Privacy Notice

Who we are

Pleasant Valley Care is a Home Care (domiciliary care) company providing:

• Home care

• Dementia Care

• Disability Care

• Respite Care

Our Client groups include:

• Children (0 - 18yrs)

• Adults under 65 yrs

• Adults over 65 yrs

• Caring for adults under 65 yrs

• Dementia

• Eating disorders

• Learning disabilities

• Mental health conditions

• Physical disabilities

• Sensory impairments

• Substance misuse problems

What is a privacy notice?

A Privacy Notice is a statement by our company to service users, their relatives, advocates or representatives, carers, staff and stakeholders , which describes how we collect, use, retain and disclose personal information which we hold. It is sometimes also referred to as a Privacy Statement, Fair Processing Statement or Privacy Policy. This privacy notice is part of our commitment to ensure that we process your personal information/data fairly and lawfully.

Why issue a privacy notice?

Pleasant Valley Care recognises the importance of protecting personal and confidential information in all that we do and takes care to meet its legal and regulatory duties. This notice is one of the ways in which we can demonstrate our commitment to our values and being transparent and open, and commitment to our values of Respecting Diversity, Acting with Integrity, Demonstrating Compassion, Striving for Excellence and Listening

and Supporting Others.

This notice also explains what rights you have to control how we use your information.

What are we governed by?

The key pieces of legislation/guidance we are governed by are:

• Data Protection Act 1998

• Human Rights Act 1998 (Article 8)

• Access to Health Records Act 1990

• Health and Social Care Act 2012, 2015

• Public Records Act 1958

• General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and The Data Protection Act 2018

Who are we governed by?

• Information Commissioner’s Office - https://ico.org.uk/

• Care Quality Commission - http://www.cqc.org.uk/

Why and how we collect information?

We may ask for or hold personal confidential information about you which will be used to support delivery of appropriate care and treatment. This is to support the provision of high-quality care.

These records may include:

• Basic details, such as name, address, date of birth, next of kin.

• Contact we have had with health professionals on your behalf.

• Details and records of treatment and care, including notes and reports about your health.

• Information about your health, mobility, medication and/or other treatment plans/strategies.

• Details and records in your Care Plan relating to treatment and care.

• Information from people who care for you and know you well, such as health professionals and relatives.

It may also include personal sensitive information such as sexuality, race, religion or beliefs, and whether you have a disability, allergies or health conditions. It is important for us to have a complete picture, as this information assists staff involved in your care to deliver and provide improved care, create and deliver appropriate care plans to meet your needs.

Information is collected in a number of ways e.g. through your initial pre-assessment by a local authority or other commissioning body, referral details from a healthcare professional e.g. GPs or directly given by you, your relative or other stakeholder.

How do we use information?

• To help inform decisions that we make about your care.

• To ensure that your care/treatment is safe and effective.

• To work effectively with other organisations who may be involved in your care.

• To ensure our services can meet future needs.

• To review care provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible.

• To inform healthcare professionals and the local commissioning authorities.

• To train healthcare professionals.

• To better understand care risks, their causes and prevention strategies.

• To improve your safety.

• To improve our quality assurance and governance.

• To contribute to the evaluation of Government, NHS and Social Care policy.

It helps you because;

• Accurate and up-to-date information assists us in providing you with the best possible care.

• If you see another healthcare professional, specialist or another part of the health and Social Care system, they can readily access the information they need to provide you with the best possible care.

• Where possible, when using information to inform future services and provision, non-identifiable information will be used.

How information is retained and kept safe?

Information is retained in secure electronic and paper records and access is restricted to only those who need to know.

It is important that information is kept safe and secure, to protect your confidentiality. There are a number of ways in which your privacy is shielded; by removing your identifying information, adhering to strict contractual conditions and ensuring strict sharing or processing agreements are in place.

The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates the processing of personal information. Strict principles govern our use of information and our duty to ensure it is kept safe and secure.

Pleasant Valley Care is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Details of our registration can be found on https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search.

Enter our registration number (ZA303844) and click ‘search register’.

The use of Technology allows us to protect information in a number of ways, in the main by restricting access.

Our guiding principle is that we are holding your information in strict confidence.

How do we keep information confidential?

Everyone working for our company is subject to the Common Law Duty of Confidentiality and the Data Protection Act 1998. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes to which you consent to, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.

Under the Confidentiality Code of Conduct, all staff are required to protect information, inform you of how your information will be used and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. This will be noted in your records.

All our staff are required to undertake annual training in data protection, confidentiality and IT/cyber security.

Who will the information be shared with?

To provide the best care possible, sometimes we will need to share information about you with others. We may share your information with a range of Health and Social Care organisations and regulatory bodies. You may be contacted by any one of these organisations for a specific reason; they will have a duty to tell you why they have contacted you. Information sharing is governed by specific rules and law.

How long do we keep your personal data?

We will only retain your information for as long as we need to support the purposes for which it was collected. Records are maintained in line with Pleasant Valley Care’s retention schedule which determines the length of time records should be kept. At the end of this period the information is destroyed or deleted in line with our confidential destruction procedures. We retain de-personalised statistical information to help inform our work, but no individuals are identifiable from that data.

Sharing with non- Health and Social Care organisations

For your benefit, we may also need to share information from your records with non- Health and Social Care organisations, from whom you are also receiving care, such as social services. However, we will not disclose any health information to third parties without your explicit consent, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires the disclosure of information.

We may also be asked to share basic information about you, such as your name and parts of your address, which does not include sensitive information from your health records.

Generally, we would only do this to assist them to carry out their statutory duties (such as usages of healthcare services, public health or national audits). In these circumstances, where it is not practical to

obtain your explicit consent, we are informing you through this notice, which is referred to as a Privacy Notice, under the Data Protection Act.

Where information is shared with other non- Health and Social Care organisations, an information sharing agreement is drawn up to ensure information is shared in a way that complies with relevant legislation.

Non- Health and Social Care organisations may include, but are not restricted to: social services, education services, local authorities, the police, voluntary sector providers and private sector providers.

Your right to withdraw consent for us to share your personal information

You have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing at any time. We will fully explain the possible consequences to you, which could include delays in you receiving care. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which has been enacted as part of The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data.

You have the rights to:

• be informed about how your data is being used

• access your personal data

• have incorrect data updated

• have data erased

• stop or restrict the processing of your data

• data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)

• object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances.

If you have provided consent for the processing of your data you have the right (in certain circumstances) to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before your consent was withdrawn.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.

• Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

If you wish to make a request please contact us at:

Pleasant Valley Care Ltd Fourth Floor, Cobalt Square, 83 Hagley Road, Birmingham, B16 8QG

Tel: 0121 454 1124

Email: info@pleasantvalleycare.co.uk

Contacting us about your information

At Pleasant Valley Care we promote person-centred values, therefore, you will be directly involved in creating and devising the plans of care which we will hold and these will always be available for you to consult, change or adapt. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 a person may request access to information (with some exemptions) that is held about them by an organisation. This is known as a “subject access request.”

Pleasant Valley Care is the controller and processor of data for the purposes of the DPA 2018 and GDPR. If you have any concerns as to how your data is processed.

Each organisation has a senior person responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your information and enabling appropriate sharing. This person is known as the Caldicott Guardian.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information we hold about you, the use of your information or would like to discuss further, please contact by using the Contact Us section of our website

www.pleasantvalleycare.co.uk or you can write to:

The Registered Manager:

Pleasant Valley Care Ltd Fourth Floor, Cobalt Square, 83 Hagley Road, Birmingham, B16 8QG

Contacting us if you have a complaint or concern

We try to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. We encourage people to bring concerns to our attention and we take any complaints we receive very seriously.

You can make a complaint through our Complaints Procedure, which is made available to you at initial assessment, or you can write to:

The Duty Manager:

Pleasant Valley Care Ltd Fourth Floor, Cobalt Square, 83 Hagley Road, Birmingham, B16 8QG

If you remain dissatisfied with our decision following your complaint, or if you believe that we have not complied with the requirements of the GDPR or DPA 2018 with regard to your personal data, you may wish to contact:

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: www.ico.gov.uk