Keep on Track service Confidentiality Statement & Your Information

The Keep on Track service adheres to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the service will not pass on any information that you’ve shared unless you have given your consent or there are exceptional circumstances (see below under Confidentiality).

The Keep on Track service helps students access the support they need to stay at university and engage in their studies. To do this effectively, we seek your agreement to share appropriate information about your support needs, on a strictly need to know basis, with those members of University staff and external support agencies who are best placed to help you. We will discuss who these people might be. If applicable to your situation, we may liaise for example, with the following staff:

  • Your Personal Development Tutor (PDT)
  • Your Programme or Module Leaders and Tutors
  • The Student Accommodation Services
  • Other staff in the Student Wellbeing & Inclusion team (including Student Funding, Counselling & Mental Health, Disability & Inclusion)
  • An external support agency e.g. local authority, private accommodation services, GP

We only share information that is necessary to ensure your interests are best served and your referral between services is as smooth as possible. Please note, that if you choose not to give your consent, we may not be able to provide the best possible support for you. You may withdraw or amend this consent at any time by contacting the Adviser.

Record Keeping and Data Protection

When you access the Keep on Track Service, we record your basic details (name, contact details, student number, course information) and the reason(s) for you accessing the service in a secure electronic file. We record this information in order that we can provide our service to you. We also use the information to enable the university to better understand the reasons why someone may want to leave and to inform the development of support services for students. Your individual data will not be identifiable when used for these purposes.

The service also keeps a register of students who require support and where there might be a risk to self or others. This is to ensure that an appropriate care plan is undertaken and recorded (safe and ethical practice). Your rights are protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679.

For more information on this, please see our information online using the following link: https://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/governance-compliance/governance/DataProtection/Pages/statement.aspx (staff.napier.ac.uk/dpstatements > Layered Privacy Notices > Keep on Track service)

Confidentiality

There are circumstances in which we may break confidentiality, although this is unusual.

Examples of this include:

  • If a court orders a student’s notes to be made available for a criminal investigation/court case.
  • Where the Adviser 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.
  • Adult & Child protection (see below).
  • Fitness to Practise (see below)

The Adviser 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 information immediately.

Recording of Concerns

If the Adviser is concerned by issues raised by you related to risk to self or others, they will bring this to the attention of the Safeguarding team, to ensure safe practice. This is also recorded confidentially in your electronic file and our safeguarding register. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please speak to the Adviser or contact keepontrack@napier.ac.uk

Child & Adult Protection and Serious Risk

If there is a child protection issue or a serious risk to your wellbeing, advice will be sought by the Adviser from the Safeguarding team who will decide 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. Find out more information on GIRFEC and learn about Adult Protection guidelines.

Fitness to Practise

If you are a studying nursing, social work, occupational therapy, teaching or veterinary nursing 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 the Adviser has concerns about your ‘fitness to practise’, in most cases we will raise this with you. To ensure safe practice, we may bring any concerns to the Head of Student Wellbeing and Inclusion. If concerns are serious then the matter will be dealt with under the University’s ‘Student Disciplinary and Fitness to Practise’ regulations, which can be found on the Regulations page

Complaints

If you would like to complain about the service you have received, please contact keepontrack@napier.ac.uk or if you would like to go out with the service please follow this link My Napier - Edinburgh Napier University