Part of A guide to confidentiality in health and social care: references
Section 9: Safeguarding
Safeguarding children
The action taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children can be defined as
- protecting children from maltreatment
- preventing impairment of children's health or development
- ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Children are best protected when professionals are clear about what is required of them individually, and how they need to work together.
For further details see the DH guidance on Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Safeguarding vulnerable adults
A ‘vulnerable adult’ is a person
- who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself
- or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation
For further details see DH guidance on multi-agency working to safeguard vulnerable adults: No secrets: Guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse.
Domestic violence
It should be noted that in cases involving domestic abuse, for example, the victim may be placed at risk if confidential information about her or him is inadvertently shared.
Questions from an apparently concerned partner may seem to be innocent, but answering them may help the partner to find the victim, who may then be re-victimised or even murdered.
Knowing that a patient is being subjected to violence or abuse, which is serious in nature, may be sufficient to trigger sharing in the public interest.
For further guidance see the guidance on multi-agency risk assessment conferences in cases of domestic violence: Striking the Balance: Practical Guidance on the Application of Caldicott Guardian Principles to Domestic Violence and MARACs (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences).
Last edited: 17 January 2022 12:54 pm