Information sharing flowchart. It is acknowledged that sharing information requires exercising some judgement and, to assist with this, the Every Child Matters cross-government guidance has identified six key principles for practitioners to remember on information sharing in respect of children and young people. The principles are: • You should explain to children, young people and their families at the outset, openly and honestly, what and how information will, or could be shared and why, and seek their agreement. The exception to this is where to do so would put that child, young person or others at increased risk of significant harm, or an adult at risk of serious harm, or if it would undermine the prevention, detection or prosecution of a serious crime, including where seeking consent might lead to interference with any potential investigation. • You must always consider the safety and welfare of a child or young person when making decisions on whether to share information about them. Where there is concern that an individual may be suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm, their safety and welfare must be the overriding consideration. • You should, where possible, respect the wishes of children, young people or their families who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information if, in your judgement on the facts of the case, there is sufficient need to override that lack of consent. • You should seek advice where you are in doubt, especially where your doubt relates to a concern about possible significant harm to a child or young person or serious harm to others. • You should ensure that the information you share is accurate and up-to-date, necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, shared only with those people who need to see it, and shared securely. • You should always record the reasons for your decision - whether it is to share information or not. These six principles are applied through eight questions set out below. The relationship between these questions is illustrated in the information sharing flowchart overleaf.
Information sharing flowchart. Yes Unsure Is the information confidential? Does the information enable a person to be identified? Is there a legitimate purpose for sharing information? No Unsure Yes Yes No No No Do not share. Unsure Unsure Is the sharing of the information essential to the wellbeing/educational welfare of the pupil? Have you been given explicit consent to disclose the information? Seek advice. You are asked or called upon to share information. No Yes Yes Yes Identify how much information you can share. Distinguish fact from opinion. Ensure you are passing the information on to the correct person. Ensure you are sharing the information securely. Inform the person that the information will be shared. Share.
