Wessex Care - Privacy Policy

At Wessex Care we are committed to protecting your personal data and handling it responsibly. As such, we have updated our Privacy Policy to explain how we manage your data.

The changes we have made are in line with new data protection laws, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, which is effective from 25^th May 2018. This is part of our ongoing commitment to be transparent about how we use your personal data and keep it safe.

Privacy Statement for Residents, Customers, and Prospective Residents and Customers

Where we use the expression “resident or Customer” in this statement, this includes residents for whom we care in our residential facilities or customers we provide a service to in the community usually in their own home

We are obliged by care regulators to maintain accurate records of care delivery and other data about those for whom we care. When a resident or customer leaves our service, we will archive that personal data in a secure storage facility (for paper records) and in a secure server (for electronic records). We will maintain it securely for no more than 6 years, unless a complaint or claim has been notified in which case we shall retain relevant data for the purpose of addressing that matter.

From time to time, our insurers may request that data be held longer than 6 years for the purpose of an individual claim which concerns the data subject. 

1.       What is the purpose of this privacy policy?

a)       Under the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, we are required to explain to our residents and customers why we collect information about you, how we intend to use that information, and whether we will share this information with anyone else.

b)       This statement applies to all our residents and community customers also prospective residents and customers.

c)       We may update this statement at any time.

d)       It is important that you read this statement so that you know how and why we use information about you. It is also important that you inform us of any changes to your personal information during your stay with us so that the information which we hold about you is accurate and up to date.

2.       Who are we?

a)       We are Wessex Care Company Ltd (Wessex Care), a company registered in England and Wales under company number 4677336 and with our registered office at 198 Shirley Road, Shirley, Southampton, SO15 3FL, England.

b)       Wessex Care is a "data controller" for the information which we hold about you. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use the personal information which we hold about you.

3.       Our Data Protection Officer

a)       Our Data Protection Officer is responsible for overseeing what we do with your information and monitoring our compliance with data protection laws.

b)      Our Data Protection Officer is Mr Christian Airey. If you have any concerns or questions about our use of your personal data, you can contact them by writing to Wessex Care Ltd, 11 Tollgate Road, Salisbury. SP1 2JA

4.       Why are we collecting your information?

We ask for information about you so that we can make sure we offer you the best care, protection and support.  Without this information, we may not be able to offer you a place at our homes.

5.       Types of personal information we use

a)       We collect information about you which is relevant to your stay with us and the care which we provide to you. This includes:

1. personal details (such as name, date of birth, gender, marital status, national insurance number);
2. contact details (such as your previous address, personal telephone number and personal email address);
3. financial information (such as your bank account details and information about your financial circumstances);
4. your likes and dislikes (relating to hobbies, food, routines and other categories of likes and dislikes which help us improve your care);
5. information about your care preferences (to ensure that we are providing you with the care that you want);
6. details of your life history (to ensure that we help you feel at home with us it is important for us to get to know you as best we can);  
7. information about your family and friends (for the purpose of visiting, next of kin and emergency contact details);
8. information about external healthcare providers (such as your GP and practice details);
9. video and photographs of you (such as CCTV footage, photographs for security purposes, etc):
10. information about your long term wishes (such your desired arrangements in the event that you pass away while staying with us);
11. and because circumstances are variable and change with time, there may some instances where information is required outside the list above.

6.       Special categories of personal data

a)       Some of the information which we collect about you may be “special categories of personal data”. Special categories of data require a greater level of protection. The special categories of personal data about you which we may collect include:

                                 i.            information about your racial or ethnic origin;

                               ii.            information about your religious beliefs;

                             iii.            information about your sex life and sexual orientation;

                             iv.            healthcare information, including: any disabilities or special requirements which you may have; medical records applying to the time you have spent with us; your medical history; records required by care home regulations, like risk assessments, care plans and records of the care we provide to you; and details of your support and care needs.

7.       Source of your personal information

a)       The above information which we collect about you will be obtained through a variety of sources which include:

1. from you directly both prior to your admission and during the course of your stay with us;
2. from your friends and relatives who provide us with information about you;
3. from anyone who has the authority to act on your behalf such as a power of attorney or deputy; and
4. from healthcare professionals and officers in the local authority/ social services department.

8.       How and why we use your personal data

a)       In accordance with the data protection laws, we need a "lawful basis" for collecting and using information about you for any particular purpose.

b)      We have set out below the different purposes for which we collect and use your personal data, along with the lawful bases on which we will rely.

9.       Additional Information about how we use CCTV

a)       CCTV are recorded and digitally stored at all times for:
a) The Establishing existence of facts for significant incidents, accidents, complaints, employment conduct, and safeguarding investigations.
b) To be used as evidence in support or denial of allegations of misconduct made against employees.
c) To be used as evidence in support or denial of allegations regarding the behaviour between residents or between residents and visitors or between visitors and employees.
d) To establish clear independent and impartial evidence regarding the care, welfare and safety of residents in particular reference to our legal responsibilities contained within the Care Act 2015 and in relation to the Care Quality Commission, Local Authority, and Clinical Commission Group inspections and or investigations.
e) To inform the understanding and development support to individual and group multi- agency multi-disciplinary care plans.
f) Detection of a crime or evidence for a criminal investigation.
g) Detection of unauthorised and or criminal use of Wessex Care’s premises and or communications systems. To be used as evidence that Wessex Care premises and our communication systems have been used for alternative purposes other than for the purposes the business and the homes registration intended.
h) Training and professional development. To be used to support individual employee and the team of employees at all homes in the pursuance of professional development with or without the involvement of their professional multi-agency, multi-disciplinary colleagues
i) Monitoring the security of the building.

All recordings remain at all times the property of Wessex Care.

10.   What may happen if you don’t provide personal information

a)       It is important that we are able to provide good care to you and to comply with our regulatory responsibilities when providing that care. We cannot do this without access to your personal data.

b)      If you refuse to provide us with information which we need to consider your admission or community service, we may not be able to offer you a place at one of our homes or a community service.

c)       During your stay with us or provision of a community service; if you refuse to provide us with information which we request from time to time, we may not be able to provide you with continuing care and support.

11.   Complying with Data Protection Law

We will comply with data protection law when using your personal information. At the heart of data protection laws are the "data protection principles" which say that the personal information we hold about you must be:

a)       used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;

b)      collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes;

c)       relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes;

d)      accurate and kept up to date;

e)      kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about; and

f)        kept securely.

12.   Sharing your information

a)       We will only share your personal information with the relevant third parties that contribute to your care where we have a lawful basis for doing so.

b)      The types of organisations with whom we share your personal data are as follows:

1. Healthcare providers and multi-disciplinary teams: Where it is lawful and necessary to do so, we will share information about you with other healthcare providers such as your GP, hospital staff, etc.
2. Regulators / Safeguarding authorities / Commissioners: We also share your personal data with these public bodies where we are required to do so by law.
3. The Police and other law enforcement agencies: In limited circumstances we may be required to share your personal data with the police if required for the purposes of criminal investigations and law enforcement.
4. IT & Insurance service providers: We may use external IT & Insurance providers who may have access to your personal data from time to time as is necessary to perform their services.
5. Attorneys: Where it is lawful to do so, we may share your personal information with any individual who has authority to act on your behalf such as those granted power of attorney.

13.   Transferring your information outside the EU

a)       We will not transfer your data outside of the EU.

14.   Can we use your information for any other purpose?

a)       We typically will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collect it. It is possible that we will use your information for other purposes as long as those other purposes are compatible with those set out in this policy. If we intend to do so, we will provide you with information relating to that other purpose before using it for the new purpose.

b)      We may also use your personal information for other purposes where such use is required or permitted by law.

15.   Storing your information and deleting it

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we have collected it or to fulfil another lawful purpose (as described above). When we no longer have a lawful purpose for holding your data, we will securely destroy your personal information in accordance with our data retention policy, the relevant extract of which is:

a)       To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

16.   Your Rights

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

a)       Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

b)      Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.

c)       Request erasure of your personal information in certain circumstances. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).

d)      Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) or public interest as our lawful basis for processing and there is something about your particular situation which leads you to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object if we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.

e)      Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This also permits you to request the suspension of processing personal information about you if you wanted us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it (for example).

f)        Request the transfer of your personal information to another party in certain circumstances.

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact our Data Protection Officer in writing.

17.   Right to Withdraw Consent

In the limited circumstances where we are relying on your consent as our lawful basis to process your data for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

18.   Automated Decision Making

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.

19.   Right to complain to the ICO

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (the "ICO") if you are not satisfied with the way we use your information. You can contact the ICO by writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

20.   Changes to this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to update this privacy statement at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy statement when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.

·         General Data Protection Regulations 2018

·          Regulation of Investigation Powers Act 2000

·         Private Security Industry Act 2001

·          2008 CCTV Code of Practice

·          the Health & Social Care Act 2008 (regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 with Care Quality Commission; ‘Using Surveillance’ guidance December 2014 (updated with new regulations in June 2015)

·         Human Rights Act 1998.