Sharing information without consent. It is not always safe, appropriate or feasible to obtain consent to share information. Circumstances where it may not be possible to obtain consent include: Where obtaining consent might be contrary to the public interest; including risk to the health of the person The data subject / confider may be absent or not contactable; The data subject / confider may be permanently or temporarily incapacitated and has no appropriate representative; The data subject / confider has withheld or withdrawn their consent. Under the Common Law Duty of Confidence, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998 it is possible to disclose information without consent in the cases of serious public interest or in the best interests of an individual. Also under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (as amended by the Police and Justice Act 2006 and the Policing and Crime Act 2009) for Community Safety purposes. Decisions regarding the disclosure of information without consent must always be made on a case- by-case basis. Any disclosure must always be proportionate and the minimum necessary to achieve the necessary objective. If it is not possible to obtain consent before sharing information, the data subject / confider should be informed as soon as possible after the information has been shared, unless this would be inappropriate (e.g. cause serious harm; effect on ongoing investigation).
Sharing information without consent. 7.6.1 It is intended that information for the purposes of identifying families and allocating them to a level of intervention (tiers 1 – 3) and lead agency, will be shared without consent. A legal justification for this is set out in Appendix I. As a minimum, individuals will be informed that information may be shared and the circumstances in which this could happen unless this poses a risk of harm or danger. As is required by the fair processing requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998, a Privacy Notice has been drafted and is included at Appendix VI. The individuals right to confidentiality are not absolute and may be overridden if evidence that disclosure for specific purposes is necessary in exceptional circumstances. Such as Where it is required by statute Where not to share the information poses a public health risk Where there is a risk of harm to any person Where sharing is required to prevent crime. Where the individual chooses to exercise their right not to provide express consent for information sharing, they must be advised of any constraints that this will put upon the service that can be provided, however the individuals wishes must be respected unless there is a statutory requirement or a significant risk of harm to an individual to override those wishes as indicated above.
Sharing information without consent. The law recognises that disclosure of confidential information without consent or a court order may be justified in the public interest to prevent harm to others. The key factor in deciding whether or not to disclose confidential information is proportionality: is the proposed disclosure a proportionate response to the need to protect the individual. The amount of confidential information disclosed, and the number of people to whom it is disclosed, should be no more than is strictly necessary to meet the public interest in protecting health and well-being. The more sensitive the information is, the greater the need must be to justify disclosure and the greater the need to ensure that only those professionals who have to be informed receive the material (‘the need to know basis’). Is There A Difference Between Disclosing Information Within Your Own Organisation Or Between Organisations? The approach to confidential information should be the same whether any proposed disclosure is internally within one organisation (e.g. within a hospital, or within social services) or between agencies (e.g. from a doctor to a social worker). The need to disclose confidential information to others within your own organisation will probably arise more frequently than will be the case for inter-agency disclosure. For example a nurse will need to discuss confidential information with a doctor more frequently than with a social worker. It would probably be accepted that such discussions need to take place within the hospital, so there would usually be implied consent. But if not (e.g. if you disclose information that someone has asked you to keep secret) you will have to decide whether the circumstances justify the disclosure.
