CONFIDENTIALITY, CONSENT AND WORKING WITH CHILDREN
Visit https://childrenfirst.hseland.ie/ to sign up for this free Working With Children Course. This is essential learning for any therapist who wishes to work with children in Ireland.
Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse is now Law in Ireland
Confidentiality and the Safeguarding of Vulnerable People are important issues for all therapists. This page provides you with the information for best practice. If you are working with a child or a young adult and you have concerns that the child may be experiencing abuse, we have a duty of care to act upon that concern. The guidelines state
“If any risk is deemed to exist to a child who may be in contact with an alleged abuser, the counsellor / health professional should report the allegation to the HSE Children and Family Services without delay.”
Whilst this is directed towards counsellors and psychotherapists, as professional hypnotherapists, we must also take action and report to the HSE Children and Family Services without delay.
Children First – Understanding the Law
You can download the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children book from the HSE
https://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Publications/Children_First_A4.pdf
You can download The Children First Law here.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/36/enacted/en/pdf
You can access “The Child Protection and Welfare Practice Handbook” incorporates the Children First Guidelines from Tusla
http://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/CF_WelfarePracticehandbook.pdf
Working With Children
Even if you only occasionally work with children, it is essential that you take this online course.
https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/2/primarycare/childrenfirst/training.html
If you routinely work with children you are advised to take the Child Protection one day course run by One In Four.
https://www.oneinfour.ie/training
Contact Margaret on 016624070 at One In Four or visit their website.
Child Safeguarding Statement
You should also have a Child Safeguarding Statement in place. More information can be found at Tusla. In particular –
http://www.tusla.ie/children-first/organisations/what-is-a-child-safeguarding-statement
A template is available from
Suspicious or Unsure?
If you aren’t sure whether your suspicions are grounded in reality or if you get a sense that something isn’t right, you can get advice and guidance from the One In Four association.
However, to ensure you are approaching any concerns I would suggest you reach out and get in touch with our Supervisors as a first port of call and to make it clear to them why you require urgent assistance.
There is a wealth of online resources for therapists who are thinking about working with children – and would like to be better informed about practical issues surrounding disclosure.
Hypnotherapy for Working with Children Course
As part of our ongoing commitment to best practice, I hope that, in time, specialist training for hypnotherapists who would like to work with children will be made available to all graduates.
CONFIDENTIALITY: GDPR FOR THERAPISTS
I would like to draw your attention to the General Hypnotherapy Register bulletin below and suggest that you take the time to read carefully through it.
In particular, the web page highlights many links for you to read. In particular, the following link is particularly useful.
Our own GDPR Policy can be viewed HERE.
CONFIDENTIALITY: PRIVACY POLICY
I’ve attached the sample Privacy Policy from the GHR in the Case Study Dropbox Link to make it really easy for you to access it. Please make sure that you have a Privacy Policy on your website or on your computer as a PDF document (if you don’t have a website) and that you send the Privacy Policy to every new client before they attend for their appointment. Also keep a hard copy in your office, so that when they sign the Client Intake and Consent From they can view that Privacy Policy and take a copy if they wish.
Hypnotherapy Business Academy Privacy Policy
We have also updated our own Privacy Policy and you can view that HERE.
Disclaimer
It is important that you also know, that Susan Wallace and Hypnotherapy Business Academy at www.resultsxo.com has no particular legal knowledge with respect to data protection issues, Privacy Policy or the Safeguarding of Children in Ireland and cannot be held responsible for any misinterpretation of (or relevant omissions from) the above documentation.
This is simply an attempt to extract the salient points (that appear to specifically affect the sole practitioner ) from the relevant documentation and advice from Tusla, the General Hypnotherapy Register website, the Information Commissioner’s Office (UK) and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (Ireland).
If you have any specific queries or concerns about how this new legislation might affect you (or what specific steps you might need to take to ensure compliance), we would advise that you contact one or all of three organisations listed above.
Updated Client Record Form
We are now fully compliant with the GHR recommendations on the format of the Client Intake and Consent Form and the Case Study Packs have been updated to reflect this compliance.
The Data Protection Act of 1998 requires data to be—
- Processed fairly and lawfully
- Obtained only for specified and lawful purposes
- Adequate, relevant and not excessive
- Accurate and up-to-date
- Not kept for longer than is necessary
- Processed in accordance with the rights of the ‘data subject’.
- Kept securely
- Kept for seven years.
At the end of seven years, please ensure all documentation related to your clients is disposed of securely, by shredding or by some other safe means.