Feeling guilty over reporting colleague

[Merryfuckingchristmas876]

Hi all,

I work in a field that involves very sensitive issues and confidential info (think social worker, similar).
Today, completely by chance I was in the presence of a client and she informed me that a colleague of mine had shared confidential info about another client and had been doing so on an informal basis for some time, as the two clients are friends and my colleague sometimes struggles to locate her.
This is a breach of confidentiality and I've duly reported to my manager but I'm feeling awful about it and worried colleague could be in serious trouble. I know I did what I had to because I would have been complicit had I kept it to myself but I feel like I've caused my colleague harm in some way.
I'm not sure what I want people to tell me but I just needed to get it out of my head 😔, thanks for reading.

Why are you feeling awful? It's your duty to report. Of course, you colleague will be in serious trouble... as she should be.

Difficult situation OP but I sympathise - you did the right thing

You did the right thing. She'll face whatever the consequences are and hopefully never make the same mistake again. You should be proud of yourself for reporting her, don't beat yourself up about it

You mean something like

" do you know where Sam is as she's got her mental health assessment "

confidential or worse.

I don’t think she left you with any choice really. It could just as easily have come out in the future that your client had informed you about the data breach and you’d done nothing. Then you both would have been in serious trouble.

@itsmylife7 sort of like that but a bit more indepth.....nothing that puts anyone in physical danger but we aren't supposed to share info about clients with anyone but partner agencies that clients have consented to in writing. Do you feel I over reacted, I feel sick to be honest.

It is not nice but sometimes necessary to do things like this. Your colleague needs a bit of a rap on the knuckles and she put you in a difficult situation. It's not nice but it had to be done. It will blow over - you'll be off for Christmas soon as well so that will take the sting out of things a bit.

@WilfredsPies that was my logic tbh....still can't shake the feeling that I've done something wrong. That I'm a snitch maybe?! I'm in such a faff about it...maybe I just need to put my big girl pants on and stop 🙄

You had to do it to protect the client. I'd be angry at my colleague at what they'd done rather than turn that in on myself.

No you've not over reacted.

You've always got to protect yourself in that line of work.

Imagine if you hadn't reported it and then it was found out you knew about it.

It doesn't sound like you had much choice if you wanted to do the right thing.
Do you have supervision in your role? Perhaps talking things over with your supervisor would help you to feel more settled about it.

I would draw some parallels with a situation sometimes faced by teachers; the legal phrase we were taught when being trained was "charged with knowledge" with the implication that, if the matter is serious enough, you would become complicit by default if you did not pass on your concerns.
I can understand the feeling that you might be "snitching"; teams rely on camaraderie and cooperation, but if you can honestly say that the welfare of the client was your paramount concern, you can reassure yourself that you did the right thing.

I've had to report a colleague in similar circumstances. It's a horrible thing to have to do but you have a duty to protect your client. It later came out that my colleague had done much more (and worse) than the things I knew about so that helped assure me I'd done the right thing. If someone shows a lack of professionalism like this once, chances are they would do it again. You have done nothing wrong. Any trouble your colleague is in is a result of their actions, not yours.

You did the right thing. You have been passed on information so it is your duty to pass that on.

Sounds like your colleague needs some refresher training and to change clients.

All you've done is pass it on to management. It'll be investigated and there might be an explanation or training need etc. No harm done. If it's something more serious that comes to light, then alls well and good because clients will be protected from further harm. You're not the one making the decision here, you're just following policy.

Thanks everyone for your reassurance that I've done the right thing.