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Information Sharing and Confidentiality

Early sharing of information is the key to providing an effective response and all organisations must have arrangements in place which clearly set out the processes and principles for information sharing between agencies and the DSP. All information sharing must comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 [external link] and the Human Rights Act 1988 [external link], General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [external link] and the Caldicott Principles [external link]. 

For further guidance see SCIE: The Legal Requirements of Information Sharing [external link]. 

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and professionals should not assume that that someone else will pass on information which may be critical to the safety and wellbeing of an adult at risk.  HM Government has published (2024) Information Sharing:  Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services for children, young people, parents and carers  [external link] which has been updated to reflect the general Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. This guidance may be helpful to practitioners working with adults who are responsible for children in need. 

Practitioners should proactively inform children and adults when they first engage with the service about the organisation’s policy on how information is shared and the basis (Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR) upon which their personal data is being processed.

Information may be shared without consent if a practitioner has reason to believe that there are grounds to do so and that the sharing of the information will enhance the safeguarding of the child or adult with care and support needs in a timely manner.

Consent should not be sought if doing so would:

  • place a person (the individual, family member, staff or a third party) at in-creased risk of significant harm (child) or serious harm (adult) or
  • prejudice the prevention, detection or prosecution of a serious crime
  • lead to an unjustified delay in making enquiries about allegations of significant harm to a child or serious harm to an adult

When deciding whether to share confidential information the practitioner must judge on the facts of the case whether the sharing of the information is a necessary and proportionate response to the need to protect the child, the adult or the wider public from serious harm.

Sharing confidential information without consent will normally be justified in the public or vital interest when:

  • there is evidence or reasonable cause to believe a child is suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm or
  • to prevent significant harm to a child or serious harm to an adult including the wider public including through the prevention, detection and prosecution of a serious crime

For further information see Darlington Safeguarding Partnership website [Link] and Information Sharing Protocol [PDF document] and 

If the adult at risk cannot be persuaded to give their consent, unless it is considered dangerous to do so, it should be explained to them that the information will be shared without consent. The reasons should be given and recorded. The safeguarding principle of proportionality should underpin decisions about sharing information without consent, and decisions should be on a case-by-case basis.

If consent has not been granted the reason for this must also be recorded. Only the individual can give consent and no-one else can consent on their behalf. In situations where the adult at risk has capacity and consent has not been sought or has not been granted, practitioners still have a legal duty to refer the safeguarding concern to the Local Authority. Practitioners should explain this to the adult at risk and reassure them that the Local Authority will discuss this with them further before progressing.

Consent in an emergency situation

In an emergency situation the views of the individual should still be sought where possible and where possible the individual should be informed of the action which will be taken.  However, in certain situations it is sometimes necessary to take action without obtaining consent or where the individual has declined to give consent. See SCIE: Responding without consent [external link].