Rules for Sharing Information
Rules for Sharing Information
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The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [8] came into effect on the 25th May 2018 and replaces the Data Protection Directive.
The purpose of GDPR is to harmonise data privacy laws across Europe by standardising definitions and addressing legal uncertainty and the public's perception that their data is at risk.
GDPR protects an individual's fundamental rights and freedoms, in particular, their ‘Right to the Protection of Personal Data’.
Have a look at the seven golden rules of information sharing.
Please ensure that you refer to the latest General Data Protection Regulation and information governance guidelines. See Resources for more information.
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Both the Data Protection Act [9] and GDPR provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is shared appropriately.
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Be open and honest with the person (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could, be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
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If you are in any doubt, seek advice without disclosing the identity of the person where possible.
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Share with consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, that lack of consent can be overridden in the public interest. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case.
The MCA code of practice, chapter 16 gives guidance on information sharing when a person lacks capacity to consent to it.
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Base your information-sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the person and others who may be affected by their actions.
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Ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those people who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely.
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Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.
Remember that the duty to share is as important as the duty of confidentiality.
When sharing information, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Exploitation and Safeguarding
Adult safeguarding recognises the vulnerability of adults with care and support needs to all forms of exploitation. For example, modern slavery is the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. Individuals may be trafficked into, out of, or within the UK, and they may be trafficked for a number of reasons including sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude and organ harvesting.
Another example is radicalisation which is where an individual comes to support any form of extremism and in some cases join terrorist groups. It has potential to cause significant harm to the individuals and others and is therefore aligned to safeguarding principles.
PREVENT is part of the UK's counter-terrorism strategy to reduce the risk of people (which will include patients and/or staff) becoming involved in or supporting terrorism. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015) [10] places a duty on statutory bodies including the NHS to have 'regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism'.
The key challenge for the healthcare sector is to ensure that, where there are signs that someone has been or is being drawn into terrorism, the healthcare worker is trained to recognise those signs correctly and is aware of and can locate available support, including the Channel programme where necessary. Preventing someone from being drawn into terrorism is substantially comparable to safeguarding in other areas, including child abuse or domestic violence. (Home Office 2019).
When should you share information?
You should share information only with the person’s consent
Information should be shared without consent in circumstances where there are concerns for the safety of an individual
You should share information with other agencies when they ask for it
Click to the picture to see if you are right.
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You should share information with the person’s consent if at all possible, but you can and must share information without consent in circumstances where there are concerns for the safety or welfare of an individual. If you are ever in doubt about whether you can share information, seek advice from your manager or your organisation’s Safeguarding Adults Lead.
Session Summary
Remain vigilant to the possibility of abuse and neglect occurring and be prepared to take action
Protecting adults with care and support needs should be your first priority
Always listen and believe those who tell you they have been abused. The adult should be involved from the beginning unless there are exceptional circumstances that would increase the risk of abuse. Record what the adult and, as appropriate, carer and/or other person present told you and what you have done in response
It's important to have a personalised approach that enables safeguarding to be done with, not to, people
Follow your organisation's safeguarding adults procedures and your local statutory multi-agency policy and procedures
Never allow abusive behaviour to go unreported and ensure that your concern is escalated appropriately
Always ensure that appropriate specific decisions are made in the best interests (where the adult has been identified as lacking capacity) of the individual and, where relevant, compliant with the Mental Capacity Act (2005)
Recognise where and when care can amount to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and know what to do
Remember that the duty to share is as important as the duty of confidentiality; be aware of the latest data protection and GDPR guidance
THINK, ACT and REPORT!
Next Steps
Continue to the Safeguarding Adults Level 2 eAssessment. This should be completed to demonstrate the required knowledge and understanding and to complete the training. Remember to also familiarise yourself with local procedures.
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