Supporting you

Our Support Nurses can:  

• Provide clear information about sepsis 
• Help understand sepsis recovery and suggest options that may help with some of the problems you may be experiencing. 
• Signpost to other appropriate services that can offer advice and support 
• Listen empathetically to your story and help you understand what you may have experienced 
• Provide information on how to raise concerns about care or treatment 
• If you have lost someone from sepsis, we can help you understand what may have happened to your loved one and provide the opportunity to ask questions

Our Support Nurses don’t:  

• Provide advice specific to any individual, either general, pharmaceutical or medical 
• Make referrals on behalf of enquirers 
• Seek to replace or undermine the relationship between you and your healthcare professional 
• Offer treatment, diagnosis or tests 
• Provide financial assistance 
• Become directly involved in individual complaints or concerns

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a fundamental element of the UKST support service. It is an expression of respect for the people who contact the service and of their right to privacy. It assures people that the UKST helpline is a safe place to express concerns freely. Maintaining confidentiality means respecting the trust that people place in the service if they share personal details and information about their situation or experience. Details may be shared between Support Nurses when necessary for practical reasons or reasons of staff support and this is done with respect. No personal information about people who contact the UKST support service is given, or otherwise made available, to anyone outside the UKST, unless the enquirer has specifically agreed or requested to participate in publicity or other activities relating to their condition or circumstances.

Each member of staff is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of information entrusted to them by working within GDPR guidelines. If a member of staff is unsure about what action they should take regarding confidential information in a particular situation, they should discuss this with the Lead Nurse, or their deputy in their absence.

Contact Records

• The key principle of the support service record keeping is to store the minimum information possible to accurately record the nature of the contact, and the information and support provided.  This is to further enhance the service for the service user, should they have multiple contacts.  These can be anonymised at the request of the service user
• Past medical history should only be documented if specifically relevant to the contact
• Helpline workers are trained to ask appropriate questions which will help to clarify the service users information and/or support
• All records will be stored digitally, and no printed or written records will be stored
• All support contacts are recorded on a CRM as constituent code to reflect the nature of the contact, e.g. survivor, bereaved
• Each contact is also recorded anonymously on an excel spread sheet for statistical purposes.  The only identifying information will be the contact constituent number from the CRM
• Access to the CRM is password protected. Each support team member is responsible for securing their own password details and should not use remember password options on any devices
• Support contacts on the CRM are only accessible to the UKST support team staff and no personal details are passed on to third party.

Please see our privacy policy here for further information

Occasions where we would break confidentiality

The UKST Support Service is a free service where anything discussed will remain confidential, unless there is a risk of serious harm to you or others, and in some other specific circumstances outlined below.

• Where information of terrorism, money laundering or a bomb threat is disclosed to us
• If we receive a court order or in order to comply with our legal obligations to share information
• If we become aware, hear about or suspect that abuse/harm may have taken place or may occur in relation to any adult or child
• In the event that our staff or service is abused
• If we believe that someone is taking steps to end their life or at risk of serious harm

If appropriate, and where possible, we will inform you that we’re going to do this.