Sharing student health data: guidance for staff

Advice has been published on the circumstances in which colleagues can share personal information about a student, when supporting them with their health or disability.

We are legally obliged as a university to protect the personal data of our students, and we know colleagues take this obligation seriously.

However, there are occasions, such as when helping students who are at risk or in a crisis or supporting them with disability requirements, when sharing such data is appropriate.

The full guidance, including principles to follow and example scenarios, has been published on our Disability Information webpages. It is summarised below.

Risk to life or serious harm

If you have a genuine concern that a student is in immediate danger or at significant risk of serious harm, you should share your concerns, along with some evidence, with other colleagues who need to know (e.g. Welfare, Security, Hall Wardens) and/or to relevant third parties such as emergency services.

Decisions of this nature often have to be made quickly and without advice, and so information can be shared in a proportionate way depending on the level of risk to the student.

Where there is a genuine concern of risk to life or serious harm, whether to a student or other people, sharing personal data in this way is compliant with data protection law.

Reasonable adjustments for disabled students

Information related to a student’s disability can be shared with colleagues where it is necessary for putting reasonable adjustments in place to support them.

In this scenario, the information can be shared without the student’s consent.

You should not agree to blanket requests for confidentiality, as we are unable to promise this. Instead, you should reassure the student that their personal data will only be shared with others if it is necessary to put their reasonable adjustments in place.

If a student is concerned about third parties (e.g. other students, placement providers) becoming aware of their disability, we should have due regard for this request and consider if the reasonable adjustments can be adapted so as not to identify the student they are in place for.

More advice

Advice for any member of staff on how to provide initial support if you encounter a student in distress is available on our Supporting Student Wellbeing webpages.

A Concerned About a Student guide, including decision flow charts, is also available on the Academic Tutor Toolkit.