- giving staff the opportunity to share information about you (with your consent) so that they have access to the same details;
- cutting down on the number of times you have to provide the same information;
- using the same assessment forms across organisations.
The information we gather during your assessment will be used to arrange suitable services for you. To do this, we may need to share your information with other organisations. This is so that everyone can work well together to give you a good service.
Sharing information will also save you having to repeat information you have already given.
We will only share assessment information with other organisations involved in your care if you give us permission. The information shared will be treated in strict confidence by each organisation, whether stored in a paper file or on a computer.
All staff have a legal and professional duty to keep information about you confidential and secure.
How is consent given to share information?
Your consent is required for sharing information stored in paper-based and computer records. This is in line with the Data Protection Act (1998).
The person undertaking your assessment will ask you if you agree for all or some of your information to be shared.
If you wish to keep certain items private then tell the person you are talking to and they will make sure these items of information are not shared with anyone else.
You will usually be asked for your signature to indicate the information you have agreed to be shared.
The same staff as you would usually see will be assessing you, for example a Hospital or District Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker or any health or social care professional who has been trained to carry out assessments.
National Health Service and Social Services staff are working much more closely together and are using the same assessment forms whenever possible to record your assessment information.
An electronic assessment system is also being introduced which will replace paper records over the next few years.
The main benefits of an electronic assessment system are associated with the quick and easy transfer of information between the people involved in your care.
This means that everyone should have the same up to date information. It should mean that you do not have to keep telling people the same things over and over again.
Some staff will be using portable computers to record the information you give them during your assessment, others will be using paper.
Your assessment will be used to help decide what sort of services you require. Care arrangements will be written onto a Care Plan, giving you details of the services to be provided.
You will be given a paper copy of your assessment summary and Care Plan.
As at January 2006 the Cheshire Health and Social Care Community comprises the following organisations;
And the three Acute Hospital Trusts based in Cheshire:
This leaflet is available in alternative formats, including large print, Braille, tapes and other languages, on request from Cheshire County Council Media and Promotions Team, County Hall, Chester, CH1 1SF.
Phone: 0845 11 333 11
Email: info@cheshire.gov.uk |