Professionals

Sharing Information

The Zone believes that young people have a right to free and confidential information, advice, support and counselling services whilst recognising the duty it has to safeguard the physical, psychological and emotional safety of all those who use or work for the service, and that this duty may conflict with the ability of the service to remain confidential in all situations.

At The Zone we work to the seven golden rules for information sharing:

1. The Zone agrees that the data Protection Act is not a barrier to sharing information and actually provides a framework to ensure personal information about living people is shared appropriately.

2. The Zone will be open and honest with the young people we work with from the onset about why, what, how and with whom information could be shared – seeking their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate, to do so.

3. The Zone will seek advice, if we are in any doubt, without disclosing the identity of the young person where possible.

4. The Zone will share information with consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those young people who do not consent to share confidential information.

5. The Zone will consider safety and well being and base our information sharing decisions on the safety and well-being of young people and other who may be affected.

6. The Zone will ensure that information we share is necessary for the purpose for which we share it, shared only with those that need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, shared in a timely fashion, and shared securely.

7. The Zone will keep a record of our decisions, and the reasons for these, in relation to information we share or choose not to share.

If you would like to find out more about Confidentiality and Information Sharing you can view our policy.

If you have any concerns about a young person you are working with and would like to talk to someone at The Zone please call us on 01752 206626 and ask to speak with our duty worker or one of our managers. If you know which team the young person is working with please ask to speak to the Project Lead for the team.

Alternatively you can contact us by emailing: info@thezoneplymouth.co.uk.