Educational draft · awaiting clinical reviewUse Rapid for revision, not patient-care decisions. Check current national and local guidance and the BNF or BNFC before acting.
Confidentiality, information sharing and duty to protect
Essential points for quick revision.
2 min synopsisUK scopeSources checked 27 Aug 2026Clinical review pending
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Disclosure needed to prevent serious harm
A credible near-term threat to the patient, an identifiable person, a child or a vulnerable adult may make delay for ordinary consent unsafe.
Action: Clarify the threat, seek consent where practicable, consult senior, safeguarding, police or legal support according to urgency, and disclose only information needed by someone able to reduce the danger. Tell the patient before or after disclosure unless doing so would increase risk or frustrate protection, and record the full reasoning.
Synopsis
Protect confidential psychiatric information while sharing proportionately with consent, under law or to prevent serious harm, distinguish receiving concerns from disclosing records, and document purpose, recipient, minimum content and patient communication.
Explain confidentiality and its limits early, including care-team sharing, safeguarding, legal requirements and prevention of death or serious harm.
Seek explicit consent for disclosures outside direct care, clarify recipient and purpose, and respect granular preferences where safe and lawful.
Within direct care, share relevant information with professionals who need it, while checking the person understands ordinary information flows whenever practicable.
Key red flags
A specific threat, target, method, access and timeframe requires active consideration of protection and cannot be managed by promising secrecy.
Investigation priorities
01
Purpose and recipient definitionFirst step
Identify why information is requested, who will receive it and what action the disclosure could enable.
Management branches
Consented sharingDefine scope and communicate securely
The patient wants a relative, employer, service or other recipient to receive information.
Clarify purpose, recipient, content, duration and communication route and assess capacity when there is a genuine concern.
Share accurate minimum necessary information within the authorised scope and distinguish fact, opinion and uncertainty.
National guidance is shown before implementation-dependent detail. Typical adult dose examples remain subject to patient factors, contraindications and the live BNF or specialist protocol. Source check completed 27 Aug 2026; clinical approval remains outstanding.