Adult Social Care Privacy Notice

How Adult Social Care use your information and how you can access your records

Hampshire County Council complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is a registered Data Controller (Reg No Z7534309). We are committed to keeping your personal information accurate and up to date. We will not keep your information longer than necessary.

This page explains:

  • how we use your personal information
  • the ways in which we protect your privacy
  • how you can give permission for your information to be shared
  • your rights in respect of your information.
What we record

When you contact the County Council, we will ask you for information about you and your situation and will keep what you tell us on your record. Records may be kept on computer, paper, images and in audio files.

The information stored in your record could include:

  • details of discussions with you and about you
  • assessments of need
  • plans for your care and our regular reviews of your needs
  • if you are registered disabled or have section 117 status 2
  • details of services that we arrange for you
  • copies of letters, emails and records of phone calls and webchat about you or between yourself and us
  • any information we receive about you from anyone else, such as your doctor, carers or relatives
  • details of any relatives and other people who you wish us to contact or share your information with
  • financial information including assessments, invoices and payments towards your care
When we can use your information without seeking your explicit consent

In certain situations, we may use your information under Article 6 and Article 9 of the General Data Protection Regulation without seeking your consent.

In particular we may use your information under:

  • Article 6 (1) b for the performance of a contract when you are a party
  • Article 6 (1) c where necessary to comply with a legal obligation
  • Article 6 (1) d to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another person, or
  • Article 6 (1) e where the processing is necessary for the performance of a public task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

We may process your information under:

  • Article 9 (2) b for carrying out obligations in the field of social protection law 3
  • Article 9 (2) c to protect the vital interests (life) of you or someone else
  • Article 9 (2) f when necessary for legal claims or judicial courts
  • Article 9 (2) g for reasons of substantial public interest
  • Article 9 (2) h for the provision of social care or to manage social care services
  • Article 9 (2) j for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research or statistical purposes.

Using information to facilitate your care

We use your information to plan, arrange and review your care and support. This is part of our legal duty under the Care Act 2014 to meet an adult’s eligible needs for care and support.

We may provide your care and support. It may also be provided by other organisations such as:

  • care homes and home care agencies
  • organisations that provide telecare
  • direct payments services

We will need to provide such organisations with information about you so that they can provide their service. We will only share with each organisation the information they need to provide their services to you, such as your name, address, contact details for your carers and/or family members and information about your social care and health needs.

If you are a young person aged 16-25 we may also share your information with our Children’s Services department. This is so that they can help with planning, arranging and reviewing care and support for you.

If you move to another area, another local authority may become responsible for your care. We will need to provide information about your needs to that authority as part of the transfer of responsibility to them for your care. If we keep responsibility for your care (out of county placements) we may ask the other local authority to review your care on our behalf.

We allow student social workers to use your information to plan, arrange and review your care and support under our supervision.

We also use some companies to process personal information on our behalf. These companies are acting only on our instructions and under a contract that we have with them:

  • We use Argenti to process information to provide telecare
  • We use software provided by companies, including CareWorks, OLM and Oxford Computing Consultants, to process personal information we have about you
  • We use a system called Create Software Solutions Pro Cloud to process information about the Hampshire Equipment Store
  • We use Solo Protect lone working alarms to process information during incidents when our staff are at serious risk. Audio and location data may be listened to and recorded by Solo Protect on our behalf during an incident. Also, location data may be shared with the police, where a police response is necessary

Monitoring of services

We may look at information we hold about you for quality and monitoring purposes. For example, checking that staff are following correct procedures.

We monitor services as part of our duty of care. 

Using information to plan and manage services

We also use the information we hold about you and about other people who use our services to understand supply and demand and inform the commissioning of care and support services for Hampshire residents.

This includes analysing information to look at what services residents use and how often they use them to help us plan and manage services and funding.

We may use computers to sort, analyse and evaluate your information and the information belonging to other people. For example, evaluating or predicting the social care needs of individuals and groups of people, so that we can plan, assess and manage how needs can be met. You can choose to opt out of the use of your data for this kind of planning and research as follows:

National data opt-out

When you use a health or care service, information is collected about you to support your care or treatment.

Your information may also be used for research and planning to help people in general, where the law allows this.

If you do not want your information to be used for research and planning purposes, you can choose to opt out. To do this, you can register via the NHS website.

Compliance with the national data opt-out is mandatory for the health and care organisations from the 30 September 2021. 

Learning Disability Register

Your GP has a register of people with a learning disability so that they can invite people for an annual health check. Southern Health Foundation Trust (SHFT) helps GPs to keep the register up to date.

SHFT shows us the register. We tell them about the learning disability of the people on the register. We also tell them if we do not think someone on the register has a learning disability. We tell them why we think this.

SHFT then shares the information with the GP so that the register is right.

The legal basis for sharing the information is General Data Protection Regulation:

  • Article 6, 1 e: necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, and
  • Article 9, 2 h: necessary for the purposes of preventative medicine.
When we rely on your consent to use your information

In the circumstances we set out below, we can only share your information if we have your consent to do so. You can use the ‘My Permission to Share’ form to give your consent for us to share your information with specific people and organisations for specific purposes. If you don’t wish to consent to us sharing your information, as set out on the form, then you don’t have to.

Sharing your information with health organisations and other local authorities for your care and support

Health service providers may sometimes provide or assess your care or support. This may be, for example:

  • if you go into hospital
  • to avoid an unnecessary hospital admission
  • if you need a service that the NHS and Adults’ Health and Care provide by working together.

Other local authorities may also be involved in your care.

If you want us to share your information with particular health service providers or other local authorities involved in your care, you can agree to this on the form. This is to help us improve and co-ordinate your care. The advantages may include:

  • only having to tell your story once
  • helping people to make better informed and quicker decisions about your care.

Health service providers include your GP, ambulance services, local healthcare commissioners (CCG), community health services, hospitals, mental health services and hospices.

With your consent, we will only share with each organisation the details they need to provide their services to you, unless otherwise permitted by law.

Care and Health Information Exchange (CHIE), formerly the Hampshire Health Record

The Care and Health Information Exchange (CHIE) is an electronic system. It shares health and social care information from health and social care organisations. This includes GP surgeries, hospitals, community and mental health services, ambulance services, nursing and residential homes and local authority adult social care.

If you choose, we can add part of your social care record to the system. This would be:

  • the contact details of the people involved in your care and support (professionals and any friends and family listed)
  • your assessments
  • details of any care services you have in place.

The only people who would access information about you through the CHIE are the social care and health professionals involved in your care. They would only access relevant information for your care and support.

Find out more about CHIE, Care and Health Information Exchange

If you want details about your social care to be included in CHIE, then please let us know on your ‘My Permission to Share’ (consent) form.

Sharing information with consultancy agencies, universities or health organisations working in partnership with us to develop or improve social care and health services in Hampshire

We sometimes work in partnership with consultancy agencies, universities or health organisations to explore how social care and 8 health services in Hampshire can be developed and improved. If you give consent for us to share your information with such partners for these purposes, your information would be used to help us make informed plans about developing and improving services. You can give your consent to us by filling in the relevant section of a ‘My Permission to Share’ form.

Sharing your information with friends and family

We will only share relevant information about you with carers, friends or relatives if you give us specific permission. We would only share information to help them support you with your care. You might be happy for certain people to have some information about you but would like to keep some things private. For example, you may not want family members to know about an illness you have. Or you may not want your family to have information about your sex life or your finances. On the ‘My Permission to Share’ form you can list any types of information that you don’t want to share with the people you have listed. You can withdraw consent to share information with family and friends at any time by contacting Adults’ Health and Care.

Verification

When you contact us, or someone contacts us on your behalf, we will check your or their identity. We will use the details you have given us. This is to make sure that you or they have permission to have any information about you.

Sharing your information with other departments and organisations so they can offer services to you

On the ‘My Permission to Share’ form we ask if you would like to consent to sharing your contact details with other departments of Hampshire County Council and with other organisations to see if they can offer you additional types of support or services.

For example, with your permission, we could give your contact details to:

  • organisations who do health checks, such as your GP, a pharmacy, or another health service, so they may offer a health check
  • Trading Standards so they may offer help to protect you from scams, doorstep crime and cold callers
  • Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service so they may offer a safety check
  • relevant district and borough councils so they may offer support with housing and housing benefits
  • relevant housing associations so they may offer support with housing
  • the Department of Work and Pensions so they may offer help with benefits
  • providers of Meals on Wheels and telecare.

We cannot guarantee that they will be able to offer you a service. You are free to refuse any offers of support that are made to you.

Sharing your information with community, charity and voluntary organisations so they can assist you

If you give us permission, we will share your contact details with certain community, charity and voluntary organisations who may be able to assist, for example by offering meals delivery or befriending services.

We cannot guarantee that they will be able to offer you a service. You are free to refuse any offers of support that are made to you.

Sharing information without your consent

There are some circumstances where we can share your information without your consent.

For example:

  • where information needs to be shared in order to protect vital interests
  • where there is a court order requiring us to provide information
  • where information is needed to detect, prevent or investigate a crime
  • and where otherwise permitted by law

In each case, we make an individual decision about sharing information without consent.

People who are unable to give their consent

There are some people who receive services who lack the capacity to give their consent to allow us to pass on personal information about them. In those cases a decision to share information will be made on a best interest basis to ensure the provision of care and treatment.

When there is a Welfare Deputy or Health and Welfare Attorney with the explicit power to authorise sharing of data in relation to care and support, we will ask them to consent on behalf of the individual.

Most deputies and attorneys do not have this explicit power and decisions will be made on a best interests basis under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Changing your consent

If you have any queries or would like to make a change to your consents for sharing your information, contact Hampshire County Council on 0300 555 1386 or use our self-referral form.

Storing your information

We keep all records securely and have strict rules for staff who deal with them. Only authorised persons can see records and only for the purpose of carrying out their work.

Your records will be held by us for a specified length of time, depending on the type of record and type of service we provide to you. Some of these time periods are specified by law. However, where there is no relevant legislation, the times given are agreed by the County Council’s Records Management Service.

Asking to see my own or someone else’s information

It is our policy to discuss with you what we are putting in your records.

How do I apply to see personal information about me (my own personal information)? (A ‘Subject Access Request’)

If you currently have a social worker or care manager, you can ask them any questions about your care and support. They may be able to supply you with information. Whether you are using our services, or have used them in the past, you can make a formal request to view your information. Download the Subject Access Request form, complete and return to the address shown.

Please note that if your personal information is held by a private care agency or care home, you will need to apply to them directly.

What if I believe the information held about me is wrong or incomplete (‘rectification’)?

If factual details are wrong (such as your date of birth) we will correct them. To do this, you will need to give us evidence of the correct information and tell us the changes you would like us to make. If you disagree with what is written in your records – for example, if your view of what happened is different from what has been recorded – we will add your account of events to your file. If you believe the information we have about you is incomplete, you can ask us to make it complete.

Right to be forgotten (‘Erasure’)

You have the right to have information we hold about you erased without undue delay in certain circumstances. If you wish to make such a request please contact Adults’ Health and Care. You will need to tell us what information you would like to us to remove. We may need further information from you so that we can consider your request.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to request that we do not use information we hold about you (eg by making the pieces of information unavailable to our staff) in certain circumstances. If you wish to make such a request please email [email protected] setting out what information you would like to be restricted. We may require further information in order that we can consider your request.

Applying to see information about someone else

For information on circumstances in which you can apply to see information about someone else, and how to apply, please email [email protected] or download the Subject Access Request form, complete and return to the address shown.

Contact details

The contact details for our Data Protection Officer are:

The Information Governance Team
Hampshire County Council
The Castle Winchester
SO23 8UJ
Phone 0300 555 1375 
Email [email protected]

The contact details for the Subject Access Request Team are:

Adults’ Health and Care Subject Access Requests
The Castle Winchester
SO23 8UQ
Phone 0300 555 1386
Email [email protected]