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doctors & confidentiality

im 16, and my college have asked me to go to see my gp due to self harm and i was wondering would the doctor have to tell my parents or does he have to keep it from them as i really don't want them to know.

thank u
mr.anon

Reply 1

Mangaroo

12

explain it to him, he wont say a thing.

Reply 2

Mark S

17

The seriously cant tell anyone but you, anything. Its a law, however paranoid you may be about it getting out, or how close the rest of your family are to your GP, he/she will not say a thing about you.

Reply 3

Dwight67

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself. New legislation was brought in under the government health act of1988 which means the parents/ guardians of those under 18 MUST be informed.

Reply 4

angel_flo

10

Dwight67

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself. New legislation was brought in under the government health act of1988 which means the parents/ guardians of those under 18 MUST be informed.

Well that was a tactful post :mad:

Reply 5

Mark S

17

angel_flo

Well that was a tactful post :mad:

I was going to say....

Reply 6

Maya

1

Dwight67

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself. New legislation was brought in under the government health act of1988 which means the parents/ guardians of those under 18 MUST be informed.

No it wasn't.

Reply 7

Mark S

17

Dwight67

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself. New legislation was brought in under the government health act of1988 which means the parents/ guardians of those under 18 MUST be informed.

Where the hell did you hear that?

It's wrong. so stfu

Reply 8

zooropa

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself.

A good doctor wouldn't mix his personal values and prejudices with his professional judgements.

Since self-harm denotes mental ill-health, he'd take what he has to say seriously.

Reply 9

Helenia

20

As you are 16, I'm fairly sure they can't tell your parents, but they may well encourage you to talk to them about it. They can't just tell them though, because although you are at risk, it's from yourself rather than anyone else, so your parents' knowing wouldn't alleviate that risk.

At least, that's how I'd view it.

Reply 10

Reue

20

Taken stright from uk health website:

The duty of confidentiality owed to a person under 16 is as great as that owed to any other person. Regardless of whether or not the requested treatment is given, the confidentiality of the consultation should still be respected, unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary.
Any competent young person, regardless of age, can independently seek medical advice and give valid consent to medical treatment.
When young people consult a doctor other than their usual GP, they are unlikely to refuse a request for details to be passed to their GP, providing that they trust that their confidentiality will be respected by their own GP and the Primary Care Team

Reply 11

jennyflake

Self harming is certainly something they will keep confidential. Having said that its certainly worth telling parents, otherwise youre risking a lifetime of lies, mine found out and I soooo wish Id told them myself.
To be honest Im shocked the college are keeping it hidden from parents, you are very lucky there!

Reply 12

Reue

20

Under 16 and parents should be involved, 16 or over and they shouldnt.

I reckon.

Reply 13

RetiredAccount89

18

Anonymous

im 16, and my college have asked me to go to see my gp due to self harm and i was wondering would the doctor have to tell my parents or does he have to keep it from them as i really don't want them to know.

thank u
mr.anon

If you're over 16 then in the eyes of the medical world you are an adult (the exception being with non-nhs stuff like boob jobs - but thats due to the policies of the private businesses concerned)
even if you are under 16 then some places will still talk to you without parents permission due to that whole Gillick thing.
basically the doctor will always try to persuade you to tell your parents - and you need to be prepared for that. they can often really put the pressure on. but they will never go and tell your parents if you ask them not to.

that said, if they think you are at serious risk of seriously harming yourself then they might have you stay on the wards to assess you - something that would be hard to keep from your parents.

To sum up - if you're over 16 then you have ever bit as many individual rights to confidentiality as your parents.

Reply 14

RetiredAccount89

18

Dwight67

he will probably think you are a spaz for harming yourself. New legislation was brought in under the government health act of1988 which means the parents/ guardians of those under 18 MUST be informed.

well i'm sure unlike yourself she would be fully enlightened as to what constitutes a *******/spaz.
Mental illness/repressed emotion not being one of them

Reply 15

Cirsium

19

No they can't tell your parents because it was out of choice that mine were told. If you have to go to a psychotherapist then they'll start forwarding the letters they send you to your parents too so that they make you go but hte initial consultation may not lead to that

doctors & confidentiality

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