This document (privacy notice) shows you how we use information that could identify you, such as your name, date of birth, address and health information. This privacy notice is issued on behalf of Acacium Group, the company that provides the people who care for you, and they are responsible for looking after your information. If you have any questions or would like to raise an issue to Acacium Group, you can contact us via:
Write to us at: Data Protection Officer, Acacium Group, 9 Appold Street, London, EC2A 2AP
We have a person who works for us who is responsible for ensuring that your information is used in the correct way, this person is called the Data Protection Officer (DPO). If you have any questions, you can contact them on the details above. You can also contact a company called the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), they are responsible for ensuring that business look after people’s data. You can find out more by visiting their website or contacting them on the details below:
We review and update this statement regularly; this version was written on 15.01.2021
What does this privacy notice cover?
It covers the information that we use when providing you with care. It allows us to ensure that we send the right people to care for you. This information covers all venues that we provide care, such as home, work and school.
What does the law say?
In 2018, the government issued a new version of a law called the Data Protection Act (DPA) which tells businesses how to safely use and look after your information, in order to keep you safe.
The law says that we are only allowed to use your information when absolutely necessary, for the following reasons:
Care contract: if we are providing care to you, we will have a written contract which tells you how we will provide this care and what information we may need – don’t worry, this is usually completed with the person/s paying for your care.
Legitimate interests: This means we can use the information you provided to deliver care to you. We may also share your information with other relevant people who support us in delivering your care. This could be your GP or Social Worker.
Compliance with the law: this means that we can use your information because the law tells us that we must do so, to provide you with the care you need.
Sometimes we may need to use your information for other things, and we will only do this if it is for the same or similar reasons that we originally collected your data.
The table below shows you what information we will use and why.
Who does this apply to?
Information we use
Is this always required?
Purpose of using the information
Why we use the information
You
Basic personal details: full name and what you like to be called, contact details, address.
Yes
To care for you
To let us know how to contact you
To communicate and manage our relationship with you
To confirm your identity when we speak with other relevant teams about the care we provide you
Contract
You
Next of kin details
No
To contact someone in the event of an emergency
Legitimate interests
You
Details of what you like to do everyday and any special routines
Yes
To ensure the care you receive fits in with your lifestyle
To allow you choice in your daily routine
Law
You
Details of what you like to eat and drink
Yes
To make sure you have the food and drink you like and to keep you healthy.
To give you choice
Law
You
Satisfaction survey
No
To make sure you are happy with the care you are receiving or put things right if you aren’t
Legitimate interests
You or parent/ guardian
Car Insurance Information
No
Only required if we drive your car / family car
Law
Your parent/ guardian
Basic contact detail, name, telephone number, email address, postal address
Yes
So we can contact them when required about your care
Legitimate Interest
Private patients
Financial information
No
So we can be paid for the care we provide
Contract
When do you have to provide us with information?
You almost always have a choice as to whether you provide information to us. As we are providing care to you, you may be required to provide specific information before we supply that care. Where this is the case, we have written ‘yes’ in the 3rd column of the table above.
Do you process any special data about me?
When we provide care for you, we will need to process information relating to your health. This is often referred to as “special category” data. Such data requires a higher level of protection and the law says that we must comply with additional requirements.
We will always tell you when we need to process ‘special category’ data. If you provide it to us on forms or documents, we will always tell you how we use it at the time it is collected. If you require assistance in filling out the forms please contact us.
Why do you have to share my information within Acacium Group of Companies?
When we provide you with care, it may be necessary for us to obtain further information about you from others, to make sure you are being looked after. We have set out below, details of the sources that we will use to obtain this information:
Our workers that care for you – we will need to ask our workers for information relating to the care that they have provided to you and any concerns that relates to your health and wellbeing.
Other healthcare professionals – we may need to obtain information that will assist us to deliver the best care for you.
Professional agencies – we may need to get information from other professional agencies such as social services.
Sometimes we would be required to share information across our group of companies, listed here. The purpose for sharing this information to ensure that we can provide a full care service to you by finding suitable nurses and carers.
Do you share my information with any other people or organisations outside of Acacium Group?
When we provide care for you, we may be required to share information with other people or organisations. This is to ensure that you receive adequate care and that your best interests are met. We may share your information with the people or organisations below:
People or organisations
Purpose for sharing your information
Other people involved in your care – GP, District Nurse, Physiotherapist etc
This allows everyone who is involved in your care, to have up-to-date information so your care can be delivered properly
Education (if you go to school or college)
This allows you to attend school safely with the support required.
Local Authorities such as your social worker
This allows everyone who is involved in your care to have up-to-date information so your care can be delivered properly
People who are in charge of your care
This helps us to respond to any changes in your care needs
Legal teams
This helps us ensure that we are acting in your best interests and within the law
Organisations who regulate us
To make sure that we are acting in your best interests and within the law
How long do you keep my information for?
We only use and keep your information for as long as we need to so that under the law. We are required to keep some of your information for longer than the time that we provide healthcare services to you. This is to ensure that we comply with the law. If you would like to know how long we keep your information, please contact our data protection officer at dpo@acaciumgroup.com.
Will my information be transferred outside of the country?
As your healthcare is based in the UK, we generally keep your information within the UK. There may be some occasions where we are required to send your information outside of the UK, if we need to do this, it will be completed inside the law. If you would like more information about how we look after your information when we transfer it out of the UK, please contact us at dpo@acaciumgroup.com.
What are my rights in relation to my information?
You have a number of rights in relation to how we use your information, these are explained in the table below:
Your Rights
Explanation
Your right to request access to your personal information
You have the right to know that we are using your information and who we are sharing it with.
You have the right to request that any inaccurate data is amended
You have the right to tell us if your information is inaccurate and for it to be changed.
You have the right to ask for your information to be deleted
You have the right to ask for your information to be deleted – this does not include all your information. Please ask if you have any further questions.
You have the right to request restrictions in the processing of your information
You can ask us to stop processing your data if you have concerns that it is being processed outside the law.
You have the right to have your information sent to another organisation
You have the right to ask us to transfer your information to another organisation, this does not apply to all your information. Please ask if you have any further questions.
You have the right to object to the processing of your information
You can inform us of any concerns you have regarding the processing of your data and you have the right to discuss this with us.
How do I exercise my rights?
If you are under the age of 13 all the above rights still apply to you – your parents or guardians who have parental rights, can exercise these rights on your behalf.
If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please email us at dpo@acaciumgroup.com. In most cases we will deal with your request as soon as possible, and at the latest, within one calendar month of your request. If we need more time, we will inform you of this.
Please note that we do not charge for any such requests unless there are exceptional circumstances.