Safeguarding young people’s rights to confidentiality:The law and best practice. Held at The Brit Oval Conference Centre, London

Working with young people to meet their sexual health needs requires relationships built on trust, confidentiality and understanding. Policies around mandatory reporting, the establishment of child protection protocols and the creation of multi-agency information and sharing databases has raised concerns around young people's trust in services. As a knock on effect there are also concerns about the potential delay in which young people may seek professional advice or that they may be deterred from seeking help. To ensure that all young people are aware of, and have access to, confidential, non-judgemental health services, it is vital that professionals have the skills and confidence to protect children's rights whilst operating within the law. They must also be clear about where a breach in confidentiality is justified to protect the child or another from harm. This conference brought together representatives from across the health, local authority and schools sectors to increase the knowledge of the law, including legal frameworks and government guidelines.