Information Sharing & Confidentiality
Last updated: May 4, 2011
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
The following is a based on the content of the ‘Practitioners’ Guide to Information Sharing’ and there is further additional guidance in ‘Information Sharing: Further Guidance on Legal Issues’.
See also the new (2011) GMP referral templates for sharing information about Public Protection concerns with Local Authority Children’s Service and Health services. A new Information Sharing Protocol specifically regarding these exchanges of information is being drafted and is due to be published on the website in June 2011.
Sharing information is vital for early intervention to ensure that children with additional needs receive the services they require. It is also essential to protect children from suffering significant harm.
Practitioners are sometimes uncertain about when they can share information lawfully. It is important therefore that they:
- understand and apply good practice in sharing information at an early stage as part of preventative work
- are clear that information can be shared where they judge that a child is at risk of significant harm and
- understand what information is and is not confidential, and the need in some circumstances to make a judgement about whether confidential information can be shared, in the public interest, without consent.
