Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy sets out the data processing practices carried out by this Healthwatch website. If you have any requests concerning your personal information or any queries with regard to these practices, please contact us.

Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement sets out the data processing practices carried out by Healthwatch St Helens.  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.

Find out more about our purpose and what we do by going to our website: www.healthwatchsthelens.co.uk.

We will always make usre that your information is protected and treated securely.  Any information that you give will be held in accordance with:

• Data Protection Act 1998
• As of 25 May 2018, the new data protection legislation introduced under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Bill.

Who we are

This Healthwatch website is a local independent consumer champion and is a part of Healthwatch England, a statutory committee of the Care Quality Commission. The data controller of personal information collected via this website is the Care Quality Commission. References to "we" or "us" below are to this Healthwatch website.

This privacy statement covers this Healthwatch website. This statement does not cover links within this website to other websites.

Information we collect

We collect personal information from visitors to this website through the use of online forms and every time you email us your details.

When you simply 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 so you can download this website onto your device rather than for any tracking purpose.

We will only collect personal information volunteered by you, such as:

• feedback from surveys and online forms
• email addresses
• preferred means of communication

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 onl 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.

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.

Cookies

Please be aware that some systems on our website require the use of cookies, but we will always state if this is the case. We will never collect and store information about you without your permission.

Find out more about our use of Cookies from the Healthwatch England website.

We will always take necessary steps to ensure that your information is protected and treated securely. Any details you give us will be held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and our data protection policy (part of our overall Information Governance Policy) and code of practice on confidential and personal information.

Purposes for which we use the information collected

Personal information about you will 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.

Who we disclose the information to

In order to fulfil our remit, we may disclose the personal information that we obtain through this website to the Secretary of State for Health, other parts of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Healthwatch England, the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and every local authority in England, and suppliers we engage to process personal information on our behalf.

However, 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 Data Protection Act 1998.

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.

How we share information with other organisations

We only share personal information with other organisations where it is lawful to do so and in accordance with our Information Governance Policy.  Information is shared in order to fulfil our remit which is to pass on our 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.

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.

Find out more about Healthwatch England's purpose and what they do at www.healthwatchengland.co.uk.

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 a local Healthwatch.

Our data systems

Healthwatch England provides a secure digital system for local Healthwatch to manage their data.  Other organisations process the data contained within it on behalf of local Healthwatch and a Data Processing Agreement is in place to ensure that this is held securely and according to current data protection legislation.

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.

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 St Helens 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 aobut our staff, including the names and work contact details of people in some roles.

How to obtain a copy of the information we hold about you

You have a right to access the personal information we hold about you. To obtain a copy of it, please get in touch with us.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

From time to time we may update this Privacy Policy. When we do so we will publish the changes on this website. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use the website. If material changes are made to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by email or by placing a prominent notice on the website.

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 write to: Healthwatch St Helens, 2nd Floor The Beacon, College Street, St Helens, WA10 1TF.

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: [email protected].

Or send by post to: Healthwatch St Helens, 2nd Floor The Beacon, College Street, St Helens, WA10 1TF.

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: www.ico.org.uk.

Signing up to our newsletter

We use a third-party supplier to provide our newsletter service. By subscribing to this service you will be agreeing to them handling your data.

The third-party supplier handles the data purely to provide this service on our behalf. This supplier observes the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 in how they obtain, handle and process your information and will not make your data available to anyone other than Healthwatch.