Confidentiality policy

Hillingdon SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) is committed to providing a confidential service to its users. No information given to SENDIASS will be shared with any other organisation or individual without the user's expressed permission.

For the purpose of this policy, confidentiality relates to the transmission of personal, sensitive or identifiable information about individuals that comes into the possession of SENDIASS through its work.

SENDIASS holds personal data about users that will only be used for the purposes for which it was gathered and will not be disclosed to anyone outside of SENDIASS without prior permission.

All personal data will be dealt with sensitively and in the strictest confidence.

Our objectives

• Parents and young people may self refer to our service. Professionals may refer parents or any young people but need to ask the parents or young person's permission.
• All our staff have training about the practical arrangements of this policy in line with Hillingdon confidentiality training.
• In exceptional circumstances, we may have to breach confidentiality (if we are concerned that there is a risk of harm to any individual). We will use Hillingdon confidentiality procedures.
• We have dedicated phone lines and answering phones, which cannot be overheard.
• We have a secure email system and database.
• Database information is the property of Hillingdon SENDIASS. All information about parents, carers, young people and children is treated with respect and as confidential.
• We will not tell anyone outside our service that a parent or young person has contacted us, unless they ask us to.
• We will make sure that we comply with national and local government legal requirements for confidentiality and data protection.

Practical arrangements

• Parents and young people will be told about this policy when they first contact the service.
• A record of casework will be stored on a secure database, which is accessible to Hillingdon SENDIASS officers only. Parents may have access to their records on request.
• Any paper records will be kept in a locked cabinet, no longer than necessary, and then disposed of securely.
• We have to collect statistical data in order to evaluate Hillingdon SENDIASS. We will make sure that no one's personal details are passed on and that the data is anonymous.

SENDIASS officers

SENDIASS officers will:

• ensure telephone or face-to-face conversations with parents/carers or young people cannot be overheard.
• only discuss case work with Hillingdon SENDIASS officers and nobody outside the service.
• not provide parent/carers or young people with their own personal contact details.

Staff will code and password protect information emailed to the service and then delete it from their computer.