Information Sharing

Introduction

Improving information sharing practice is a cornerstone of the Government Every Child Matters strategy to improve outcomes for children. The guidance offered here compliments and supports wider policies to improve information sharing across children’s services.

Sharing information is vital for early intervention to ensure that children and young people with additional needs get the services they require. It is also essential to protect children and young people form suffering harm form abuse or neglect and to prevent them from offending.

It is important that practitioners understand when, why and how they should share information so that they can do so confidently and appropriately as part of their day-to-day practice.

Cross-Government guidance

The aim of this cross-Government guidance is to improve practice by giving practitioners across all aspects of children’s services clearer guidance on when and how they can share information legally and professionally. This guidance contains:

• Six key points to remember when sharing information
• Core guidance on information sharing
• Confidentiality
• Information sharing as part of preventative services
• Consent to share
• Flowchart of key principles for information sharing

Information sharing: Practitioners’ Guide (PDF 463k)

Local guidance

This guidance is designed to accompany the Cross-Government Information Sharing Guidance document. The guidance aims to add details particular to our locality and highlight specific policies, procedures and processes in operation in Gateshead. The guide is neat and easy to handle. It states key facts about information sharing briefly and concisely. It is ideal for using as a reference to help resolve day-to-day practice dilemmas. As it is laminated it is more robust and hardwearing and easily found amongst the usual clutter on the desk.

The guidance was piloted in May-June 2007 with two multi-agency groups of practitioners and managers as part of the Targeted Youth Support pathfinder project in Birtley. The IS guide is made available to all practitioners in the materials provided during practitioner training in Information Sharing.

Copies of the Gateshead Children and Young Peoples’ Strategic Partnership Information Sharing guide are available from Sara Jobling, Information Sharing Implementation Team, Civic Centre, Regents Street, Gateshead, NE8 1HH, Tel: 0191 433 3251, email: sarajobling@gateshead.gov.uk

Further advice and information

For further advice on the national context for information sharing:

www.ecm.gov.uk/informationsharing

For more information about the Children Act 2004:

www.ecm.gov.uk/strategy/guidance

For general information and guidance about Data protection:

www.ico.gov.uk