2SJT topic
Risk Management
A client discloses self-harm, suicidal thoughts, harm to others or a safeguarding concern, and you usually assess before you act.
Practise Risk Management11 scenarios
What makes these scenarios hard
The conflict is between safety and the client’s autonomy and trust, usually with incomplete information and no time to consult. Acting too fast can breach confidentiality, damage the therapeutic relationship and remove the client’s agency; acting too slowly can be catastrophic. Almost every strong answer assesses first.
What a strong answer usually does
- Assess before you escalate, unless someone is in immediate danger, when getting help comes first. Options that jump straight to crisis services usually rank below those that establish what is happening. Either way, tell your supervisor.
- Tell the client what you have to do and why. That is nearly always better than doing it behind their back.
- Asking a client to promise they will not act is not a safety plan.
- Confidentiality has limits, and those limits should have been explained before they were needed.
- Describe the risk in words: what you found and what the plan is. NHS England’s guidance for all mental health practitioners in England says “don’t describe someone as low, medium or high risk”, and, quoting NICE guideline NG225, rules such ratings out for deciding who is offered treatment or discharged.
What the standards say
- HCPC 6.1: take all reasonable steps to reduce the risk of harm
- HCPC 6.2: do not do anything, or allow anything, that puts health at risk
- HCPC 5.1, 5.2: treat information as confidential; disclose only where justified
- HCPC 7.1: report concerns about safety or wellbeing
- NHS England, Staying safe from suicide (2025, updated 11 September 2026): safety assessment and planning with the person, without risk ratings
Sources: HCPC, Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (2024), checked ; NHS England, Staying safe from suicide, checked .