Privacy notice for adult social care

What do we use the information for?

Adult services and the business management and commissioning service need your information to deliver social care services for adults in the East Riding. This includes:

• assessment of need
  
• provision of services
  
• assessing financial eligibility for services
  
• delivery of a range of preventative services, information and signposting
  
• informing market development
  
• statistical analysis
  
• statutory returns
  
• knowing we are delivering care to the right people
  
• ensuring service quality. 

Adult services comprise of two sections: adult care management services who undertake the assessment and monitoring of adults eligible for services under the Care Act 2014 and the provision of specialist services such as carers services, mental health services, welfare rights and adult safeguarding provision; Business Management and Commissioning (BMC) who provide a small number of local authority care services and work with a wide range of private and independent providers to develop and support the care market in delivering services for vulnerable people in need of support.

If you are receiving support from adult social care then the NHS may share your NHS number with adult social care. This is so that the NHS and adult social care are using the same number to identify you whilst providing your care. By using the same number the NHS and adult social care can work together more closely to improve your care and support.

Your NHS number is accessed through an NHS service called the Personal Demographic Service (PDS). Adult Social Care sends basic information such as your name, address and date of birth to the PDS in order to find your NHS Number. Once retrieved from the PDS the NHS Number is stored in the council’s Adult Social Care case management system.

What information do we hold and use?

We collect and process the following information:

• personal information (including names, dates of birth and addresses)
  
• characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, religion)
  
• personal circumstances to enable assessment of eligibility for services
  
• care needs
  
• hazards/risk information about and individual or their household
  
• financial information
  
• NHS number. 

On what grounds do we use the information?

Adult services and the business management and commissioning service have a legal obligation and statutory duty to provide social care to adults in certain circumstances. To do this we also need to collect information which may be considered very sensitive. We do this on the following grounds:

• Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
  
• 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 on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph 3. 

How do we collect this information?

Number of ways in which information is collected. This includes:

• by telephone
  
• web and paper-based forms
  
• visits
  
• inspections of care providers
  
• information from other sources who have a duty to share information to enable us to meet statutory obligations. 

Who do we share your information with?

Adult services and the business management and commissioning service need to share your information with the following recipients to ensure you receive the appropriate and/or required care:

• private and independent providers to deliver care, under the Care Act (2014)
  
• internal sections such as assessments and payments section, housing, legal department etc.
  
• health care agencies (Clinical Commissioning Group – (CCG), general practitioners,  acute health services, specialist health professionals as appropriate etc) to ensure full range of health and social care services are accessed, and vulnerable person’s needs are met and the person is protected under the Care Act (2014), Mental Health Act (1983), and Mental Capacity Act (2005)
  
• carers to support with delivering care, under the Care Act (2014)
  
• police to protect vulnerable people, under the Care Act (2014), Mental Health Act (1983), and Mental Capacity Act (2005)
  
• local government Ombudsman to investigate complaints
  
• court of protection for court proceedings
  
• department of transport, for statistical monitoring of blue badges
  
• magistrates for issuing of warrants under the Mental Health Act (1983)
  
• others in the local authority, to monitor spending, to help with training care staff, help with research and planning, and to help to investigate any worries or complaints you may have about your care
  
• statutory agencies such as the Care Quality Commission, police, ambulance services etc. 

We will share information to provide health and social care professionals directly involved in your care access to the most up-to-date information about you. It will do this by sharing appropriate information between health and social care services at the time of patient contact. Access to information is strictly controlled, based on the role of the professional.  

The use of joined up information across health and social care brings many benefits. One specific example where this will be the case is the discharge of patients into social care. Delays in discharge (commonly known as bed blocking) can occur because details of social care involvement are not readily available to the staff on the hospital ward. The hospital does not know who to contact to discuss the ongoing care of a patient. The linking of social care and health information via the NHS number will help hospital staff quickly identify if social care support is already in place and who the most appropriate contact is.  Ongoing care can be planned earlier in the process, because hospital staff will know who to talk to.

The addition of the NHS number to social care data will bring additional benefits:

• better coordinated and safer care across health and social care enabled through the sharing of real-time information
  
• better coordination of discharges from hospital into social care, as explained above
  
• more time to spend on planning and coordinating social care because health staff can identify and involve social care staff earlier in the process
  
• earlier intervention to maximise the opportunities or re-ablement services leading to greater independence for patients
• less paperwork and more efficient use of social care resources.

How long do we store it and is it secure?

The council has retention schedules in place to ensure that information is only held for as long as it is needed. For information on how long your information will be held visit the retention explained page. 

The council’s IT security and confidentiality policies ensure that your information is protected, and available only to staff directly involved in your care. Details of how we keep your information secure are available on the general privacy information page.

What rights do you have?

The rights that you have depend upon the grounds upon which we collected your information. All of the rights you could have are outlined on the data protection rights page. In most cases, people who have been involved with adult social care services will have the following rights:

The right of access - You are entitled to see the information we hold about you and can request a copy by emailing data.protection@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk.

The right to rectification - If you believe any information we hold about you to be incorrect, please email adults.single.intake@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk and we will amend the information accordingly. 

The right to restrict processing - Should you wish to limit how we use your data please email  adults.single.intake@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk with the reason for your request. 

The right to object - In addition to the right to limit the use of your data, you also have a right to object to the use of your data for certain actions. This is most likely when we use your NHS number. This will not stop you from receiving care, but will result in the benefits outlined above not being realised. To help you decide, we will discuss with you how this may affect our ability to provide you with care, and any other options you have.

If you wish to opt-out from the use of your NHS number for social care purposes, please talk with your social worker, by contacting us on (01482) 392040 or email to adults.single.intake@eastriding.gcsx.gov.uk.

Where can I find out more?

If you want to know more about how the council uses information, your rights or have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we request that you raise your concern with us in the first instance.

Contact details are available on the general privacy information page. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

More information on Adult Social Care Services can be found on the adult social care services page.