6 April 2006
Professionals must put young people’s best interests first - Brook
New guidance for professionals working with sexually active young people allows them to use their discretion to decide, on a case by case basis, whether it is in a young person’s best interest to refer them to social services, Jan Barlow, Chief Executive of Brook, the sexual health charity for young people, highlighted today. She also emphasised how important confidentiality is to young people seeking sexual health advice.
Commenting on the publication of Working Together to Safeguard Children, Ms Barlow said:
“We welcome the fact that the new guidance does not require professionals to automatically pass on information about sexually active young people to social services or police purely on grounds of their age.
“The Working Together guidance makes it clear that decisions about whether to share information about a young person should always be based on an assessment of that individual’s situation, and that this also applies when the young person is under the age of 13. Confidentiality should only be breached where a young person is at risk of serious harm and cannot be persuaded to agree to a referral being made.
“Confidentiality is extremely important to young people when they need advice on sex and relationships. Many will not ask for help at all if they do not believe that the service is confidential. This leaves them at risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and also increases the chances that abusive or coercive relationships will remain hidden.“The most important thing is that the Local Safeguarding Children Boards now develop their own protocols in line with the national Working Together guidance, which gives professionals discretion to make decisions on a case by case basis. It’s also essential that professionals working with young people receive the training and support they need to exercise that discretion in the best interests of each young person.”
Notes to editors
1. Working Together to Safeguard Children is published today by the Department for Education and Skills. It sets out government guidance on how agencies and professionals should work together to promote children's welfare and protect them from abuse and neglect.
2. Brook launched its campaign, Wise Up! Your rights on sexual health in October 2005 in response to concerns that young people’s right to confidentiality was under threat. The campaign aims to uphold that right and to increase awareness of all young people’s rights on sexual health. More information about the campaign is available here.
3. The Wise Up! campaign has gained the support of a range of influential organisations representing health professionals and young people, including the General Medical Council, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, the UK Youth Parliament, the National Youth Agency, Action on Rights for Children, Childline ,the fpa, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.
4. In a survey published for the launch of the Wise Up! campaign 91% of respondents under the age of 16 said that health professionals should not be allowed to tell others about their visits. 74% said they would be less likely to seek advice if they thought information about them could be passed on to others. More information about that survey is available here.
5. An opinion poll carried out by GfK NOP on Brook’s behalf revealed that:
• 94% of people agreed that young people who don’t feel able to talk to their parents about sex and relationships should be able to get confidential information and advice elsewhere
• 70% disagreed with the idea that making it possible for young people to get confidential sexual health advice and services leads them to start having sex earlier
6. Brook is the country’s leading provider of free, confidential sexual health advice and contraception to young people under 25. The charity has 40 years’ experience of providing impartial and confidential sexual health advice and services to young people through a national network of 17 centres across the UK. Each year Brook provides more than 100,000 young people with professional advice from specially trained doctors, nurses, counsellors and outreach and information workers.
7. Young people can call Brook free and in confidence on 0800 0185 023 or by online enquiry via Ask Brook at www.brook.org.uk
