Information seeking
“Information sharing in a safeguarding context means the appropriate and secure exchange of personal information, between practitioners and other individuals with a responsibility for children, in order to keep them safe from harm.” Information Sharing, Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services for children, young people, parents and carers
Setting the scene
Regularly now we’re seeing authors of child protection guidance and practice reviews making reference to professional curiosity and the importance of gathering information from as many places as we need to, in the right way, to allow us to keep children and young people safe.
Within the updated information sharing guidance, professional curiosity is seen as simply the flip side of the same coin, with information sharing linked directly to information seeking. When those two things happen together, one practitioner seeking and another sharing for example, that’s when a more complete picture becomes available, to help us make sound and effective decisions.
What is its relevance to me?
Asking practitioners to think about how they can fulfil their professional responsibilities, the content of the guidance relating to information seeking makes the direct connection between being proactive and protecting children and young people.
You’re encouraged to:
- start by being alert to signs and indicators which might tell you that children and young people have been harmed
- look for, find or be open to becoming aware of information which makes your think a child or young person may be at risk
- explore that information until you’re confident that you fully understand why and how it’s important
- finally, where appropriate and safe, pass that information on to those who you think need to be aware of it, to effectively manage risk
We can only share information well if we have it in the first place!
The guidance says:
- practitioners should be proactive and should seek out relevant information from other partners and agencies or organisations, to build an accurate picture of a child and family’s life
- effective information seeking enables pieces of information to be shared, gathered, and triangulated across agencies or organisations working with a child and family
- practitioners should be professionally curious about the information they hold, and the information other practitioners may hold about a child. This may involve checking with agencies to build a fuller understanding of a family’s context or the risks of harm
- where you have concerns about a child and are unsure if they are at risk of harm, be open to contacting other practitioners who have contact with the child and sharing limited information with them, to see if they hold additional information which gives cause to believe the child is at risk of harm
- you should be responsive to practitioners seeking information and share relevant information with practitioners when it supports the safeguarding of a child
- whatever the form of abuse or neglect, practitioners should put the needs of children first when determining what action to take
The guidance takes us further, encouraging you to root your practice firmly in line with the principle of Think Family Work Family when you’re information seeking.
When you’re considering the information you need to make good decisions, that might be about individual children, but might be about different family members and other people who might put a child at risk.
Data protection allows sharing of information about adults, where it is reasonable to believe that their actions or neglect may cause harm to a child, although you must identify your legal basis for sharing this information, and record that.
What more can I learn, and how will that help me to share information safely?
30 Minute learning activity
Take another look at the learning scenario in the section on ‘knowing how much information can be shared’. Think of 15 different professionally curious questions you could ask about that situation, who you would ask them of and why?