Dear All
Sent this to Ronan and not the list in error, just my twoppenneth based on
what I do her at Wigan.
Working for Wigan SSD I come across these issues daily.
With regard to issue 1 the question is does the individual concerned have
parental responsibility for the child? If they do then we would release the
information however they can only have it in the interests of the child,
they can't have it for their own ends.
Its also worth considering if the family are well known to you and what sort
of relationship you have with them. We have several families with disabled
children where the families are well known and they regularly ask for info
in order to support the child so we give the information as requested.
On issue 2 we write to the other agency asking for consent but ultimately
the decision to release is ours and not the third parties. Assuming the
information has been provided in a professional capacity we take the general
view that a professional should be willing to stand by the information and
would probably release it. That said we do of course take into account the
Data Protection (Subject Access modification)(Social Work) Order 2000 and
the identity f third parties etc.
Thanks
Lee Gardiner
Records Manager
Department of Adult Services
Wigan MBC
x4140 or 01942 404140
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: RONAN DURNIN [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Fri 04 August 2006 11:57
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [data-protection] Subject Access Request - Social Work Files
Dear list members,
I was wondering what experience people have in dealing with requests made to
a social work agency.
I have before me a subject access request from the mother of a child how
received services from us.
I'm working through the request, but I'd like your thoughts on 2 issues:
(1) Competence of the child with regard to consent - The child is
certainly not old enough to give (or understand) consent. I am of the
opinion that we can't not automatically release the child's information to
the parent.
(2) For those of you who have encountered social work files - There
are many different social care providers who have contributed all sorts of
reports and meeting minutes etc. We generate our own information. We also
hold copies of information generated by other agencies. Should I direct the
parent to these other agencies for this information, or can I disclose said
information? My instinct is that we need consent from other agencies to
release, and given the sensitivity of the information there would certainly
be concerns of harm or risk to persons identifiable from those documents.
Thanks,
Ronan.
This message is for the named person's use only. It may contain
confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No
confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If
you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all
copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the
sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute,
print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended
recipient. The Northern Ireland Guardian ad Litem Agency reserves the right
to monitor all e-mail communications through its networks. Recipients should
also be aware that all e-mails received by the Northern Ireland Guardian ad
Litem Agency are subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
therefore may be disclosed to a third party. Any views expressed in this
message are those of the individual sender, except where the message states
otherwise and the sender is authorised to state them to be the views of any
such entity.
This e-mail was scanned by Sophos anti-virus software updated on an hourly
basis.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving message please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
**********************************************************************
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses using Sophos
anti-virus software.
www.mimesweeper.com
www.sophos.com
**********************************************************************
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
All archives of messages are stored permanently and are
available to the world wide web community at large at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/data-protection.html
If you wish to leave this list please send the command
leave data-protection to [log in to unmask]
All user commands can be found at : -
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Any queries about sending or receiving message please send to the list owner
[log in to unmask]
(all commands go to [log in to unmask] not the list please)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
