Laights

Having read some of the replies on here it makes you wonder how many know the meaning of confidentiality.

eddie007

LOL...

Three things...

Small English Village life ....Gossips ... And Transference....


anger inappropriately directed toward One person... Disporportionate blaming .... excessive reaction....

They tend to go hand in hand in hand...

I've lived in small English villages, with a junior school, a pub, a church, a postoffice.. Which was also the general store .... And a newsagents..... Oh.. Forgot the butchers... Now THAT was a mine of information....

The land of lace curtain twitching and Miss Marple

The land of ... Nothing too interestingnhappening so we'll make it up, guess, second guess and counter guess... Everyone knows everyone and everybody knows everybodys business....

Sounds like a new start in an annonymous country is what is needed..

Laights

LOL indeed, I used to live in a small English village as well. Still doesnt alter the fact that confidentiality was broken.

eddie007

OK.. Genuine question... Not a wind up this time... Hypothetically speaking..

If a school receptionist hears direct from a parent that they might be moving..

Then she goes to the butchers and is told that that the family is moving

Then she goes to the postoffice and is told that the family is moving to australia...

Is she breaking confidentiality if she then says at the newsagents..

" I was told by Mrs Jones in the post office that the family are moving, I wonder if they are going back to Australia?"

Theres no laws against village gossip as far as I know.... So long as its not maliscious/ stalking/ slanderous..... Otherwise you'd have hundreds of ghost towns all over rural England and the prisons would be overflowing with thousands of little old ladies....

Bermudashorts

There is no evidence that it was, sounds like it was common knowledge in the village anyway. The house up for sale would have been a clue for most.

Losing a job, especially being fired, can have devastating impacts and I think it is downright nasty that some would wish this on another person over something which is so trivial whatever way you look at it.

kips

Agree. This receptionist should be sacked or at the very least given a written warning.

I would be fuming if this happened to me and would definitely demand a meeting with her and the headteacher to make clear the consequences of what she has done.

What the poster and her family decide to do with their lives and what they decide to tell or not tell their family, friends, work colleagues, school, estate agent etc is their business.

It makes you wonder what other sensitive information given by parents to this moronic receptionist in the belief it would be treated confidentially has ended up as gossip in the village.

eddie007

Aha! But if the recptionist sees little meg outside of school hours with a snotty nose, sneezing all over the zucinni can she tell little johnny... Oh dera Little meg has a nasty cold?????

Laights

No if she was purely repeating what others had told her, if she included any information that she had been privy to in the course of her job then yes she would be breaking confidentiality.

Question for you.

If a school receptionist when at work is informed by a parent that the reason why they hadnt filled in a High School application form is because they were moving and that school receptionist then tells her daughter, is that not a breach of confidentiality.

I believe the OP said it wasnt common knowledge that the house was up for sale and I said that the receptionist should receive a warning, nothing about loosing her job.

scrubbedexpat020

Is she breaking any confidentiality?

We know your point of view on the subject. Why the attention-seeking?

eddie007

Yes...

However... If the house is up for sale in the village... And the recpetionist says to the daughter the family could be moving... Would that be a breach?

Is it breaching confidentiality... When the fact is public and advertised?

Does the house for sale, not put it into the public domain?

(Unless of course the house ws not advertised and is being sold by top secret negotiation... And it involves an offer by MI5 for the property as a safe house for some one in witness protection)

Who knew a Monday morning could provide such an interesting debate???

eddie007

My point of view...???? Is that we dont appear to have proof positive that would stand up in court... Certainly not at an industrial tribunal if the school were trying to sack the receptionist... We have a lot of supposition and hear say

And since when did posting on a thread on a public forum become attention seeking ????

Just because I'm trying to "discuss" a subject rather than merely joining the hang em lynching party on the dotted line doesnt make me attention seeking...

Makes me bored...

Look in the barbie at my threads if you want REAL attention seeking....

Laights

Yes it would, if the receptionist had told her daughter from the information she had received from the parent and wasn't aware beforehand from public knowledge.

harrip

Seems a bit of overkill for something that has already happened and in the scheme of things is rather unimportant. Personally, I'd have just had a word in the secretary's ear to have got her view point and just make your displeasure known.

eddie007

See, being a nurse and having worked there in the uk in the communtiy for so long I have ABSOLUTES... When it comes to patient confidentiality... Cant even discuss with the husband sepcifics.. Though I can generals... Its Black and white...with other people... So I WHOLLY understand a breach of confidentiality when I see one

Whats interesting about this one... Is the grey areas....

The receptionist hopefully learns from this experience that she cannot do ANYTHING or say anything that could in any way leave her open to any possible accusation by anyone... She has to be whiter than white in future..

(bugger, am I allowed to say whiter than white? Or is that racist?)

itigo

There are grey areas, I agree, Eddie, and it would be hard to prove but I still stand by the fact that whatever's said is kept confidential unless told otherwise. I really don't think she should be fired but a refresher about what's expected in terms of information and confidentiality could be useful.