It is generally recognised that sharing information can bring many benefits in providing integrated care and in safeguarding and promoting welfare. There are a number of national initiatives such as the Single Assessment Process (SAP) and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) which both intend to promote a more coordinated and person-centred approach to care. They are however heavily reliant on effective partnership working and appropriate information sharing and this information sharing is being increasingly hindered by uncertainty around what staff can and should legally share.
To iron out some of this uncertainty the following agencies in Leeds have got together to renew the Information Sharing Steering Group (ISSG) and to try and help by simplifying and improving the Pan Leeds Information Sharing Protocol:
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
Leeds Partnership Foundation trust
NHS
Leeds Leeds City Council
Education Leeds
West Yorkshire Police
Yorkshire Ambulance Service
NHS Direct
Leeds Voice
Advocacy Network Leeds
LeedsCareers
What is this protocol and how can it help me?
The protocol provides a framework for you and your department to work with to identify what information you need to and should be sharing with your partner agencies and then draw up some agreed terms for that sharing.
The group have developed a template document for you to use so this involves nothing more than engaging with your colleagues and then filling in the blanks with details such as what information needs to be shared, how are you going to share it, do you have consent to share, or are there grounds to share without consent?
The protocol is in 4 parts but the Staff Guidance document is the part you are likely to find most helpful as it provides all the details you need to understand information sharing and even gives examples of scenarios you may deal with on a day to day basis. Please also read the Government's Information Sharing Guidance For Practitioners & Managers which can be found on the Information Sharing page.
There are also some operational procedures which explain the basics you need to follow when getting consent, how to send a secure email or fax etc. There are appendices which contain a brief summary of some of the legislation you may be working with and they also include some examples of information sharing agreements to give you some ideas. Finally there is the Protocol itself which sets out the principles that all of the agencies who helped develop this protocol have agreed to. You can find all these documents in the links on this page.
What do I have to do now?
Do you share information with other agencies? If the answer is yes have you agreed with them what information you should be sharing, have you ever stopped and thought is what I’m doing right? Now is the time to get together with your colleagues and decide-do we need an agreement so we are all clear about what our responsibilities are? If so then here are the documents that will make that process as easy as possible!
Who can I go to if I’m unsure of anything and need some more advice?
If you work for Adult Social Care then you can contact Martin Foster at SS Info Gov. At present this is also the contact for Children's Services, except at Education Leeds.
For other practitioners: more details to follow.
Key things to remember when developing your agreement:
A lack of an information sharing agreement should never be a reason for not sharing information that could help a practitioner deliver services to a person.
Information sharing agreements are not required for ad hoc front line information sharing.
Where practitioners have to make case-by-case information sharing decisions these must be based on professional judgements in line with legal obligations.
To feel confident about making information sharing decisions you should understand what information is confidential -undertake the information governance training.
The Data Protection Act is not a barrier to sharing information but provides a framework to ensure personal information is shared appropriately.
Be open and honest with service users about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek consent unless it’s unsafe or inappropriate to do so. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, that lack of consent can be overridden in the public interest.
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.
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.
If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.
Seek advice if you are in any doubt
Get your agreement checked by your information governance representative