Dudley Borough Council collects, holds and uses a full range of information, including personal information about residents, people it provides services to, and other people such as carers. We do this so we can better understand what you need and how we can effectively meet these needs.
Background
The Council is accountable to its communities and has a duty to the people who we hold information about. We follow strict and distinct rules and have controls in place on how your personal information is used. We must treat your information responsibly, keep it safe and secure, and use it correctly and proportionately. This does include sharing the data you have provided when we are required to do this.
This document is a privacy notice. It explains and is organised around the following aspects:
how and why we use any information we collect about you
how we may share your information
how long we keep your information
your rights
When you contact Adult Social Care we collect and use your personal data. We may also collect some special category information. A further explanation of this can be found in the Council’s Corporate Privacy Notice.
The people who provide social care for you use your information and records to:
provide a good basis for all social care decisions made by you and your care and support professionals
allow you to work with those providing care and support
make sure your care and support is safe and effective
work effectively with those providing you with care and support
Others working in Social Care may also need to use records about you to:
check the quality of care and support
collect data regarding public health matters
collect financial information to calculate your accurate contribution for your care and support
ensure social care funding is being allocated appropriately
help investigate any concerns or complaints you may have about your care and support
teach care and support workers and help with research and planning
ensure systems and processes used are accurate and fit for purpose
provide statistics and analyses
When you use some of our services we may ask you to provide your mobile telephone number. At times we will use this number to advise you of certain services or activities that the council is providing. For example, we may advise you by text message when your equipment will arrive, when an appointment is due or when an event is about to take place. You may also receive text messages from other council service areas that may need to contact you or provide you with similar information.
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 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 information will still be used to support your individual care.
If you wish to opt out of your personal data being used for non-direct care purposes please contact us via joanne.vaughan@dudley.gov.uk
We will use this personal and special category data to comply with our legal obligations and duties, and where it is necessary to protect individuals from harm or injury. The legal basis under UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) Article 6 (1) are:
Clause (c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
Clause (e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
Additionally in some cases, Clause (a) the data subject has given consent to the processing and Clause (d) processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person.
The conditions identified under UK GDPR Article 9 (2) for the processing special category data are:
Condition (c) processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent;
Condition (g) processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject;
Condition (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.
and in some cases
Condition (a) the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes.
The information we collect is required in order to have a complete picture of your social care needs and allows us to better help you. You do not have to give us your information if you do not want to. However, if we do not have this information we may not be able to assess your needs or provide you with social care services.
As part of the continuing efforts to keep you safe and living independently we may also receive personal information about you from others. This could include: family members and friends, NHS agencies (such as GPs or hospitals), commissioned support providers, other local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and the West Midlands Police.
Sharing Information - When Adult Social Care shares your information
We may share your information with other council departments or third parties. Dudley’s policy is that all information will only be shared among council services and other agencies, such as health and well-being colleagues, where we have a legal power or duty to do this. In this way it should help to improve the service you receive from us, to communicate and provide other services that are appropriate to your needs, and develop further services.
Your personal information may be shared with internal departments in the Council, or with external partners and agencies outside of the Council. This may include charities involved in delivering services on the Councils behalf. Sometimes we will have a legal reason to share your data with a partner. They will only have access to your information on a need to know basis. We will only share what they need to know to do the job or deliver a service to you. Your privacy and the security of sharing this information is checked when we start to work with someone new. Examples are:
local and central government and other public bodies. For example; the Department for Health and Social Care; and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP);
other Local Authorities (other Councils);
ombudsman and regulatory authorities, who will be investigating your concerns or complaints;
health bodies in the local area, and sometimes nationally. Dudley GP's, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Black County Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG);
partners that are part of improvement projects. For example, the Better Care Fund;
Commissioned support providers such as domiciliary agencies; and
Police bodies.
We also share information with 3rd party organisations, such as insurers or solicitors who are acting on your behalf. This is usually done with your consent, unless there is a legal reason (as below) to share without your consent.
The council may also provide personal information to third parties, where it is necessary to do so to comply with the law. We will share where we are required to under UK Data Protection law (UK General Data Protection Regulation, Data Protection Act 2018). For example, we might need to use your information and share it with others for one or more of the following reasons:
for the purposes of the prevention and detection of crime;
to protect the public purse and to minimise waste;
it is otherwise necessary to comply with any other legal obligations
Examples of third parties who we may share your information with, where a law requires us to, include (but are not limited to):
health bodies (NHS Trusts, GPs);
the Police;
local and central government and other public bodies. For example the Department for Health and Social Care; and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP);
other Local Authorities (other Councils);
Care Quality Commission; and
West Midlands Fire Service.
The Council puts agreements in place with partners we share with to ensure we all protect your data properly, and are only sharing the minimum amount of data we need to provide you with a service. More information on council services and information sharing can be found on the council’s privacy statement at Privacy and Disclaimer Statements.
Where we need to share sensitive or confidential information such as medical details, we will do so only with your permission or where we are legally required to. We may share sensitive or confidential information to prevent risk of harm to you or another person, for example in the case of Safeguarding vulnerable people
Adult Social Care will not transfer your personal data outside the European Union/European Economic Area.
Your personal data will not be used for automated decision making or profiling. Automated decision making is making a decision solely without any human involvement. Profiling can be part of an automated decision making process. It is where your personal data is used to evaluate certain things about you.
National Data Opt-Out and use of NHS data.
Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a Care or Patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.
The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:
improving the quality and standards of care provided
research into the development of new treatments
preventing illness and diseases
monitoring safety
planning services
This may only take place 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 patient 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. On this web page you will:
See what is meant by confidential patient information
Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
Understand more about who uses the data
Find out how your data is protected
Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
See the situations where the opt-out will not apply
You can also find out more about how patient information is used at The Health Research Authority which covers health and care research, and Understanding Patient Data website 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 March 2021 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care.
How long Adult Social Care keeps your personal data
We keep your personal data for no longer than reasonably necessary and in line with our corporate data retention schedule. The corporate data retention schedule is a list of specific categories of records and how long they should be kept. We will stop using your data after we no longer have a legal reason to use your information, which may be when your services have ended. You can request a copy of our retention periods for specified information by contacting our Corporate Information Governance Team via email: information.governance@dudley.gov.uk
Your information rights
If we are processing your personal information using your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. If you want to remove your consent, please contact information.governance@dudley.gov.uk
The law also gives you a number of rights to control what and how we use your personal and special category information. If you would like more information on your rights and the exemptions, please see:
We have a Data Protection Officer who is a council staff member whose job it is to make sure we respect your rights and follow the law. Please contact, Lewis Bourne, Data Protection Officer, at information.governance@dudley.gov.uk or by calling 0300 555 2345 and asking to speak to the Data Protection Officer.
Should you need them, the Council’s main contact details are: Dudley Borough Council, Council House, Priory Road, Dudley , DY1 1HF. Website: www.dudley.gov.uk
You can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how the council has handled your personal data. You can contact the ICO at: casework@ico.org.uk telephone 0303 123 1113, or post to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
