What are the consequences of breaches of confidentiality?
How do people feel when they have confidentiality breached?
In which types of organisations is confidentiality particularly important?
What is confidentiality?
Confidentiality is like privacy. Everyone has a right to there own privacy and they also have a right to keep personal information confidential (private) and we have to work hard to ensure that everyone’s privacy is maintained.
What sort of things should be kept confidential?
Personal things should be kept confidential such as addresses and medical information.
How can information be kept confidential?
Using passwords on computers, keeping paper-based files in a locked compartment. Make sure that the only people that can access the files are the ones that are allowed to. For every individual person to have their own user area.
Exceptions to Confidentiality
There are three main legal situations that do not allow any adult to keep information private. They are
In BC, only lawyers and in some jurisdictions doctors and clergy are immune from prosecution by withholding information from the court. If a court subpoena's your file, there is a possibility that information may have to be presented to the court. While these situations are rare, usually the client is aware of the subpoena before we are. If we do receive notification from a court, we will notify you.
In addition to a subpoena from court, there are three legal situations that do not allow any adult to keep information private:
Consultation and Supervision
Most professionals consult and receive supervision of their work. Some agencies require therapists to review their files in case management meetings with a team. At Walmsley & Associates, we consult with each other, but identifying information is not used.
The purpose of consulting is to focus on the therapist's work, to provide guidance and support, and to grow as therapists - resulting in better service to all clients.
Should identifying information be considered beneficial to consultation, then your therapist must receive specific written consent from you first.
A therapist at Walmsley and Associates may receive supervision from someone at our agency or go outside the agency for supervision. For example, all of our student interns receive weekly supervision of their work. Usually this is a condition of their practicum placement. Another example is an experienced therapist at our agency goes to Calgary to receive supervision of his supervision.
If a therapist receives supervision outside of our agency, you will be informed and will be invited to give your consent. It is always your choice and will not affect your therapy.
