Fair processing notice – Clients
When HFH Healthcare processes your personal data we are required to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”) up to and including 24 May 2018, and from 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (“GDPR”) (the DPA and GDPR are together referred to as the “Data Protection Legislation”).
Your personal data includes all the information we hold that identifies you or is about you, for example, your name, email address, postal address, date of birth, location data and in some cases opinions that we document about you, as well as special categories of data including but not limited to medical and health records, care plans and information about your religious beliefs, ethnic origin and race and sexual orientation.
Everything we do with your personal data counts as processing it, including collecting, storing, amending, transferring and deleting it. We are therefore required to comply with the Data Protection Legislation to make sure that your information is properly protected and used appropriately.
This fair processing notice provides information about the personal data we process, why we process it and how we process it.
Our responsibilities
HFH Healthcare is the data controller of the personal data you provide. We have appointed a Data Protection Officer and they will have day to day responsibility for ensuring that we comply with information requests and the Data Protection Legislation.
Why do we process your personal data?
We process your personal data in order to provide you with the services you have requested, to fulfil the contract we have entered into with you and/or to receive services or goods from you. We may also process your personal data to respond to any queries or comments you submit to us and to correspond with you on a day to day basis.
We may need personal data from you to be able to provide services to you, to meet our legal obligations, to enter into a contract with you and/or to provide you with all the information you need. If we do not receive the personal data from you, we may be unable to fulfil our obligations to you.
We process most of your information on the grounds of consent from you, legitimate interests, performance of a contract we have entered into with you, protection of the vital interests of a Data Subject or, in the case of special categories of data, processing for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems or services.
If we obtain consent from you to the processing of your personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time. This won’t affect the lawfulness of any processing we carried out prior to you withdrawing your consent.
Lawful basis for processing
The law provides care professionals with definitive rules on processing of client data. The rules can be found in the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015 and the following sections of the GDPR:
Article 6(1)(c) – ‘processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject…’
Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’; and
Article 9(2)(h) ‘necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services…”
The UK and European law also determine how organisations can use personal information. The key legislation and guidance governing the use of information are listed below:
- European Data Protection Regulation (formerly The Data Protection Act 1998)
- The Human Rights Act 1998
- Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
- Computer Misuse Act 1998
- Access to Health Records Act 1990
- Health and Social Care Act 2015
- The Human Rights Act 1998
- Common law Duty of Confidentiality
For the purposes of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults Article 9(2) b may apply.
Care teams can come from several organisations or areas and so it is in everyone’s interests for this sharing to be seamless.The Health and Social Care Act 2015 enables sharing of client data provided the client has not otherwise objected, e.g. have set their sharing preference to ‘opted out’ (please follow link to download opt out form).
For this to be effective, clients must have a reasonable understanding of who is in their core care team and why information about them is being used and shared. This Fair Processing Notice seeks to fulfil that requirement.
Who will receive your personal data?
We will not process personal data without the explicit consent of the client. However, when a healthcare professional who is subject to a legal obligation of professional secrecy or a similar obligation of confidentiality, such as a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, needs to collect, store or use health data, or needs to communicate with another healthcare professional, for specific and health-related purposes (e.g., medical diagnosis, provision of care, or treatment) we will transfer only the medically relevant personal data.
Recipients of your personal data may include:
- NHS and other Health Services, including your GP practice
- Nursing Agencies
- Early Intervention Service including the police
- Adult Services
- Mental Health Services
- Education Support Services
- Clinical Commissioning Groups and Continuing Healthcare parties
- Funding Bodies
- Social Care
- Voluntary Sector Organisations
- Housing Providers
- Family members where required
We do not transfer your personal data outside of the EEA.
How long will we keep your personal data?
We will retain your personal data for at least eight years and this period is longer for records we hold on behalf of Children and young people under the age of 18 years. We retain your information for this period in case any issues arise or in case you have any queries. Your information will be kept securely at all times. HFH Healthcare follow the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care which can be found online from the following link: https://transform.england.nhs….. Following the end of the retention period, your files and personal data we hold about you will be permanently deleted or destroyed. If we are required to obtain your consent to process your personal data, any information we use for this purpose will be kept until you withdraw your consent, unless we are entitled to retain the personal data on the basis of other grounds set out in the Data Protection Legislation.
What are your rights?
You benefit from a number of rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you. We have summarised the rights which may be available to you below, depending on the grounds on which we process your data. More information is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office website (https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data…).
These rights apply for the period in which we process your data.
Access to your data
You have the right to ask us to confirm that we process your personal data, as well as having the right to request access to/copies of your personal data. You can also ask us to provide a range of information, although most of that information corresponds to the information set out in this Fair Processing Notice.
We will provide the information free of charge unless your request is manifestly unfounded or excessive or repetitive, in which case we are entitled to charge a reasonable fee. We may also charge you if you request more than one copy of the same information.
We will provide the information you request as soon as possible and in any event within twenty-five days of receiving your request. If we need more information to comply with your request, we will let you know.
Rectification of your data
If you believe personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify that information. We will comply with your request within twenty-five days of receiving it unless we do not feel it is appropriate, in which case we will let you know why. We will also let you know if we need more time to comply with your request.
Right to be forgotten
In some circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete personal data we hold about you. This right is available to you:
- Where we no longer need your personal data for the purpose for which we collected it
- Where we have collected your personal data on the grounds of consent and you withdraw that consent
- Where you object to the processing and we do not have any overriding legitimate interests to continue processing the data
- Where we have unlawfully processed your personal data (i.e. we have failed to comply with GDPR); and
- Where the personal data has to be deleted to comply with a legal obligation
There are certain scenarios in which we are entitled to refuse to comply with a request. If any of those apply, we will let you know.
Right to restrict processing
In some circumstances, you are entitled to ask us to suppress processing of your personal data. This means we will stop actively processing your personal data but we do not have to delete it. This right is available to you:
- If you believe the personal data we hold is not accurate – we will cease processing it until we can verify its accuracy
- If you have objected to us processing the data – we will cease processing it until we have determined whether our legitimate interests override your objection
- If the processing is unlawful; or
- If we no longer need the data but you would like us to keep it because you need it to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim
Data portability
You have the right to ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format so that you are able to transmit the personal data to another data controller. This right only applies to personal data you provide to us:
- Where processing is based on your consent or for performance of a contract (i.e. the right does not apply if we process your personal data on the grounds of legitimate interests); and
- Where we carry out the processing by automated means
We will respond to your request as soon as possible and in any event within twenty-five days from the date we receive it. If we need more time, we will let you know.
Right to object
You are entitled to object to us processing your personal data:
- If the processing is based on legitimate interests or performance of a task in the public interest or exercise of official authority
- For direct marketing purposes (including profiling); and/or
- For the purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics
In order to object, you must have grounds for doing so based on your particular situation. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate that there are compelling legitimate grounds which override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Automated decision making
Automated decision-making means making a decision solely by automated means without any human involvement. This would include, for example, an online credit reference check that makes a decision based on information you input without any human involvement. It would also include the use of an automated clocking-in system that automatically issues a warning if a person is late a certain number of times (without any input from HR, for example).
We do not carry out any automated decision making using your personal data.
Your right to complain about our processing
If you think we have processed your personal data unlawfully or that we have not complied with GDPR, you can report your concerns to the supervisory authority in your jurisdiction. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”). You can call the ICO on 0303 123 1113 or get in touch via other means, as set out on the ICO website – https://ico.org.uk/concerns
Any questions?
If you have any questions or would like more information about the ways in which we process your data, please contact: Data Protection Officer at DPO@hfhhealthcare.co.uk
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