Benefits and risks of data sharing

HEALTH and Social care chiefs at Warrington joined together to hear evidence about the benefits and risks of data sharing.
Patient information isn’t always automatically shared between care professionals such as GPs, midwives, consultants or social workers when they are providing care to a patient, client or service user.
So a select committee has been formed with the aim of sharing evidence from a wide range of experts and come to conclusions.
The organisations in the partnership include Warrington Borough Council, NHS Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group, Warrington and Halton Hospitals Foundation Trust, 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust and Bridgewater Community NHS Foundation Trust.
The first meeting heard from expert witnesses including Dr Yonatan Shemmer, ethicist from the University of Sheffield, local GP Dr Mary Coughlin, Dr Rita Arya, ccnsultant in obstetrics and gynaecology from Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and two carers of children with chronic health and care needs.
The witnesses gave their views on the benefits and risks of data sharing and committee members asked questions of the individual witnesses.
Committee chairman Bob Saunders said: “The first hearing was extremely interesting. Having the opportunity to listen to expert witness and understand their experiences has been a real eye-opener. I look forward to the next hearing where we will welcome more expert evidence for the committee to deliberate on.
“By having open, honest conversations in public we will be able to go some way to identifying and addressing issues that may be having an impact on care. We want the people of Warrington to receive the best possible – this inquiry will help to see if organisations need to make changes to data sharing processes to make this happen.”