Sharing Information
Sharing information at an early stage with relevant agencies can help protect people from harm and abuse. Effective partnership and integrated working with appropriate information sharing can prevent problems escalating and increase the chances of achieving positive outcomes.
Information sharing is key to delivering better and more effective services that are focused on the individual’s needs.
It is essential for safeguarding and promoting wellbeing and a vital element in early intervention and preventative work. It improves outcomes for everyone involved.
Issues of privacy and confidentiality must be handled sensitively and properly.
Confidentiality
Before you are able to adopt good practice in sharing information, you need to understand what information is and isn’t confidential and when this information needs to be shared in the public interest, without consent.
Your local Safeguarding Adults Board should have a clear policy on confidentiality and the sharing of information, based on the welfare of the adult or other potentially affected adults.
Any agreement should be consistent with the principles set out in the Caldicott Review published in 2013 ensuring that:
| Information will only be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis when it is in the interest of the adult. |
| Confidentiality must not be confused with secrecy. |
| Informed consent should be obtained but, if this is not possible and other adults are at risk of abuse or neglect, it may be necessary to override the requirement. |
| It is inappropriate for agencies to give assurances of absolute confidentiality in cases where there are concerns about abuse, particularly in those situations when other adults may be at risk. |
Where an adult has refused to consent to information being disclosed for these purposes, then the relevant workers must consider whether there is an overriding public interest that would justify information sharing (for example because there is a risk that others are at risk of serious harm) and wherever possible, the appropriate ‘Caldicott Guardian’ should be involved.
This is a nominated senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of an individual’s information and enabling appropriate information sharing.
Decisions about who needs to know and what needs to be known should be taken on a case-by-case basis, and take into account an organisation’s policies and the constraints of the legal framework.
If in doubt, always speak to your manager straight away!
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