Just to add that the balance needs to take into consideration that if a
student's request restricting the content/ the extend of the dissemination
of info, s/he needs to know that this may jeopardise the level of support
provided. Ie. in the example given by Eleonor, if you cannot help the person
inmediatelly because you have other 1000 students , that particular student
knows that s/he may not have a case to answer if s/he decides to take you to
court. Hope this helps, Andy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Iain Hood" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: Consent to disclose information
> Hi Eleanor
>
> Thanks for that example. We are all involved in a difficult balancing act
of
> confidentiality and disclosure. I still feel the spirit of the law is to
> encourage staff more generally to take responsibility for responding to
> students' needs, and it might ill-serve us to take the approach of not
> encouraging onward disclosure too often.
>
> Iain Hood
> Senior Student Adviser, Learning Support
> Student Support Services
> APU
> East Road
> Cambridge
> CB1 1PT
>
> 01223 363271 ex 2316
> [log in to unmask]
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eleanor Drummond" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 4:35 PM
> Subject: Re: Consent to disclose information
>
>
> > I can think of an example where there was a mental illness
> > involved. A student who was on regular medication and had
> > the condition under control wanted someone on site whom she
> > could trust to know, but did not want the word spread. In
> > the event of her behaving oddly or if any of the staff
> > expressed concern about her,she wanted me to contact her
> > and her medical advisers immediately to minimise problems.
> > This worked perfectly well and ensured both her privacy and
> > well-being were protected. This in a similar size
> > campus to John's.
> >
> > --
> > Eleanor Drummond
> > Heriot-Watt University
> >
>
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