Confidentiality Policy

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This policy is designed to provide a maximum amount of trust between clients and staff. However, clients should note that we work as a team in H.O.P.E. and any disclosure to a member of the team may be handed over to another member of the team, as this is designed to provide clients with a holistic care approach, ensuring continued care.

 

Your records, both oral and written, will be kept in confidence, according to standards set down in Irish and EU legislation. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018) gives you more control over personal data which is “any information related to an identified or identifiable natural person.”   Article 15 gives you the right to request your records verbally or in writing and they will be given to you in a maximum of 30 days. 

 

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: You have the right to request access to your personal information.

• Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information.

• Erasure: You have the right to request deletion of your personal information.

• Restriction: You have the right to request restriction of processing of your personal information.

• Data Portability: You have the right to request transfer of your personal information to another organisation.

• Objection: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information.

 

We will hold client records on file for seven years, then they will be securely destroyed.  

 

If presenting for addiction, your anonymous details, i.e, without your name, will usually be entered into the Health Research Database.  These are general questions that you will be asked during your assessment regarding demographics and addiction history.  You have the right to refuse this.

 

You will be asked to sign a Confidentiality Agreement, and we will only disclose information, or discuss your case management to individuals outside of H.O.P.E. with your agreement.  Confidentiality entails not only not repeating any details of clients visits, but giving no details whatsoever of the our Client’s names to any individual, either in person, writing or on the telephone, without the clients prior written consent. 

 

Our Client’s anonymity and confidentiality will be safeguarded. The only exceptions, in accordance with the law, is if child abuse or criminal activity is disclosed, if you appear to have a serious intention to harm yourself or another, or if records are court ordered.

 

Clients are expected to respect the confidentiality of other clients that you may see in our office.   Please do not take photographs without permission.