Universities bring together students, parents, health and legal experts to discuss ways forward for disclosure of acute mental health difficulties

Today, [4 Dec], Universities UK (UUK) will bring together university leaders, mental health experts, and students and parents to consider when a nominated family member or another appropriately identified person might be contacted if a student is suffering with poor mental health or in acute distress.

This follows work by UUK to develop the new guidance to help university leaders prevent student suicides, and UUK’s wider work to improve mental health outcomes for all students in higher education. Although data published by the Office for National Statistics shows that there is a significantly lower rate of suicide among university students in England and Wales compared with the general population, university leaders have said that there is no room for complacency.

The roundtable will be the first in a series to advise on emerging good practice on the issue of disclosure.

Participants will discuss:

• Current understanding of the legal framework within which universities reach out to emergency contacts, including confidentiality and GDPR within the law
• How to improve care for vulnerable students through appropriate involvement of the NHS as well as families or other identified informal support, without overriding the rights of young adults to privacy and clinical confidentiality

Professor Julia Buckingham, Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel University London and Chair of the UUK round table on consent for disclosure, said:

“We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to support young people’s mental health through schools and in higher education. We share his urgency that the Department and higher education sector continue to work in close partnership to improve student mental health outcomes.

“Our universities are committed to providing a stimulating and safe environment for our students to support their learning and development. If students do get into difficulty, especially acute mental distress and thoughts of suicide, it’s important that we respond in a prompt and coordinated way with NHS crisis services and the often essential informal networks of support provided by families and friends. But it’s equally important that we do not override the wishes of the students themselves. It’s vital that such disclosures do not make the situation worse.

“We welcome the opt-in schemes being tested at University of Bristol and other universities and we will continue to meet with student groups, university staff, and mental health experts to agree best practice on the issue of disclosure.”