Standard Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy for People Receiving Care

Standard Privacy Policy

Introduction

The Data Protection Act 2018 includes the GDPR, which is an EU directive, that came into force on 25 May 2018. This Act consolidates and strengthens current data protection safeguards as developed under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Holywell® Care Group meets the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). This privacy notice follows ICO guidelines and shows that we are committed to protecting personal information that our staff collect and process from our service users, employees and others; it also shows how the Holywell Care Group succeeds in doing this by providing an overview of our various policies and procedures.

The privacy notice is a public document, available to service users and their families, staff and any third parties who might provide their personal information for any purpose, and through all channels, including the Holywell® Care Group’s website and intranet.

The privacy notice is used in association with our policy on Protecting Personal Data under the General Data Protection Regulation and DPA 2018.

1. Business details

This is the privacy notice of Holywell® Care Group.

Our registered office is at 9 Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 1WD.

Services provided by Holywell® Care Group support and care for adults and children in CQC- and Ofsted-registered accommodation.  We also support adults and young people who are in transition to independent living in the community.

Consequently, we collect and process a wide range of personal information.

The person responsible for data protection is Dr Robert Connor.

2. Aims of this notice

Holywell® Care Group is required by law to tell you about your rights and our obligations regarding us collecting and processing any of your personal information, which you might provide to us. We have policies and procedures to ensure that any personal information you supply is only with your active consent and will always be held securely and treated confidentially in line with the applicable regulations. We have listed the relevant documents in a later section (6, below) and can make any available to you upon request.

3. We collect Personal information about:

a) People who use our services. As a registered provider of care to children, we must collect some personal information on our service users, including financial information, which is essential to our being able to provide effective care and support. The information is contained in individual files (manual [paper-based] and electronic) and other record systems, all of which are subject to strict security and authorised access policies. Personal information that becomes inactive, e.g., from enquiries or prospective users who do not enter the service is also kept securely for as long as it is needed, before being safely disposed of.

b) Employees and volunteers. The service operates a safe recruitment policy to comply with the regulations in which all personal information obtained, including CVs and references, is, like service users’ information, securely kept, retained and disposed of in line with data protection requirements. All employees are made aware of their right to access any information about them.

c) Third parties. All personal information obtained about others associated with the delivery of the care service, including contractors, visitors, etc will be protected in the same ways as information on service users and employees.

4. How we collect information

Most personal information about service users, employees and third parties is collected directly from them or through form filling, mainly by hand, but also electronically for some purposes, for example, when they contact us through our website.

With children and young people who use our services, we might continue to build on the information provided in enquiry and referral forms, and, for example, from needs assessments, which feed into their care and support plans.

With employees, personal information is obtained directly and with consent through such means as CVs, references, testimonials and criminal records (DBS) checks. When recruiting staff, we seek applicants’ explicit consent to obtain all the information needed for us to decide to employ them.

All personal information obtained to meet our regulatory requirements will always be treated in line with our explicit consent, data protection and confidentiality policies.

Our websites and databases are regularly checked by experts to ensure they meet all privacy standards and comply with our general data protection security and protection policies.

5. What we do with personal information

All personal information obtained on service users, employees and third parties is used only to ensure that we provide a service, which is consistent with our purpose of providing a person-centred care service, and that meets all regulatory standards and requirements. It will not be disclosed or shared for any other purpose.

6. How we keep your information safe

Holywell® has a range of policies that enable us to comply with all data protection requirements. The main policies are:

1. Access to Employee Data
2. Complaints
3. Computer Security
4. Confidentiality of Service Users’ Information
5. Consent to Care and Treatment
6. Data Protection
7. Record Keeping
8. Information Governance under the GDPR and DPA 2018
9. Protecting Personal Data under the GDPR and DPA 2018
10. Safe Staff Recruitment and Selection
11. Service Users’ Access to Records
12. Sharing Information with Other Providers.

7. People with whom we might share information

We only share the personal information of service users, employees and others with their consent on a “need to know” basis, observing strict protocols in doing so. Most sharing of service users’ information is with other professionals and agencies involved with their care and treatment. Likewise, we would not disclose information about our employees without their clear agreement, for example, when providing a reference.

The only exceptions to this general rule would be where we are required by law to provide information, such as helping with a criminal investigation. Even when seeking to notify the local authority of a safeguarding matter or the Care Quality Commission of an incident that requires us to notify it, we would only do so with consent or ensure that the information provided is treated in confidence.

Where we provide information for statistical purposes, the information is aggregated – meaning that it is provided anonymously – so that there is no privacy risk involved in its use, and we observe our National Data Opt-out policy.

8. How personal information held by Holywell® can be accessed

We have procedures in place to enable any staff member, employee or third party whose personal information we hold and might process in some way to have access to that information on request. (See the policies listed in No. 6 above.) The right to access includes both the information and any uses that we might have made of the information.

9. How long we keep information

There are strict protocols in place that determine how long Holywell® will keep the information, which are in line with the relevant legislation and regulations.

10. How we keep our privacy policies up to date

The staff appointed to control and process personal information in our organisation are delegated to assess all privacy risks continuously and our working group carries out comprehensive reviews of our data protection policies, procedures and protocols at least annually.

11. How to make a complaint to the ICO

If you have concern about Holywell’s information rights practices, you can report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) through the following contact points:

Information Commissioner’s Office Tel: 0303 123 1113

Online: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

HOLYWELL is a registered trade mark of Connor Associates Limited.

 

Privacy Notice for People Receiving Care

Holywell Care Group’s services are committed to being transparent and open about why personal data is required and how this is managed. A copy of this privacy notice can be found on our website – www.holywell.care .

This privacy notice explains your rights as a person receiving care regarding the data opt-out policy, how data is collected, used, retained and disclosed in line with UK data protection laws.How and why personal information is collected?

As part of the services offered, we are required to process personal information or data about you.

“Processing” can mean collecting, recording, organising, storing, sharing or destroying data.

We must have a lawful basis for processing personal data and as a registered care provider, it is essential this is collected, including financial information, to enable us to provide ongoing quality care and support.

Information is contained in individual files, electronic and manual and other record systems which are subject to strict security and authorised access policies.

This data is held because we have a legal obligation to do so, usually under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 or Mental Capacity Act 2005.

We process “special category” data because:

  • it is necessary due to social security and social protection law, mostly in safeguarding situations and where it is necessary to protect your fundamental interests when you are physically or legally incapable of providing consent
  • it is needed for provision and management of social care services.
  • we are required to provide data to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), our regulator, as part of public interest obligations.

Special category data can be said to be personal data that needs more protection because it is sensitive.

Data may be processed with your consent. If we need to ask for your permission, you will be given a choice and ask that confirmation is provided.

We will also explain clearly to you what we need the data for and how you can withdraw your consent at any point.

What data do we have?

We may process the following types of data:

  • basic details and contact information, such as name, address, date of birth and next of kin, email address that you or your power of attorney have asked we hold
  • financial details, such as how you fund care or funding arrangements.

We also record the following data which is classified as “special category”:

  • health and social care data, which may include physical and mental health data
  • data may be recorded about your race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or religion.

Data is retained in line with the Information Governance Alliance’s guidelines.

Where is data processed?

This is done face-to-face, via telephone, email, our website, by post, application forms and/or apps.

Data is collected from or shared with:

  • the person receiving care or their legal representative(s)
  • third parties.

Third parties are organisations we might lawfully share data with, which include other parts of the health and care system such as local hospitals, the GP or other health and care professionals for the person receiving care, the pharmacy, social workers, clinical commissioning groups, the Local Authority and family or friends, with the individual’s permission.

There is a legal obligation to share information with some organisations, such as for safeguarding purposes, the CQC, police or other law enforcement agencies if requested by law or a court order.

Data is retained in line with the Information Governance Alliance’s guidelines

Your rights

You have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing at any time. The data kept about you is your data, kept confidential and used appropriately.

Rights regarding personal data:

  • you have the right to access personal data and can request a copy of all data held and will not normally be charged for this
  • incorrect information can be updated if any personal data is inaccurate or incomplete
  • you can request any personal data which is no longer necessary for the purpose we originally collected it for to be deleted
  • you can request that we restrict processing data if we no longer require your personal data for the purpose we originally collected it for, but you do not wish it to be deleted
  • if we have asked for your consent to process data, this can be withdrawn at any time
  • if we are processing your data as part of our legitimate role or to complete a task in the public interest, you have the right to object to that processing.

Identification may be required to support data requests to ensure personal data is not shared inappropriately and requests will be acted on as soon as possible, usually within one month.

What does this mean for me as someone who uses services?

As a person receiving care, information collected about you could be provided to other approved organisations, where there is a legal basis to do so, to help plan services, improve care provision and for research into developing new treatments and preventing illness.

Information is only used where allowed by law and never for insurance or marketing purposes without explicit consent. The care service will always seek written permission from you before sharing personal information with anyone else, for purposes other than direct care

However, if you do not want your personal data to be used for planning or research, you can stop this.

National Data Opt-Out

The national data opt-out gives everyone the choice to stop health and social care organisations sharing their “confidential patient information” with other organisations where it is used for reasons beyond individual treatment and care, such as research and planning purposes.

The term “confidential patient information” is used as the NHS do and where the opt-out is in force. In this context “confidential patient information” relates to information about people’s health or social care that may identify them.

Adult Social Care providers, in line with your wishes and the national data opt-out, are required to apply national data opt-outs to use or disclose confidential patient information for purposes other than your direct care.

As a care service, we have an obligation to inform you about your right to choose regarding opting out of data sharing and are clear about how and when such a preference has been applied and a record of any decision regarding data opt-out kept.

Most care services do not use or share people’s information beyond direct care and this care service does not share the information of people who use it with any pharmaceutical, medical or other researchers and do not use sensitive information for purposes beyond your care and treatment.

We only share personal information on a “need to know” basis, observing strict protocols when doing so. Most of the data sharing is with other professionals and agencies involved with care and treatment.

The only exceptions to this general rule would be where we are required by law to provide information, e.g., to help with a criminal investigation.

Following completion of data processing checks, if certain national data opt-out do not apply the following clause may be added:

“At this time, we do not share any data for planning or research purposes for which the national data opt-out would apply. We review all of the confidential patient information we process on an annual basis to see if this is used for research and planning purposes. If it is, then individuals can decide to stop their information being shared for this purpose.” (Digital Social Care)

If you are happy with this use of personal information, you do not need to do anything but can change this decision at any time.

If you choose to opt out, your confidential patient information will still be used as necessary to support your individual care delivery.

As national data opt-outs are set or changed by individuals themselves, this must be done by you, or someone legally able to act on your behalf.  More details about the wider use of confidential personal information and to register your choice to opt out can be found at: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/national-data-opt-out or by phone: 0300 303 5678.

To opt out by post on behalf of someone who lacks capacity, fill out and print off  Manage Another Person’s Choice on Their Behalf, NHS Data Opt-Out by Post. It can only be done by an individual who holds an LPA.

All health and social care CQC-registered organisations in England must be compliant with the national data opt-out by 31 July 2022.

Information is available on request from the manager for people receiving care, next of kin or appointed Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

Raising concerns

If you have concerns regarding how personal data is processed, please contact the Data Protection Lead via:

Holywell Care Group
Data Protection Lead
293 New Hall Lane
Preston PR1 5XE
Email: info@holywell.care

If you feel care services have not complied with requirements regarding your personal data rights, you may submit a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/.