Confidentiality: being heard by the care team

You can pass on concerns

You can tell a service what you have noticed even when it cannot discuss the person’s care with you. Doctors should not refuse to listen simply because they do not have permission to share information back.

If danger is immediate, use urgent help. Do not wait for a consent form or a reply to an email.^[1]

You could say:

“I understand you may not be able to tell me about their care. I need to pass on a concern. Please record it and tell me who will review it.”

Keep the message factual

• Give the person’s name and your relationship to them.
• Describe what you saw or heard, when it happened and what has changed.
• Say what worries you about their safety or ability to manage at home.
• Explain what support you can provide and what you cannot safely do.
• Ask who will consider the information and how to follow up.

Separate what you know from what you suspect. Our GP letter and meeting-notes tool can help organise the details. If you do not know their GP or team, use the urgent advice route when help cannot wait.

Will they be told I called?

A doctor may need to tell the person about information you supplied, especially if it affects care. Do not assume your message will remain secret. If disclosure could put you or someone else at risk, explain that before giving details and ask how the service will handle it.^[2]

Agree what the team may share

When the person wants you involved, ask them and the team to record who may receive information, which details may be shared and when. They can agree to practical updates without agreeing to share everything.

They can change their mind about what is shared or who is involved. Ask the team to keep that record up to date, including when care moves to another service.

Use our information-sharing preferences template to prepare that conversation. It does not itself confirm consent or give you authority to make treatment decisions.^[3]

If they do not want information shared

Their privacy still matters. You can ask for general advice about supporting someone, recognising an urgent change and finding help for yourself, without asking for their private records.

Where there is a serious safety concern, tell the team clearly. The professional must decide whether sharing information without permission is justified; a relative cannot make that decision for them.^[4]

Capacity to decide about sharing information needs to be considered separately from capacity to decide about treatment. If the person cannot make the information-sharing decision, ask what relevant information can lawfully be shared to support their care. Their wishes still matter; being family does not give you access to all their records.^[5]

A diagnosis or a decision you disagree with does not by itself mean they lack capacity. See mental capacity. For someone under 18, use our teenage consent and confidentiality guidance.

Ask how the service includes carers

The Triangle of Care is Carers Trust’s approach to involving and supporting unpaid carers alongside the person receiving care and the professionals supporting them. Its standards include identifying carers, having clear information-sharing arrangements and offering carer support.

Ask whether the service uses it, who leads on carer involvement and what information or support is available to you. It does not give automatic access to someone’s confidential records or mean every service is a member.

If the service still will not listen

Ask how to send your concern to the clinician responsible for care. Keep the date, the name of the person you spoke to and a copy of your message. If that does not resolve it, our guide to challenging a service decision sets out the UK complaint routes.

The GMC guidance below applies to doctors across the UK. The SHARE guidance is for England; information-sharing and decision-making procedures differ across the four nations.