Wellbeing, Support & Inclusion
 
  1. Home
  2. Wellbeing, Support & Inclusion
  3. Counselling & Mental Wellbeing
  4. Policy and Guidelines
 
 

Policy and Guidelines

Find out what you need to know about confidentiality, data protection and records.
 
 

The Counselling Service has a strict code of confidentiality and will not pass on any information regarding your counselling unless in exceptional circumstances. Counsellors have a duty of care towards students and work to the Ethical Framework for Good Practice of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

View the BACP ethical framework. 

You can also download a PDF version of our Counselling & Mental Wellbeing contract (53 kB). This also outlines how we deal with cancelations and non-attendance.

1-2-1 Wellbeing Advice Drop-in

Our Wellbeing Drop-in is now running as a phone-based service on Friday 10am-12pm. (Please note that for students who are outwith the UK our communication with you will be via email only). To access the Drop-in you will need to email counselling@napier.ac.uk with the following information as outlined below:
  1. Your name
  2. Date of Birth
  3. Student number
  4. Telephone number
  5. GP details (if you are registered with a GP)
  6. Current address (this is where you residing at the moment)
  7. You consent to use phone support and understand the potential limitations of confidentiality. Yes/ No
  8. You understand that we are  providing support from home and you agree to receive support in this way. Yes/ No
  9. You are able to meet with your counsellor/adviser in a confidential space i.e. a room where you cannot be overheard and is private.  Yes/ No
  10. Please confirm that you understand our confidentiality and GDPR information (see below) Yes/ No
  11. For students outwith the UK please confirm that you understand that our communication with you will be via email. Yes/ No 

If you have answered no to any of the above you cannot access the Wellbeing Drop-in at this time this time, but we will email you back with other services and support options.

 
 

Drop-in: Confidentiality Policy and service information

Due to current social distancing guidance and campus closure, please note that our practitioners will be phoning you from their home. Due to the use of phones, we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality (in the unlikely event of phones being hacked). In addition, we have taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the space our practitioners are using is confidential, however others might be in their residence.

The wellbeing phone drop-in is a confidential service and we will not share the content of these meetings with others. However, to ensure safe and ethical practice we may break confidentiality in certain circumstances. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

  • If a court orders a student’s notes to be made available for a criminal investigation/court case
  • Where the counsellor believes that you or someone else is at risk of serious harm to yourself or others
 
 

Drop-in: Data Protection Policy

This informs you of how we store your data.

The Counselling and Mental Wellbeing team keep a record of all student’s attendance at drop-in sessions in accordance with British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Guidance, and GDPR legislation.

This will be used:

  • To ensure safe and ethical practice
  • For statistical purposes
  • To track students journey through the service
 
 

When we might break confidentiality

While we are a confidential service, there are circumstances in which we may break confidentiality, although this is unusual. Examples of this include:

  • When you provide express permission
  • If a court orders a student’s notes to be made available for a criminal investigation/court case
  • Where the counsellor believes that you are at risk of serious harm to yourself or others

This is including but not limited to:

  • Immediate and advanced suicide plans
  • Child protection (see below) 
  • Nursing & Fitness to Practise (see below)

Your counsellor will discuss any concerns with you prior to passing on information to a third party. However, there are exceptions as stated above, and if the situation is critical, we may have to pass on the information directly.

Recording of Concern & Risk

If a counsellor is concerned by issues raised by you related to risk to self or others, they will bring this to the attention of the Head of Student Counselling and Mental Wellbeing to ensure safe practice. This is also recorded confidentially in your file.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please speak to your counsellor or contact counselling@napier.ac.uk

Nursing & fitness to practice

If you are a nursing student we recognise that you are a practising professional as well as a student, and could have a greater opportunity during professional training to do harm to others. If a Counsellor has concerns about your 'fitness to practise', in most cases we will raise this with you. To ensure safe counselling practice, we may bring any concerns to the Head of Student Counselling and Mental Wellbeing.

 If concerns are serious then the matter will be dealt with under the University’s 'Student Disciplinary and Fitness to Practice' regulations, which can be found on the Regulations page.

Record keeping and data protection

Counsellors keep secure records of sessions. These are stored electronically on a secure database and kept in accordance with BACP guidelines.

Students rights are protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679. For more information, please review sections 7 and 8 of the Data Protection Code of Practice.

You will be asked to fill in an anonymous evaluation form at the end of your counselling which is used to improve the service. All content in this evaluation is strictly confidential and anonymised.

Child Protection & Serious Risk

If there is a child protection issue or a serious risk to your wellbeing, advice will be sought by the Counsellor from the Head of Student Counselling and Mental Wellbeing who will make a decision if there is a need to contact social services following City of Edinburgh Council’s GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child) guidelines or Adult Protection guidelines. 

Information on GIRFIC can be found here.

Click here for Adult Protection guidelines.

Registration with a local GP (Doctor)

In accordance with university regulations (see below) please ensure you are registered with a GP (Doctor) when applying for counselling. This is to protect both you and the Counsellor should you become mentally unwell. We will not contact your GP with details of your counselling unless in exceptional circumstances (please see Confidentiality section). Your GP must be local to your place of residence while studying at the university. 

International students: Please note that insurance schemes such as CISI do not count as being registered with a GP. 

Package of Care: Please contact us if you have any concerns regarding registering with a GP and any impact on your package of care, such as NHS Continuing Health Care. If you are in the process of registering with a GP, you can attend an assessment appointment but any further counselling will only take place once you have confirmed your registration with a GP. 

If you don’t wish to register with a GP or share your GP details with us, you can be referred to the Edinburgh Napier Students' Association for support.