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Privacy notice

At Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (the CCG) we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

The CCG has various roles and responsibilities, but a major part of our work involves making sure that:

  • Contracts are in place with local health service providers;
  • Routine and emergency NHS services are available to patients; 
  • Those services provide high quality care and value for money; and 
  • Those services receive payment for the care and treatment they have provided.

This is called “commissioning” and is explained in more detail on our websites at: https://herefordshireandworcestershireccg.nhs.uk/about-us

Accurate, timely and relevant information is essential for our work to help us to design and plan current and future health and care services, evidence and review our decisions and manage budgets.

As a commissioning organisation, our purpose is not to provide direct care and so we do not routinely hold or receive information about patients and service users in relation to your care. We do however sometimes hold information from which people can be identified to enable us to fulfil our responsibilities as outlined above and this is explained in this notice.

We respect your right with regards to data privacy and data protection when you communicate with us through our websites, events, telephone and (offline) programs such as paper based communication.

 

What is a Privacy Notice?

A privacy notice is a statement that describes how the CCG collects, use, retain and disclose personal information. Different organisations sometimes use different terms and it can be referred to as a privacy statement, a fair processing notice or a privacy policy.

Being transparent and providing accessible information to individuals about how an organisation will use their personal information is a key element of data protection legislation. To ensure that we process your personal data fairly, lawfully and transparently we are required to inform you:

  • what information we collect and process about you;
  • the purpose of processing;
  • how we process your personal data;
  • recipients or categories of recipients who it will be shared with;
  • how long we retain personal information about you;
  • how we keep it secure (confidential);
  • the lawful bases for the sharing/processing;
  • your rights and
  • the identity of our Data Protection Officer.

The key laws that determine how organisations can use and share your personal information are the

  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016
  • Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018
  • Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998
  • Common Law Duty of Confidentiality

Within these pages we describe instances where the CCG is a “Controller” of data for the purposes of the data protection legislation, and where we direct or commission the processing of service user’s data to help deliver better healthcare, or to assist the management of healthcare services.

The CCG recognise the importance of protecting personal and confidential information in all that we do, all we direct or commission, and take care to meet our legal duties. This link below describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak.

  pdf HWCCG Covid-19 Privacy Notice (132 KB)  

 

What information we collect and hold about you

We only collect and use your information for the lawful purposes of administering the business of the CCG. We process personal information to enable us to support the provision of healthcare services to patients, maintain our own accounts and records, promote our services, and to support and manage our employees. To do this effectively we are often required to process personal data i.e., that which identifies a living individual.

We process the following types of information/data:

  • Personal data such as:
    • demographics – name, address, date of birth, postcode, NHS number
  • Sensitive personal/special categories of personal data such as:
    • racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, medical/health data, sexual life or sexual orientation data.
    • employment tribunal applications, complaints, accidents, and incident details
  • Pseudonymised data - about individuals but with identifying details (such as name or NHS number) replaced with a unique code.
  • Anonymised data - about individuals but with identifying details removed.
  • Aggregated - anonymised information grouped together so that it doesn't identify individuals.

 

How the NHS and care services use your information

Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident and Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected to help ensure you get the best possible care and treatment.

The information collected about you when you use these services can also be provided to other approved organisations, where there is a legal basis, to help with planning services, improving care provided, research into developing new treatments and preventing illness. All of these helps to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential personal information about your health and care is only used in this way where allowed by law and would never be used for insurance or marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way.

To find out more about the wider use of confidential personal information and to register your choice to opt out if you do not want your data to be used in this way, visit www.nhs.uk/my-data-choice. If you do choose to opt out you can still consent to your data being used for specific purposes.

If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. You can change your choice at any time.

 

How will the CCG use information about you?

How we use information provided by NHS Digital

We use information collected by NHS Digital from healthcare providers such as hospitals, community services and GPs, which includes information about the patients who have received care and treatment from the services that we fund.

The data we receive does not include patients’ names or home addresses, but it will usually include information such as your NHS number, postcode, date of birth, ethnicity and gender as well as coded information about your visits to clinics, Emergency Department, hospital admissions and other NHS services.

The Secretary of State for Health has given limited permission for us (and other NHS commissioners) to use certain confidential patient information when it is necessary for our work and unless we have a legal basis to use identifiable data, de-identified information is used for all purposes other than direct care. This approval is given under Regulations made under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 and is based on the advice of the Health Research Authority’s Confidentiality and Advisory Group.

In order to use this data, we have to meet strict conditions that we are legally required to follow, which includes making a written commitment to NHS Digital that we will not use information in any way that would reveal your identity.

 

Automated Decision Making

The CCG does not use automated individual decision-making (making a decision solely by automated means without any human involvement).

 

Sharing your information

We share information about you with other GPs, NHS acute or mental health Trusts, local authority, community health providers, pharmacists, commissioning organisations, medical research organisations and some specific non NHS organisations for the purposes of direct and indirect care delivery of care.

Where the CCG holds personal information about you, sometimes we will need to share information about you with others including other Health and Social Care organisations and regulatory bodies such as GPs, NHS acute or mental health Trusts, local authorities, community health providers, pharmacists and other commissioning organisations. There are several reasons why we share information, this can be due to: 

  • appropriate lawfulness for sharing
  • Our obligations to comply with current legislation
  • Our duty to comply with a Court Order 
  • You have consented to disclosure

 

Retaining information

Information in the CCG is held for a specific length of time depending on the type of information it is. The length of time we retain your information for is defined by the NHS retention schedule which can be viewed online here: NHS Digital Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2021.

Once information has been reviewed and is no longer required to be kept by a retention period the information will be securely destroyed. 

The CCG’s shredding is carried out securely on site by a professional paper shredding company.

 

Security of your information

The CCG takes our duty to protect your personal information and confidentiality seriously. We are committed to taking all reasonable measures to ensure the confidentiality and security of personal data for which we are responsible, whether computerised or on paper.

Alongside the Data Protection Officer (DPO), we have appointed a Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) who is accountable for the management of all information assets and any associated risks and incidents, and a ‘Caldicott Guardian’ who is responsible for the management of patient information and patient confidentiality.

All staff are required to undertake annual information governance training and are provided with an information governance handbook that they are required to read and agree to adhere to. The handbook ensures that staff are aware of their information governance responsibilities and follow best practice guidelines ensuring the necessary safeguards and appropriate use of person-identifiable and confidential information.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller and collects data for a variety of purposes. A copy of the registration is available through the ICO website. You can search by CCG name or ICO Data Protection Register number ZA751854.

Under the NHS Confidentiality Code of Conduct, all our staff are also required to protect your information and inform you of how your information will be used. This includes, in most circumstances, allowing you to decide if and how your information can be shared.

Everyone working for the NHS is subject to the common law duty of confidentiality. Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes advised and consented to by the service user, unless it is required or permitted by the law.

 

Your rights

  • The right to be informed and right of access

    The right to be informed and right of access

    You have the right to ask us for confirmation of whether we process data about you and if we do, to have access to that data so you are aware and can verify the lawfulness of the processing.

    You can make your own application to see the information we hold about you, or you can authorise someone else to make an application on your behalf.  A child’s parent or guardian, a patient representative, or a person appointed by the Court may also apply. If you wish to ask us for confirmation of whether we process data about you or access your personal data, then please contact:

    Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Post: The Coach House, John Comyn Drive, Perdiswell, Worcester, WR3 7NS

    Telephone:  01782 872648 

  • The right of access

    The right of access

    You have the right to ask us for confirmation of whether we process data about you and if we do, to have access to that data so you are aware and can verify the lawfulness of the processing.

    You can make your own application to see the information we hold about you, or you can authorise someone else to make an application on your behalf.  A child’s parent or guardian, a patient representative, or a person appointed by the Court may also apply. If you wish to ask us for confirmation of whether we process data about you or access your personal data, then please contact:

    Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Post: The Coach House, John Comyn Drive, Perdiswell, Worcester, WR3 7NS

    Telephone:  01782 872648

  • The right to rectification

    The right to rectification

    You are entitled to have personal data that we hold about you rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have passed the data concerned on to others, we will contact each recipient and inform them of the rectification - unless this proves impossible or involves disproportionate effort. If this is the case, we will explain to you why.

  • The right to erasure

    The right to erasure

    You have the right to have personal data we hold about you erased and to prevent processing in specific circumstances:

    • Where the personal data is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected/processed
    • If you withdraw your consent for us to process your data (if this was the basis on which it was collected)
    • The personal data was unlawfully processed (i.e. a breach of data protection legislation)
    • The personal data has to be erased in order to comply with a legal obligation.

    However, if we have collected and are processing data about you to comply with a legal obligation, for the performance of a public interest task or exercise of official authority, i.e. because we have a legal duty to do so in our functioning as CCGs, then the right to erasure does not apply.

  • The right to restrict processing

    The right to restrict processing

    You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of your personal data which means that if you exercise this right, we can still store your data but not to further process it and will retain just enough information about you to ensure that the restriction is respected in future.

    You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in the following circumstances:

    • If you contest the accuracy of the data we hold about you, we will restrict the processing until the accuracy of the data has been verified;
    • If we are processing your data as it is necessary for the performance of a public interest task and you have objected to the processing, we will restrict processing while we consider whether our legitimate grounds for processing are overriding.;
    • If the processing of your personal data is found to be unlawful but you oppose erasure and request restriction instead; or
    • If we no longer need the data we hold about you, but you require the data to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

    If we have disclosed the personal data in question to others, we will contact each recipient and inform them of the restriction on the processing of the personal data - unless this proves impossible or involves disproportionate effort. If asked to, we will also inform you about these recipients.

    We will inform you if we decide to lift a restriction on processing.

  • The right to data portability

    The right to data portability

    The right to data portability allows you to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services. It allows you to move, copy or transfer personal data easily from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way, without hindrance to usability although it only applies where we are processing your personal data based on your consent for us to do so or for the performance of a contract and where the processing is carried out by automated means. This means that currently, the CCG does not hold any data which would be subject to the right to data portability.

  • The right to object

    The right to object

    Where the CCGs process personal data about you on the basis of being required to do so for the performance of a task in the public interest or exercise of official authority, you have a right to object to the processing.

    You must have an objection on grounds relating to your particular situation.

    If you raise an objection, we will no longer process the personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

  • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

    Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

    As the CCG does not make any decisions based solely on automated processing, individuals’ rights in relation to personal data processed in this way are not applicable.

  • The right to withdraw consent

    The right to withdraw consent

    If the CCGs process data about you on the basis that you have given your consent for us to do so, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Where possible, we will make sure that you are able to withdraw your consent using the same method as when you gave it.

    If you withdraw your consent, we will stop the processing as soon as possible. In order to do this please contact:

    Herefordshire and Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
    Tony Ciriello
    The Coach House
    Perdiswell
    Worcester
    WR3 7NS

    Tel: 01905 681999
    Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - quoting "Subject Access Request' in the subject line

National Data Opt-Out

The National Data Opt-Out (NDOP) applies to the disclosure of confidential patient information for purposes beyond individual care (research and planning) across the health and adult social care system in England. In broad terms the national data opt-out applies unless there is a mandatory legal requirement or an overriding public interest for the data to be shared. The opt-out does not apply when the individual has consented to the sharing of their data or where the data is anonymised.

Any person registered on the Personal Demographic Services (PDS) and who consequently has an NHS number allocated to them is able to set a national data opt-out. The opt-out is stored in a central repository against their NHS number on the Spine.

The national opt-out applies to several datasets including:

  • National Clinical Audit of Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory - NHS Digital collects this data on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology to improve the quality of care for patients with Rheumatoid and early.
  • National Adult Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) Audit - NHS Digital collects this data on behalf of the British Thoracic Society to assess variation in the care of patients hospitalised with pneumonia in the UK.
  • Trauma Audit & Research Network (TARN) - NHS Digital collects this Confidential Patient Information on behalf (CPI) on behalf TARN.
  • Invoice Backing Data for Contracted Activity - NHS Digital collects this data to enable Commissioners to determine if they are the responsible commissioner. It is important to point out that the national opt-out applies to contracted activity data that has not been rendered anonymous.
  • Risk Stratification data for Indirect Care - NHS Digital collects this data for data processors working on behalf of GPs and CCGs. The GP data is linked to other records that they access, such as hospital attendance records in order to enable the CCGs (commissioners) understand the local population needs and plan for future requirement.

You have the right to opt-out of having your data shared for the purposes of indirect care (research and planning). You can do so via the national opt-out website.

If you do choose to opt-out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care. To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit Your NHS Data Matters.

 

Our Data Protection Officer 

Hayley Gidman

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU)
Heron House
120 Grove Road
Fenton
ST4 4LX

Tel: 01782872648
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This organisation ceased to exist on 30 June 2022, please visit our new website for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board - Integrated Care Board :: Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care System (icb.nhs.uk)