004.1 – General Statement of Policy

At Open Homes Nottingham, we are committed to protecting people’s privacy and recognise that confidentiality is a key issue in the work that we do.

Data, in all formats, is used and stored in accordance with the requirements laid down under the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018.

The existence of a confidentiality policy will be referred to in relevant information and publicity materials.

Employees/volunteers are aware of the confidentiality policy and request their observance of it at all times.

004.2 – Confidentiality Definitions

Confidentiality extends to cover:

• Information shared in conversations between service users and employees/volunteers of Open Homes Nottingham
• Information shared between employees/volunteers of Open Homes Nottingham as a necessary part of their work and/or role
• Observations made by Open Homes Nottingham employees/volunteers of service users and/or their personal environment
• Any information recorded about a service user and/or an employee/volunteer of Open Homes Nottingham (such information is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998 and GDPR 2018)

004.3 – Breaches in Confidentiality

004.3.1 – Breaches

Breaches of confidentiality are deemed to be misconduct and will be dealt with according to the Disciplinary Policy, unless otherwise outlined by ‘004.3.2 – Circumstances in Which Confidentiality May Be Breached’ (Below).

004.3.2 – Circumstances in Which Confidentiality May Be Breached

We also recognise that circumstances may arise where our obligation, whether legal or ethical, to disclose certain information, will outweigh our obligations with regard to confidentiality. Specifically, these circumstances would fall into one of the following categories:

• When there is a legal obligation to disclose, defined as for the purposes of preventing or solving a crime;
• When either the service user concerned or other people are deemed to be at risk of harm, whether imminent or sustained;
• When the service user concerned is deemed a risk either to themselves or to others;
• When permission has been given by the individual concerned to disclose specific information.

004.4 – Confidentiality Guidelines

Employees/volunteers should regard all information they have access to or are privy to as a result of their work as being confidential unless advised otherwise. No information should be released to a third party without first seeking the agreement of the project manager and/or the individual concerned, as appropriate.

Employees/volunteers are advised not to disclose personal details (home address, telephone number etc) to service users, while service users should direct all correspondence through the office number, the on-call number, or their referral agent.

Employees/volunteers and service users are entitled to access any information we record concerning them. They can do so by requesting a 027.7 Service Access Request Form, completing it, and returning it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.