Confidentiality, Caldicott and Lawful Information Sharing

Confidentiality is fundamental in safeguarding, but it does not prevent appropriate action. Clinical pharmacy staff handle sensitive personal information and must treat it with respect.

Serious safeguarding concerns cannot be ignored because a conversation feels private or difficult. Lawful information sharing means using information for a justified purpose, with the right people, in the right way, and no more widely than necessary.

The Caldicott Principles support careful, proportionate sharing rather than silence or over-disclosure. In practice they prompt you to consider purpose, necessity and risk. The key questions are:

• Why am I sharing this?
• Who needs to know?
• What is the minimum necessary information?
• Is there a safeguarding reason that justifies sharing without consent?

When possible, seek the adult's agreement to share information. However, ongoing risk, coercion, suspected crime, concerns about capacity, or risk to others may justify sharing without consent.

What This Means in Safeguarding Practice

Level 3 clinicians regularly encounter this tension. A patient may disclose abuse and ask you to keep it secret. A relative may request information they are not entitled to. Another service may need sufficient detail to act quickly, but not everything you hold. Lawful information sharing requires judgement, a clear purpose and proportionate disclosure. It does not mean withholding information until you feel comfortable, nor copying everyone into every message.

The duty to protect confidentiality is important, but in safeguarding the duty to share relevant information can be just as important when someone may be at risk of harm.