INFORMATION SHARING

• CONSENT OR NO CONSENT

Dermot Kelly. Nov 2013

Consent or not?

• S.11 Children Act 2004, obliges relevant agencies to ensure that its ‘functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children’

• Section 10 and 11 Children Act 2004 create a ‘permissive gateway’ for sharing of information

• ECHR 1998 Art’s 2 & 8 – finding the balance

REFERRAL

• Individually consider this referral and decide if you will share information.

• College refers a 16 old boy who is presenting as hungry saying he has no money for his bus pass or for lunch. College said they had not spoken to his mum.

Small Group Work

• Form two groups of “Consent” and “No consent”

• Discuss amongst yourselves the reasons why you have made your decision and prepare to challenge your opponents.

• Select a speaker to argue your groups decision.

Consent or not?

• there is no absolute requirement for agencies to obtain consent before sharing information nor should there be a blanket policy of never doing so

• there is an obligation to consider on all occasions and on a case by case basis whether information will be shared with or without consent

Haringey Judgement

• Judical Review: R (AB and CD) v Haringey London Borough Council (2013) judgement before MASH

• –reiterates the importance of considering when and whether consent is required

• –documenting of all decisions and rationale - If it isn’t written down it didn't happen!

INFORMATION SHARING

• Seven golden rules

• data protection act is not a barrier to sharing information• openness and honesty• if in doubt seek advice• share with consent where appropriate • consider safety and wellbeing• NPR – necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate,

timely and secure• record decision and reasons for it

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Caldecott principles• Justify the purpose for needing information

• Do not use person identifiable information unless absolutely necessary

• Use minimum amount necessary of person identifiable information• Access to person identifiable information on a strictly need to know basis

• Everyone should be aware of their responsibilities

• Everyone should be aware of and comply with the law 1997

• Duty to share information can be as important as the duty to protect patient confidentiality 2013

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Refusal & MASH Process• If justifiable to override the refusal in the interests of the welfare of

the child then professionals can and must do so.

• This decision must be proportionate to the harm that may be caused by proceeding without consent.

• documenting of all decisions and rationale - If it isn’t written down it didn't happen!

• MASH process and the rules.

• If followed MASH processes are relevant to the consent determination; however, it is not a single overriding factor.

N,P,R

• Necessary

• Proportionate

• Relevant

Information sharing

• Information Sharing in MASH is not… a single one-off decision

• It is a process of a number of carefully calibrated decisions made at different times, by different people based upon professional judgement about risk and relevance.

EARLY HELP / INTERVENTION

• Working with children and families in need of support and Troubled Families can be effective through Team Around the Child (TAC) as a good start in engaging with families.

Consultation

• To help professionals MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) offers and encourages Consultation. Any professional wishing to discuss concerns or thresholds of Children in Need should contact MASH and request a Social Work consultation.

MASH is NOT…a safeguarding factory