Recurring concern
Unreliable consent controls for safety-critical information sharing
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Request correctionFirst reported 27 Oct 2016•Latest report 31 Jan 2025
What this concern includes
Includes failures in dedicated processes for seeking, revisiting, recording and applying a person's consent when safety-critical information is to be shared with family, carers, healthcare professionals, emergency services or other directly relevant recipients, including the anchor's missing policy for repeated proactive consent-seeking and failures to ask about consent before sharing suicidal-risk or hospital-attendance information.
Not included
- Excludes general confidentiality or information-sharing failures where consent for disclosure is not the deficient control.
- Excludes failures involving informed consent for examination, treatment or procedures, which concern treatment consent rather than consent to share information.
- Excludes failures to involve families, carers or professionals after consent has been reliably established, unless the consent-control process itself was deficient.
- Excludes disclosures or non-disclosures that are legally required or permitted independently of the person's consent, where no failure in the applicable consent process is identified.
- Reports
- 6
- Individual concerns
- 7
- Date range
- 2016–2025
- Stated actions
- 2
Distinct published reports
A report can raise multiple concerns
First to latest report issue date
Described in published responses
Reports over time
Reports over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Concerns and responses across reports
Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to require consent and notify current or regular practitioners about online prescriptions
This report raised 5 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Absence of a policy encouraging repeated proactive approaches to obtaining patient consent for information sharing
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Lack of a clear process for consent-based disclosure of prisoners' medical information to front line officers
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Implement Personal Management Plans to obtain consent, share relevant medical alerts and guidance, record required observations, and review at multidisciplinary prison meetings.
Stated by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised1
Failure to obtain consent for disclosure of safeguarding information to other agencies
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
GP confidentiality means the suitability information received about prospective residents is very limited.
Stated by The Limes Residents Association Limited
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Concerns raised1
Unclear implementation of information-sharing arrangements when patients withdraw family consent
This report raised 8 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised2
Failure of ambulance services to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance
Failure of police officers to ask for consent before sharing information about suicidal feelings or hospital attendance
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Add instruction to training on eliciting consent to inform a nominated person about a suicidal individual's location and mental wellbeing concerns.
Stated by North Yorkshire Police
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.4
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Position
The evidential basis for concluding that ambulance clinicians failed to ask about contacting family is unclear and was not explored with YAS.
Stated by Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
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Position
Existing welfare-assessment and referral practices, including asking about family contact, are considered sufficient to address the concern.
Stated by Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust -
Position
For patients conveyed to hospital, longer-term management and contacting relatives are primarily the receiving hospital's responsibility, not YAS's.
Stated by Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust -
Position
Because Mr Carroll appeared capacitated, was an adult, and had been handed over to professionals, officers had no expectation to notify friends or relatives.
Stated by North Yorkshire Police
Data last updated 7 September 2026