At Hauora Tairawhiti if staff see or hear something we are concerned about we will share information, if we believe that someone may be at risk of being harmed/ or has been harmed
Why is sharing information important?
To reduce risk and harm to whanau and help to keep them safe.
Our child death and family harm statistics in Aotearoa are distressing and preventable.
https://www.childmatters.org.nz/downloads/our-data-you-asked-us-web.pdf
https://brainwave.org.nz/article/why-should-we-care-the-abuse-and-neglect-of-children-in-new-zealand/
- 10 children die every year in our country from someone who is caring for them
- Every 8th homicide victim in our country is a child
- 75 Police call outs to Family Harm Incidents in Tairawhiti (approx.: 300 per month!)
What happens if the person doesn’t consent to their information being shared?
Consent is not required if a staff member is concerned about the wellbeing of a child or person in their care or someone else that is at risk of being harmed. Health information will be shared with an authorised agency.
What is the legislation/kaupapa that guides and protects staff to share information – with or without consent?
Family Violence - information sharing guidelines for health professionals
Oranga Tamariki - information sharing when working with children
- People’s safety comes first – remember the 3 harms – harm to self, harm to others, others doing harm to you.
- Consider sharing information if it will protect a victim
- Information must be shared if a request is received under a specific Act ie: Oranga Tamariki, or Police
- The legislation provides legal protection from liability when information is shared unless it is shared in bad faith
What is the main barrier to keeping people safe from family harm?
Across all health services, it is not sharing enough critical information with each other. All health services are part of a wider system that can collect information, share it so that there is a shared understanding and a timely response.