Business Details
This is the privacy notice of Primary Homecare Ltd.
Our registered office is at: Plum Pudding Hill Upper Street Baylham Suffolk IP6 8JR
Primary Homecare is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide:
Regulated Activities – We run a Domiciliary Care service to adults in their own homes
Aims of This Notice
Primary Homecare is required by law to tell you about your rights and our obligations regarding our collecting and processing any of your personal information, which you might provide to us. We have a range of 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) and can make any available.
What personal data we collect about
Service Users
As a registered care provider, 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 and electronic) and other record systems, all of which are subject to strict security and authorised access policies. Personal information that becomes inactive, eg 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.
Employees
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 aware of their right to access any information about them.
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.
How we collect information
The bulk of service users’, employees’ and thirds parties’ personal information is collected directly from them or through form filling, mainly manually, but also electronically for some purposes i.e., when contacting the service through its website.
With service users, 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 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 website 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.
What we do with personal information
All personal information obtained on clients, 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, which meets all regulatory standards and requirements.
We may also use your personal information to send newsletters and publications to keep you informed of our upcoming activities and local events.
This policy may also change to reflect the business, and so we assume you agree to the new version
of the policy if you use the site after its effective date. We may also notify you of changes by email using a third-party source.
How we keep your information safe
As already stated, the service has a range of policies that enable us to comply with all data protection requirements. Foremost are:
- Access to Employee Data
- Complaints
- Computer Security
- Confidentiality
- Consent to Care and Treatment
- Data Protection – GDPR
- Access to Records (Service Users)
- Recruitment and Selection
- Sharing Information with Other Providers
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 information 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, eg when providing a reference.
The only exceptions to this general rule would be where we are required by law to provide information, eg to help 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 and provided anonymously so that there is no privacy risk involved in its use.
How personal information held by the care provider can be accessed
There are procedures in place to enable any staff member, employee or third party whose personal information we possess and might process in some way to have access to that information on request. (See the policies listed in No. 6 above.) Please write to the Operations Manager at Primary Homecare Lower Farm Park Norwich Road Barham IP6 0NU or email info@primaryhomecare.co.uk to request your information in the first instance. The right to access includes both the information and any uses which we might have made of the information.
How long we keep information
There are strict protocols in place that determine how long the organisation will keep the information, which are in line with the relevant legislation and regulations.
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 to carry out comprehensive reviews of our data protection policies, procedures and protocols at least annually. Primary Homecare reviews all of our data processing on an annual basis to assess if the national data opt-out applies. This is recorded in our Record of Processing Activities. All new processing is assessed to see if the national data opt-out applies.
If any data processing falls within scope of the national data opt-out we would use MESH to check if any of our service users have opted out of their data being used for this purpose.
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 this on an annual basis and for any new processing.