This Privacy Statement sets out the data processing practices carried out by Healthwatch Lincolnshire. We retain and use personal data (information that relates to and identifies living people) to help us carry out our role as the local independent champion for people who use health and social care services.
We will always make sure that your information is protected and treated securely.
Information we collect
Information we collect in our role as the local independent champion for people who use health and social care services
We collect and process personal data from the following sources:
- Online web forms or surveys
- Paper surveys/forms
- Providing information and signposting to people who contact us for help with health and social care
- Research projects
- Visits to health and social care providers
- Meetings
- Other means of obtaining views from people about the health and social care services they access.
The type of personal information we collect
We currently collect and process the following information:
- Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details)
- Health conditions, including details of healthcare; ethnicity; sexual orientation and religion
- Other demographic data, including age and gender
We use the information you share with us in line with our main statutory functions. These are inclusive of, but not limited to:
- Obtain people's views about their needs and experience of local health and social care services. Local Healthwatch make these views known to those involved in the commissioning and scrutiny of care services.
- Make reports and make recommendations about how those services could or should be improved.
- Promote and support the involvement of people in the monitoring, commissioning and provision of local health and social care services.
- Provide information and advice to the public about accessing health and social care services and their options.
- Make the views and experiences of people known to Healthwatch England, helping us carry out our national champion role.
- Make recommendations to Healthwatch England to advise the CQC to carry out special reviews or investigations into areas of concern.
We also collect information about your age, ethnicity, gender and health. Depending on the needs of each project, we may collect information about your religion or belief or your sexual orientation.
We’re allowed to collect sensitive information like this because it is connected with the provision of and management of health and social care services.
We collect this data to help us understand whom we are speaking to and to understand how different groups experience health and social care.
Publishing information
We anonymise our data to the best of our ability to ensure that you can't be identified unless you have given permission for us to do so. However, your identifiable details are required to provide the service or meet our legal obligations in certain situations.
Security
We are strongly committed to data security and we take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information you provide to us. Only authorised employees and contractors under strict controls will have access to your personal information.
Information about people who use our website
Please note that this statement does not cover links within this website to other websites. When you browse through the information on this website, it does not store or capture your personal information. We do log your IP address (as it is automatically recognised by the web server) but this is only so you can download this website onto your device rather than for any tracking purpose; it is not used for any other purpose.
We will only collect personal information provided by you, such as:
- feedback from surveys and online forms
- email addresses
- preferred means of communication.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files transferred to your computer or mobile when you visit a website or app. We use them to help us understand how people are using our services so that we can make them better.
Please be aware that some systems on our website require cookies. However, where non-essential cookies are in use, we will only use those cookies and collect the information with your permission.
Find out more about our use of Cookies https://www.healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk/cookies
How we will use your personal information
Personal information about you can be used for the following purposes:
- in our day-to-day work;
- to send you our newsletter where you have requested it;
- to respond to any queries you may have;
- to improve the quality and safety of care.
This may include any personal information that you choose to share with us, but we will treat this as confidential and protect it accordingly.
We will never include your personal information in survey reports.
Signing up to our newsletter
We use a third-party supplier to provide our newsletter service. By subscribing to this service, you will agree to them handling your data. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions in the newsletter or by contacting us.
The third-party supplier handles the data purely to provide this service on our behalf. This supplier follows the requirements of data protection legislation in obtaining, handling, and processing your information and will not make your data available to anyone other than Healthwatch.
We will keep your data until you tell us you no longer want to receive our newsletter.
Information about people who share their experiences with us by other means
There are a number of ways that we collect feedback from people about their experiences of using health and social care services day to day. Our staff will visit different health and social care settings as part of their role to evaluate how services are being delivered. We also receive phone calls and requests for information directly from members of the public as part of our signposting service.
Where personally identifiable information is collected we will ensure that we have your consent to keep it and we will be clear on how we intend to use your information. We will aim to anonymise information where we can but there may be instances where this is not possible in order to make change happen on your behalf. There may be exceptional circumstances where we can and will keep the data without consent but we must have a lawful basis for doing so, such as for safeguarding purposes.
We ensure that where consent is required it will be freely given, used only for agreed specific and unambiguous purposes and that you are well informed about how the information will be kept. This includes where it will be stored, details on security and for how long it will be kept. We will comply with current data protection legislation at all times.
Personal information may be collected with your consent through:
- Our signposting and advice service
- When we receive feedback by phone, outreach work or through surveys
- Enter and View activity
Personal data received from other sources
On occasion we will receive information from the families, friends and carers of people who access health and social care services. We use this data to inform providers and commissioners to help them deliver services that work for you.
Where it is practically possible, we will make sure that we have your consent to use information that is about you. We will only process your personal data where there is a lawful basis to do so under current data protection legislation.
Publishing information
In most circumstances we anonymise our data to ensure that a person cannot be identified, unless this has been otherwise agreed and consent has been given.
Sharing your data with Healthwatch England
We are required to share information with Healthwatch England to ensure that your views are considered at a national level. This enables them to analyse service provision across the country and supply the Department of Health and national commissioners with the information you provide. The information we provide to Healthwatch England contains no personally identifiable data. Any information that is used for national publications is anonymised and will only be used with the consent of aHealthwatch Lincolnshire.
Find out more about Healthwatch England’s purpose and what they do.
Healthwatch England is a committee of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) but acts independently. These organisations must comply with all legal requirements and do not reuse any data for any other reason or make it available to others.
Our data systems
Healthwatch Lincolnshire operates a secure digital system which manages our data. A data processing agreement is in place to ensure information is held securely and according to current data protection legislation.
Information about our own staff and people applying to work with us
We need to process personal data about our own staff (and people applying to work for us) so that we can carry out our role and meet our legal and contractual responsibilities as an employer.
The personal data that we process includes information about racial or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender and sexuality. We use this information to check we are promoting and ensuring diversity in our workforce and to make sure we are complying with equalities legislation.
Our employees decide whether or not to share this monitoring data with us, and can choose to withdraw their consent for this at any time. Employees who wish to withdraw their consent for us to process this data can let us know.
Other personal data that we are required to process includes information on qualifications and experience, pay and performance, contact details and bank details.
We check that people who work for us are fit and suitable for their roles. This may include asking people to undertake Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
People joining Healthwatch Lincolnshire will be asked to complete a ‘declaration of interests’ form to identify any services with which they have close links (for example, because they have previously worked there or because the service is run by a close relative) or any other issues which could cause a perceived conflict of interest. Staff are regularly asked to update these forms.
We have a legal obligation to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and this may include the requirement to disclose some information about our employees – especially those in senior or public facing roles. We also publish some information about our staff, including the names and work contact details of people in some roles.
How we share information with other organisations
We only share personal information with other organisations where it is lawful to so and in accordance with our Information Governance Policy. Information is shared in order to fulfil our remit which is to pass on your experiences of care to help improve them on your behalf.
We work with Healthwatch England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), local commissioners, NHS Improvement and our local authority to make this happen. We can also engage external suppliers to process personal information on our behalf.
We will only disclose your personal information where we have your consent to do so, or where there is another very good reason to make the disclosure – for example, we may disclose information to CQC or a local authority where we think it is necessary to do so in order to protect a vulnerable person from abuse or harm. Any such disclosure will be made in accordance with the requirements of the current data protection legislation.
Wherever possible, we will ensure that any information that we share or disclose is anonymised, so as to ensure that you cannot be identified from it.
We sometimes use other organisations to process personal data on our behalf. Where we do this, those companies are required to follow the same rules and information security requirements as us, outlined in a Data Processing Contract. They are not permitted to use reuse the data for other purposes.
Retention and disposal of personal data
We publish a retention and disposal schedule [currently being updated] which explains how long we keep different types of records and documents for, including records and documents containing personal data. Personal data is deleted or securely destroyed at the end of its retention period.
Your rights
Your right to access information about you
If you think we may hold personal data relating to you and want to see it, please email info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk. Or write to
Healthwatch Lincolnshire, Rooms 33-35, The Len Medlock Centre, St George's Road, Boston, PE21 8YB
You have a right to receive a copy of this personal data or to ask us to forward it to a person or organisation of your choice. We will provide the personal data to you in your preferred format wherever possible. We may need to ask you to verify your identity before we proceed.
Correcting or deleting your personal data
If you know that we are holding your personal data and believe that it may be wrong, or if you want it to be deleted or for us to stop using it, you have a right to request that it can be deleted or amended.
Please make your objection in writing to info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk or write to Healthwatch Lincolnshire, Rooms 33-35, The Len Medlock Centre, St George's Road, Boston, PE21 8YB
Complaints about how we look after or use your information
If you feel that we have not met our responsibilities under data protection legislation, you have a right to request an independent assessment from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can find details on their website.
Our contact details and key roles
Healthwatch Lincolnshire is data controller for all of the personal data that you provide us with. Any issues relating to the processing of personal data by or on behalf of Healthwatch Lincolnshire may be addressed to:
Healthwatch Lincolnshire, Healthwatch Lincolnshire
Rooms 33-35, The Len Medlock Centre, St George's Road, Boston, PE21 8YB
Telephone: 01205 820892
Email: info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk
Data Protection Officer: DPO’s in our consortium are:
Northamptonshire/Rutland DPO
Lincolnshire DPO
Derbyshire DPO