Debate - Samaritans confidentiality policy is changing

[Good Vibes]

Hey everyone

It's come to my attention that the samaritans have recently changed some of their policies around the degree of confidentiality and they are now becoming part of safeguarding. This doesn't seem to have been updated on the website yet, maybe because the volunteers are still being trained in the new policy.

I don't know the full ins and outs of the change but so far it seems to mainly be directed towards callers under age 18 in matters of mistreatment.

I'm interested to know what everyone's thoughts are?

One of the main things that separated samaritans from child line was the confidentiality. Child line has always reserved the right to break confidentiality whereas up to now samaritans offered confidentiality in matters of mistreatment.

Having being in this position myself calling both helplines many years ago, the confidentiality was a factor in me choosing samaritans. If I was a young person I would no longer feel safe talking to either of them and would be even more isolated.

[Buttons.]

I wouldn't have called when underage if I hadn't been sure of their confidentiality. I think this is a bad move and will isolate people even more.

[0_0]

It has changed on their website now.

[not_so_insig]

Can you link to the relevant page on their site because I have looked and can't find it?

[0_0]

I don't know how to link, sorry. If you google Samaritans Confidentiality, then it's the first, non-sponsored, page. It's called 'Confidentiality | Samaritans' then just over half way down it says 'Exceptions to confidentiality'

The exceptions are:
The only times we break confidentiality are if:

- we have agreement from a you to pass on information to someone else
- we receive a court order requiring us to share information or are required to do so by nation-specific legislation
- we receive information about acts of terrorism, bomb warnings, or threats to life*
- we call an ambulance because at that time you appear to be unable to make decisions for yourself or become unconscious and you have told us where you are
- after discussion with you, we may contact other relevant services if you share information (such as phone number or location) which identifies a child or vulnerable adult who is at risk of serious harm
- you threaten the safety of our volunteers or the delivery of our service, for example by making it difficult for other people to get hold of us.

It's the 5th one down that is new

[0_0]

There are also changes on the under 18s page, if you go "Home>How we can help you>Contact us>What happens when you contact us>If you're under 18"

[Aardbei]

I used to be a Samaritan and that definitely is a change. I did attend a Samaritans conference a few years ago and the chair hinted this change was coming. I think as safeguarding (particularly in terms of children) becomes more and more of an issue services will be changing their policies to reflect that.

It's a real shame because that was the key point of the service. I understand why, but I would be uncomfortable with the change if I was still a volunteer.

[0_0]

The privacy statement has also been updated to say:
We’ll never pass any of this information on to any other organisation, except in the following situations:
...
You are in a situation which has or could cause you harm, you have given us information that identifies you and you are unable to keep yourself safe. This applies to all young people under 13, and in some circumstances to older children and adults. If we are worried about this situation, we will always talk to you about it first. Further information about our confidentiality can be found here.
You provide information that identifies someone who has caused harm or says they are going to cause harm to a child or vulnerable adult