Baseline Report, December 2019.
A.1 Baseline: Information sharing prior to commencement of the Child Information Sharing (CIS) Scheme
Attitudes
- A large majority of workforces surveyed believed that they understood the benefit to children of information sharing and were open to sharing information within the legal frameworks.
- A majority of workforces surveyed knew where to go for guidance when sharing information and promoted information sharing to others
- Just over one quarter of workforces surveyed reported that they had been reluctant to share information because they may be doing the wrong thing.
- Approximately two-thirds of workforce respondents reported that their organisation had policies covering sharing of information with external organisations.
- More than three-quarters considered these policies enabled exchange of information.
- Approximately one-third considered that these policies may sometimes have hindered early intervention.
Practice
- Most workforce respondents (83%) identified that their organisation shares information with other agencies but a smaller proportion (70%) requested information from other agencies.
- Where information sharing requests had been refused, the most common reasons were lack of necessary consent to share, information was not deemed relevant to share and information could not legally be shared.
A.2 Adjusting to the CIS Scheme
- Approximately three-quarters of organisations surveyed had made changes to their record keeping process and systems in anticipation of, and/or after introduction of the CIS Scheme.
- Most organisations surveyed are not currently recording all required information under the CIS Scheme.
- Workforce respondents’ perceived benefits of the CIS Scheme include transparency and easier sharing of information, better service delivery through increased safety/provision of services and to a lesser extent, services collaboration.
- Perceived challenges of the CIS Scheme relate to understanding of the Scheme, concerns about client privacy, and having sufficient resources to manage the Scheme or train staff.
A.3 Opportunities for improved implementation of the CIS Scheme
- Workforce respondents supported standardised templates for information sharing to address lack of consistency across departments and agencies, and streamlined training tailored to sectors.
- Sector peak/lead bodies advocated for clear, concise and practical resources for frontline staff, case studies to promote understanding of wellbeing and application of the CIS Scheme, and access to information describing the type of information held by organisations in different sectors.
Updated