Consent and Confidentiality Footsteps want to encourage young people to make informed choices about their treatment and care in a secure and confidential environment
What is Confidentiality?
Confidentiality means that Footsteps will not disclose anything that we discuss with you without your consent. There are some important exceptional circumstances, however which are outlined below:
- If we felt that there was a risk to the health, safety or welfare of you or another person
- If we felt that you were unable to fully understand the treatment or advice being offered due to your age. This means that you are not yet competent to consent to treatment. In this case a parent or guardian would need to be involved in your care. The usual age for competence varies depending on the individual
What is Consent?
If you consent it means you agree to an examination test or treatment and understand the reasons for doing.
A young person is said to be competent if the doctor or nurse believes that they are capable of understanding the choices of treatment and their consequences.
There is no specific age for this, as long as you are considered competent by a medical professional( see above)
Any young person regardless of age can independently seek medical or nursing advice or care
