It is the policy of this practice that all patients and their carers should be able to expect that any information given to any member of staff within the practice will be held in a secure and confidential manner.

Even if you are under 16 nothing will be said to anyone-including parents, other family members, care workers or tutors without your permission.

If you have agreed with one of the clinicians here to undergo treatment or further care, then we think that you have also agreed that we can share confidential information with others who may be involved in that care. These will include people within the team or service, and people outside such as hospitals or other specialists.

The only reason why we might have to consider passing on confidential information without your permission would be to protect you or someone else from serious harm. We would always try to discuss it with you first.

We have policies about confidentiality, which our staff have agreed with. We will deal with breaches in confidentiality very seriously. So please do not be offended if you are refused information about another patient, even if they are a family member or close friend. We have all of our patients best interest at heart.