Lincolnshire Quality Care Services Ltd Service User General Data Protection Regulation Privacy Notice 

Covid-19 and your information – Updated on 6^th May 2020

Supplementary privacy note on Covid-19 for ServiceUsers

This notice describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak. It supplements our main Privacy Notice.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health and social care services, and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking, and managing the outbreak. In the current emergency, it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations.

Existing law which allows confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully in a public health emergency is being used during this outbreak. Using this law the Secretary of State has required NHS Digital; NHS England and Improvement; Arms Length Bodies (such as Public Health England); local authorities; health organisations and GPs to share confidential patient information to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. Any information used or shared during the Covid-19 outbreak will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis to use the data. Further information is available by clicking HERE 

During this period of emergency, opt-outs will not generally apply to the data used to support the Covid-19 outbreak, due to the public interest in sharing information. This includes National Data Opt-outs.  However, in relation to the Summary Care Record, existing choices will be respected. Where data is used and shared under these laws your right to have personal data erased will also not apply. It may also take us longer to respond to Subject Access requests, Freedom of Information requests, and new opt-out requests whilst we focus our efforts on responding to the outbreak.

In order to look after your health and care needs, we may share your confidential patient information including health and care records with clinical and non-clinical staff in other health and care providers, for example neighbouring GP practices, hospitals, and NHS 111. We may also use the details we have to send public health messages to you, either by phone, text, or email.

During this period of emergency, we may offer you a consultation via telephone or videoconferencing. By accepting the invitation and entering the consultation you are consenting to this. Your personal/confidential patient information will be safeguarded in the same way it would with any other consultation.

We will also be required to share personal/confidential patient information with health and care organisations and other bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public, and monitoring and managing the outbreak.

NHS England and Improvement and NHSX have developed a single, secure store to gather data from across the health and care system to inform the Covid-19 response. This includes data already collected by NHS England, NHS Improvement, Public Health England, and NHS Digital. New data will include 999 call data, data about hospital occupancy, and A&E capacity data as well as data provided by patients themselves. All the data held in the platform is subject to strict controls that meet the requirements of data protection legislation.

In such circumstances where you tell us you’re experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, we may need to collect specific health data about you. Where we need to do so, we will not collect more information than we require and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

We may amend this privacy notice at any time so please review it frequently. The date at the top of this page will be amended each time this notice is updated.

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What information do we collect and how do we use it?

We aim to provide you with the highest quality of social care.  To do this we must keep records about you, your health, and the care we have provided or plan to provide to you.

These records may include:

• Basic details about you, such as address, date of birth, next of kin
• Contact we have had with you such as appointments and home visits
• Notes and reports about your health
• Details and records about your treatment and care
• Relevant information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives

We follow NHS good practice and will:

• Discuss and agree with you what we are going to record about you
• Give you a copy of letters we are writing about you
• Show you what we have recorded about you if you ask

How we use your information?

We use your records to:

• Provide a good basis for any care or advisory services we provide to you
• Allow you to work with us when we provide care or advice
• Make sure your care is safe and effective, and the advice we provide is appropriate and relevant to you
• Work effectively with others providing you with treatment or advice

How we keep your records confidential?

We have a duty to

• Maintain full and accurate records of the care we provide to you
• Keep records about you confidential, secure and accurate
• Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (e.g. in large type if you are partially sighted).

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason, unless:

• You ask us to do so
• We ask and you give us specific permission
• We have to do this by law
• We have special permission because we believe that the reasons for sharing are so important that they override our obligation of confidentiality (e.g. to prevent someone from being seriously harmed)

Our guiding principle is that we are holding your records in strict confidence.

Who we may share information with?

We may share information about you with the following main partner organisations:

• NHS commissioners of care – in particular, the organisation that referred you to us for care, assistance or advice
• Other providers involved in your care – such as a district nurse or your GP

We may also share your information with your consent and, subject to strict sharing protocols about how it will be used with:

• Social Services (FOCUS)
• Education Services
• Local Authorities (North East Lincolnshire Council)
• Voluntary Sector Providers
• Private Sector

We may also share your information with your consent with others that need to use records about you to:

• Check the quality of care or advice we have given you
• Protect the health of the general public
• Manage the care service
• Help investigate any concerns or complaints you or your family have about your health care

Some information we have to share is used for statistical purposes, and in these instances, we take strict measures to ensure that individual service users cannot be identified.

National Data Opt-Out

Information may only be used for purposes beyond your care when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family, and future generations.  Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified, in which case your confidential information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt-out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt-out, please visit ‘Your NHS Data Matters’ website

You can find out more about how patient information is used for research by clicking HERE (which covers health and care research); and HERE (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards, and how decisions are made).

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can apply your national data opt-out choice. Our organisation is able to apply your national data opt-out choice to any confidential patient information we may use or share with other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care.

Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to keep it confidential.

If you do not wish personal data that we hold about you to be used or shared in the way that is described in this leaflet, please discuss the matter with us, contact details shown below. You have the right to object, but this may affect our ability to provide you with care or advice.

Your Rights

You have the right to confidentiality under the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR), the Human Rights Act 1998, and the common law duty of confidentiality (the Equality Act 2010 may also apply).

Transparency

You have the right to know what information we hold about you, what we use it for, and if the information is to be shared, who it will be shared with.

Right to Object

You have the right to object to some or all the information being processed under GDPR Article 21.

Please contact the Data Controller (contact information is shown below).  You should be aware that this is a right to raise an objection, but this is not the same as having an absolute right to have your wishes granted in every circumstance.

Right to Access and Rectification

You have the right to apply for access to the information we hold about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected.  Access covers:

The right to obtain a copy of your record in permanent form;

The right to have the information provided to you in a way you can understand (and explained where necessary, e.g. abbreviations).

Please note that there is no right to have accurate medical records deleted except when ordered by a court of Law.

Obtaining a copy of your record

Please contact the Data Controller (contact information is shown below), to request guidance on how to obtain a copy of your record. Also note that:

Your request will need to include sufficient information to enable us to correctly identify your records (e.g. full name, address, date of birth, NHS number (if known))

There is no charge to provide you with a printed copy of the information we hold about you

We will respond to you within one month of receiving your request

You will be required to provide a form of ID before any information is released to you

Right to Data Portability

Your information will be provided to you in a structured format that will make it easy to transfer to another data controller (such as another healthcare provider).

Right to Complain

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you feel your rights have been breached by telephoning 0303 123 1113 or visiting the ICO website

Legal Information

We are required by the General Data Protection Regulation (2016) to provide you with the following information relating to the processing of your personal information:

Data Controller

Lincolnshire Quality Care Services Ltd,

Company number – 06763473

8 Dudley Street

Grimsby

North East Lincolnshire

DN31 2AB

Email us at enquiries@lqcs.org.uk

or telephone 01472 347285

 

Data Protection Officer

8 Dudley Street

Grimsby

North East Lincolnshire

DN31 2AB

Email us at enquiries@lqcs.org.uk

or telephone 0142 347285

 

Lawful basis for processing:

The processing of personal data in the delivery of direct care and for providers’ administrative purposes in this organisation and in support of direct care elsewhere is supported under the following Article 6 and 9 conditions of the GDPR:

Article 6(1)(e) ‘…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…’.

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…”

We will also recognise your rights established under UK case law collectively known as the “Common Law Duty of Confidentiality”

 

Retention Period:

The data will be retained in line with the law and national guidance.

 

Your privacy whilst using our website

Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.

Collections of LQCS info

When visiting www.lincolnshirequalitycare.co.uk, the IP address used to access the site will be logged along with the dates and times of access. This information is purely used to analyze trends, administer the site, track users movement and gather broad demographic information for internal use. Most importantly, any recorded IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.

Links to third Party Websites

We have included links on this site for your use and reference. We are not responsible for the privacy policies on these websites. You should be aware that the privacy policies of these sites may differ from our own.

COOKIES

How we use cookies on our website.

Analytic Cookies

We use an analytics company (Google Analytics) on this website so that we can gain certain information to aid us in the marketing of this site. The analytics company drops cookies via our website and collects non-personally identifiable information about you. We can then access the analytical information and study the traffic that has come to our site. This helps us get a better understanding of how users access and use our site, so that we can help improve our site design and improve the users experience as our website evolves and grows.

Google stores the information collected by the cookie on its servers in the United States. We have no control over what third parties do with their cookies and related information. Google may transfer this information to other third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. By using the website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

If you would like to learn about how to reject or delete cookies by Google, please visit the following link:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html

By agreeing to the terms of this privacy policy, you consent to the cookies referenced above being dropped onto your machine.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

The contents of this statement may be altered at any time, at our discretion. If you have any questions regarding the privacy policy of www.lincolnshirequalitycare.co.uk then you may contact us at info@lincolnshirequalitycare-co-uk.stackstaging.com