You will be seen by a qualified counsellor and accredited member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. Your sessions will be a safe time for you to explore issues of your choice and, if you wish, to acquire new skills. Exploring difficulties issues and how you feel about them can be distressing. Your counsellor will do their best to give you the support you need.  

If you are being seen in out-patients, please arrive in time for your session and let us know as soon as possible if you cannot keep an appointment on 0121 685 4031.

Confidentiality

You can trust that what you say in your counselling sessions is kept confidential. Your counsellor will take every care to ensure this. There are possible exceptions to this:

• You may be discussed, when your counsellor receives professional support and guidance from a senior counsellor but in a way that protects your anonymity.
• You or your counsellor may feel that it would be helpful for your healthcare team or others to know something you have said, but your counsellor would only pass on such information with your permission.
• Very rarely, if you or someone else is at risk of serious harm, your counsellor may pass on information. If possible, this would usually be discussed with you first and with your consent and recorded in your patient record.

Record keeping

Records help ensure that the service is accountable. Their security is vital to ensure confidentiality. If you are a patient, your consent form will be stored electronically with your general notes. The notes that your counsellor makes about your sessions will be held electronically on a separate and secure system that only your counsellor is able to access.  Unless you ask us not to, we may occasionally use your contact details (e.g. to take part in a patient survey; to write to your GP etc).  

Personal information will only be passed on in the following circumstances:

• If you have given consent for information to be disclosed to a specific person or organisation.
• If you or someone else is in serious danger or at serious risk.
• If the counsellor would be liable to civil or criminal proceedings if the information were not disclosed.
• Exceptional circumstances, based on professional consideration and consultation

Consent to disclose information will be sought whenever possible.  
Your records are considered to be health records and will be kept in accordance with the NHS Code of Practice on Records Management and destroyed after the required retention period has passed.  

Access to your records

Under the Data Protection Act, you have the right to see any records that are kept about you. If you would like to see your counselling records, please ask your counsellor and they will explain anything in a record which is unclear. There are 2 exceptional circumstances in which access may be refused and the reason will be documented on your record:

• Where the counsellor believes that to do so could be seriously harmful to you
• Where information has been supplied confidentially by a third party unless they consent to this happening

If you disagree with a counsellor’s decision to refuse access, please contact the Trust’s Information Governance Manager.

You also have the right to correct any part of the record that you believe is wrong or to ask that something is not recorded.  Unless this could cause you or us harm, we will respect your wishes but we will tell you of any implications and note your request in your record.

Please note that the counselling service is not an emergency service. Patients with urgent mental health needs should contact their GP.