Need Social Care?

Sharing Personal Information in Worcestershire

A5 Information Sheet - for single sided printing Sharing Personal Information in Worcestershire  (725.79 KB)    A5 Booklet - for back to back printing    Sharing Personal Information in Worcestershire  (365.63 KB)

Introduction

In order to help you, we may find that you will also need assistance from other organisations or agencies that we work with.

In the past, we would have contacted the appropriate organisation and given them only basic information about you like your name and address. This meant that the organisation had to contact you and often ask you the same questions that we had.

We appreciate that being asked the same questions by different people can be extremely frustrating, particularly if several organisations are involved, and can result in delays in getting you the right help.

It would be helpful if we could give other organisations that we need to work with in providing your care more information about you. In most cases we can only do this if we have your permission.

What information will you share?

This will depend upon the type of help that you may need. We will need to give the other organisations basic details such as your name, address, date of birth and telephone number. Any other personal information that you have given us will only be passed on to another organisation if we feel that it is:-

• Directly relevant to the help you need, and
• The other organisation needs to know it in order to give you this help

We will tell you what sort of information we want to pass on to the other organisation before we do so.

What safeguards do you have?

The organisations we work closely with have signed an agreement call an Inter-agency Information Sharing Protocol.

They have agreed that they will treat all information given to them about you as confidential, and they will only use it in connection with the help they are giving to you.

If an organisation wants to use information given to them for any other purpose they will need to ask your permission.

All organisations that have signed the Protocol have strict rules in place that govern the storage and access to your personal information.

How long does the permission last?

If you give us permission to share your personal information, we will only do so whilst we are helping you – however long that may take. Once we have finished working with you we will stop sharing your personal information.

If you need our help at a later date we would ask for your permission to share information again.

What if I say no?

You can say that you do not want us to pass your personal information to other organisations at any time.

You can refuse at the beginning or if you give your permission initially, you can change your mind later.

Please bear in mind, if we are unable to provide other organisations with the information they may need, this may delay or prevent you getting the help you need.

However, the Data Protection Act (1998) allows the sharing of information without obtaining your permission in certain circumstances. These circumstances are:

• Where disclosure is required because of the law, for legal proceedings or is necessary for a criminal investigation
• Where disclosure is necessary to protect your vital interests, or those of another individual (this usually means a life or death situation)

The Data Protection Act also allows us to share information without your knowledge if there is a real concern that you will harm yourself or somebody else.

In any other circumstance, we will only pass your personal information on with your permission

Can I limit what information you can share?

Yes. In most cases we will tell you the type of personal information that we feel we may need to pass in to other organisations and which organisations they are likely to be. If there is something that you do not want us to pass on about you, we will not do so.

Can I see what information has been shared?

All organisations that have signed up to the Sharing Protocol are bound by the Data Protection Act 1998 which gives you the legal right to see the information that organisations hold about you.

You will be given a copy of a leaflet that tells you how you may apply to see your records. This may vary from one organisation to another.

What if I feel my information is being misused?

If you feel that your personal information is being misused, or you are not happy about the service you are getting, please tell us as quickly as possible so we can take steps to correct the situation.

All organisations that have signed up to the Information Sharing Protocol also have a complaints procedure that can deal with all your concerns.