As a care worker, it’s important that the people in your care feel safe and comfortable around you.

You’ll often see them at their most vulnerable; they’ll reveal sensitive information to you about their mental and physical health;

and if things get tough, they’ll rely on you for emotional support.

To feel comfortable, they need to trust you.

They need to trust that you’ll be professional, discreet, and handle information they choose to share with you confidentially,

revealing it on a strictly need-to-know basis and only with their express permission.

Throughout this course, we’re going to look at some of the laws that govern how you should handle information;

we’ll see what policies and procedures your employer has in place;

and what you should do if you ever have any concerns about how information is being handled at your workplace.

This course has been designed for everyone who works in the care industry.

It provides a thorough overview of how to confidentially handle information – for those working towards their care certificate

or for anyone in need of a quick refresher of the basics.
It covers everything you need to know

from the Care Certificate Workbook: Standard 14 – Handling Information.

Depending on where you work or whether you’re a health or social care worker,

you may refer to the people in your care differently – perhaps they’re patients, residents, or clients, for example.

But, for the sake of ease, for the rest of this course, we’ll refer to anybody you care for as part of your work as patients.