rst principle to promoting the health of looked-after children. The person or third party will need to understand the reasons why particular information needs to be shared, so that they can give informed consent. Where disclosure of a child’s information might reveal information about other individuals (e.g. parents, family), consent should be sought from these individuals as well. Where it is not practicable to seek consent or where the individual is not competent to give consent, it is important to consider whether disclosure would be justified in the ‘public interest’ (e.g. to protect others from a risk so serious that it outweighs the individual’s right to privacy). Decisions to disclose information in the public interest must be taken on a case by case basis, and should always be fully documented. In obtaining consent to seek information from other parties or to disclose information about the child, a key consideration will be determining whether the child is competent to give consent or whether consent should be sought from a person with parental responsibility. The same issues arise in relation to consent to information sharing as in consent to treatment, namely: ‘Young people aged 16 or 17 are regarded as adults for the purposes of consent to treatment and are therefore entitled to the same duty of confidence as adults. Children under 16 who have the capacity and understanding to take decisions about their own treatment are entitled also to decide whether personal information may be passed on and generally to have their confidentiality respected… In other instances, decisions to pass on personal information may be taken by a person with parental responsibility in consultation with the health professionals involved.’ 37 Children aged 16 and 17 Once young people r