of work within the organisation are dealt with in a responsible and confidential manner.

On appointment, all new staff are instructed on the requirement for confidentiality.  

This instruction is based on the following core points...

• All letters, reports, forms, notes or other references to present or previous service users or their carers or family whether in written, typed or computerised format, are the property of Hayfield Support Services, and shall not be removed, copied or destroyed without the knowledge of senior management, or unless part of the recognised, supervised work process.

• Staff will not pass on or divulge any information regarding present or past service users, except to other Hayfield staff, or to other recognised agencies working with the service user or to their carers or family as appropriate.

• Staff will not discuss the private affairs of a service user with any other service user without specific permission.

• All letters, reports or other written documents about a service user, from another individual or agency will not be released to a third party without the consent of the author of the document or their employer.

• All material relating to service users, whether in written, typed or computerised format will be retained in secure conditions, so that they are accessible only to approved Hayfield staff. (See also Policy on “Records and Communication”).

Staff who knowingly ignore or breach the above instructions will be liable to disciplinary action against them, up to and including dismissal.

June 2005