Confidentiality is essential to your role as a care worker, forming the basis of all ways of working and codes of practice. Trust is paramount to form the basis of a good working relationship, and confidentiality is a big part of this. To be confident that they can trust you, an individual must know that any personal information about themselves is treated confidentially. This means that information about the individual should only be shared on a need-to-know basis and should usually not be disclosed without that individual’s consent.
This also extends to an individual’s notes or details which must be stored securely so they can’t be seen by unauthorised people. This may mean putting them in a locked cupboard or drawer or something similar. Computers that contain sensitive information must be protected by a password and firewall, and when talking about sensitive information, you should ensure that no unauthorised people can overhear you.