Information sharing

What one person knows about a situation may only be part of a wider picture. The multi-agency nature of public protection is crucial to the work of protecting adults and children at risk of harm. No professional should assume that someone else will pass on information which may be critical to keeping an adult or child safe.

In brief informing sharing must be:

• relevant
• necessary
• justified
• appropriate and
• proportionate

Agencies are lawfully able to share confidential information where disclosure is necessary to protect the individual or another third party. This extends to all practitioners working with adults or children who may be at risk of harm.

Those at risk of harm, like anyone, have a right to privacy and the utmost care should be taken when handing personal and sensitive information.

All personal data should be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. For the processing to be lawful it must rely on specified legal bases and it must not contravene any other legislative requirement. Sharing appropriate, relevant and proportionate information for the purposes of safeguarding the relevant legal bases that are being relied on are:

• The processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject; and
• The processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out obligations with respect to social protection law - in particular the safeguarding of children and adults at risk.

The General Medical Council’s guidance “Confidentiality: good practice in handling patient information” describes the duty of confidentiality in the following terms: “Information acquired by doctors in their professional capacity will generally be confidential under the common law. This duty is derived from a series of court judgments, which have established the principle that information given or obtained in confidence, should not be used or disclosed further except in certain circumstances. This means a doctor must not disclose confidential information, unless there is a legal basis for doing so.”

It is generally accepted that the common law allows disclosure of confidential information if:
a) The patient consents
b) It is required by law, or in response to a court order
c) It is justified in the public interest.

Principle 1 - Justify the purpose(s) for using confidential information.
Principle 2 - Only use it when absolutely necessary.
Principle 3 - Use the minimum that is required.
Principle 4 - Access should be on a strict need-to-know basis.
Principle 5 - Everyone must understand his or her responsibilities.
Principle 6 - Understand and comply with the law.
Principle 7 - The duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality.

Information that may be of relevance could include:

• Frequency of contact.
• Summary of main health needs.
• Interventions provided (referrals, prescriptions etc.) or planned including compliance with this.
• Consider over use of emergency appointments both within primary and secondary care.
• Does child or adult attend with an appropriate adult/carer.
• Level of engagement – is there a pattern of non-engagement to meet health needs or for routine surveillance/immunisations.
• History of any missed hospital appointments.
• Child/adults view of issues facing them or concerns that the child/adult has voiced.
• Are you aware of any behavioural or emotional concerns.
• Have other members of the primary care team expressed any concerns about the child/adult.
• Has another agency contacted you as they are concerned about the health of the child/adult.

Additional National Guidance for GPs is available here.