Privacy policy

What do we use the information for?

St Helens Borough Council's Integrated Health and Social Care (IHSC) department collect, process and hold personal information in order to provide our Adult Social Care and Integrated Health services effectively. These services include:

• Assessment of needs
• Planning and provision of services
• Assessment of eligibility for services
• Financial assessment and calculation of required contribution.
• Provision of preventative services, information and signposting
• Service planning and market planning
• Statistical analysis
• Statutory returns
• To ensure service quality. 

Performance teams access and processes personal information that is collected and held by IHSC in order to provide key performance information to services and complete statutory returns to government agencies.

We recognise that personal information is important and covered by robust legislation. We take endeavour to ensure that we collect and manage data in a way that is proportionate to its use, correct and kept safe.

What information do we hold and use?

IHSC collect and process the following:

• Demographic information (including full name, contact telephone and date of birth)
  • Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, immigration status)
  • Identifiers (NI number, NHS number)
  • Address details (full residential address, home address, service delivery address, accommodation details)
  • Health details (disability, health conditions, hospital admissions, medications)
• Personal circumstances, to enable assessment of eligibility for services
• Care needs
• Hazards/risk information about and individual or their household
• Financial information, to enable assessment of ability to contribute to care costs
• Referrals to partner services
• Signposting of needs.

Performance teams do not collect or hold your personal information; however, they do access the above information.

On what grounds do we use the information?

IHSC have the lawful right to collect and process personal information in the fulfillment of their statutory duties to assess and arrange care for adults. By accessing IHSC services you must agree to this collection and processing or IHSC will be unable to provide these services to you. The legal basis for this collection and processing of this information is covered by the following Acts: 

• Care Act 2014
• Mental Health Act 1983
• Mental Capacity Act 2015.

IHSC process personal data for the following reasons:

• GDPR Article 6(1)(a) - the data subject has given consent to the processing of personal data for one or more specific purposes
• GDPR Article 6(1)(b) - processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract
• GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the East Riding of Yorkshire Council is subject
• GDPR Article 6(1)(d) - processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person
• GDPR Article 6(1)(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
• GDPR Article 6(1)(f) - processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

IHSC process special category data for the following reasons:

• GDPR Article 9(2)(a) - the data subject  has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes
• GDPR Article 9(2)(c) - processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent
• GDPR Article 9(2)(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
• GDPR Article 9(2)(h) - processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive 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
• DPA 2018 Schedule 1 Part 1 (2) - health or social care purposes.

Please note: Performance teams do not collect or hold personal information in their own right; however they do access and process personal information that is collected and held by IHSC.  

How do we collect this information?

IHSC may collect information in the following ways:

• Telephone
• Paper, electronic or online forms
• Email
• Face-to-face, with one of our employees, or one of our partners
• St Helens Shared Care Record (shared care record).

The St Helens Shared Care Record is a shared system that allows health and care staff within St Helens Health and Social Care partnerships to appropriately access the most up-to-date and correct information about residents, to deliver the best possible care.

Who do we share your information with?

We may disclose your information to others, but only where this is necessary either to comply with our legal obligations, is for matters of direct care or is permitted by Data Protection legislation.

IHSC may share it with other public service bodies including private and independent providers, charities, community groups, the police, fire service, health care agencies, Local Government Ombudsman and other local authorities, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership.

Performance teams may also share it with other public service bodies including NHS Digital and Skills for Care.

The reasons why IHSC may share your data with other public bodies are as follows:

• To protect vulnerable adults who may be at risk of harm or abuse
• To improve our understanding of your needs to enable us to inform you of other relevant safeguarding services
• To support our duties under the Care Act 2014 to improve health and wellbeing
• Under specific information sharing agreements which specify the type and purpose of the information sharing
• To monitor and improve our performance and delivery of services
• For the prevention and or detection of crime
• To provide health and social care professionals, directly involved in your care, access to up-to-date information about you
• Where necessary to protect individuals from the risk of harm or injury 
• Where otherwise permitted under the General Data Protection legislation
• For use in the delivery of direct care.

IHSC will only disclose your sensitive or confidential information, such as medical details to a third party, if we are legally required to do so, or where we have good reason to believe that failing to share the information would put you or someone else at risk of harm.

IHSC will not pass your personal information to external organisations for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior expressed consent.

How long do we store it and is it secure?

St Helens Borough Council has retention schedules in place to ensure that information is only held for as long as it is needed. We will not keep your information for longer than is required to by law. Your information will be disposed of in a controlled and secure manner in accordance with the council's Records Management and Data Quality Policy. The council's IT security and confidentiality policies ensure that your information is protected, and accessed only by staff directly involved in your care. 

When was this privacy notice last updated?

This privacy notice will be continually reviewed and updated. This privacy notice was last updated on 01/06/2022.