Safeguarding Adults Procedures

117 4.5.1 Remember that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living adults is shared appropriately. 4.5.2 Be open and honest with the adult (and/or their family/representatives where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so. 4.5.3 Seek advice from other practitioners, or your information governance lead, if you are in any doubt about sharing the information concerned, without disclosing the identity of the adult where possible. 4.5.4 Where possible, share information with consent, and where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to having their information shared. Under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 you may share information without consent if, in your judgement, there is a lawful basis to do so, such as where safety may be at risk. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case. When you are sharing or requesting personal information from someone, be clear of the basis upon which you are doing so. Where you do not have consent, be mindful that an adult might not expect information to be shared. 4.5.5 Consider safety and well-being: base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the adult and others who may be affected by their actions. 4.5.6 Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure: ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those adults who need to have it, is accurate and up to date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely (see information sharing principles above). 4.5.7 Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose. 5. Key roles and responsibilities 5.1 The Information Owner 5.1.1 The owner of the information (the person who initially has it) relating to the concern or allegation is expected to -  Take immediate risk management actions if needed and report concerns to adult or children’s safeguarding services if felt necessary based on what is known,  If the allegation or concern indicates an offence has occurred or may occur report this to the Police as a potential crime and to agree next steps, including the avoidance of contaminating evidence. If a criminal investigation is required, this may take primacy over an organisation’s internal investigation,  Refer to the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) where the information indicates the person also works with and could pose a risk of harm to children,  Decide whether the information should be disclosed to the employer of the person concerned. ➢ as part of that disclosure think about any history of conduct, complaints, cautions or convictions that may be relevant to the potential risk. ➢ if disclosing, manage this in line with legal and best practice requirements for information sharing – see sections above and at the end of this Appendix. Some agencies may have protocols for sharing information in these types of circumstance – such as the Common Law Police Disclosure process – whereas