Adult Social Care privacy notice

How Adult Social Care uses and shares your data.

This departmental privacy notice should be read in conjunction with the Council's corporate privacy notice.

Using your data

We need your information for the following services and functions:

  • The provision of direct Adult Social Care
  • Adult Safeguarding and public protection arrangements
  • Social Care Assessments 
  • Mental Health Act Assessments
  • Carers Assessments
  • Occupational Therapy, Disabled Facilities Grants Assessments, equipment
  • Care services delivered directly by the Council
  • Management of care services provided by other organisations and businesses providing care
  • Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Assessments
  • Financial Assessments
  • Fulfil duties associated with being appointed corporate appointee or deputy.
  • Participation in the National Fraud initiative
  • The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space)
  • Check the quality of services and how we deliver them
  • To help with research and planning and delivery of services

Why we are allowed to use your data

Legal obligation or public task under various UK laws including, but not limited to:

  • The Care Act 2014
  • Health and Social Care Act 2012
  • Health and Social Care Act 2015
  • Children’s Act 1989
  • Localism Act 2011
  • Data Protection Act 2018
  • Human Rights Act 1998
  • Mental Health Act 1983 (Amended 2007)
  • Mental Capacity Act 2005
  • Common Law Duty of Confidence

Adult Social Care rely on the Article 6 and 9 conditions of the UK General Data Protection Regulation to allow us to collect and use your information for the purposes of providing care to you.

Article 6(1)(e) '…necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority…'

Article 9(2)(h) 'necessary for the purposes of preventative 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...'

Obtaining and sharing your data with others

We collect your personal data from you, or from others (e.g. council staff in other departments or external organisations or individuals) who inform us of matters relevant to this service area.

Who your information may be shared with - this may be identifiable or anonymised data:

  • Care providers
  • Health partners
  • The voluntary sector
  • Government agencies (Home Office, Cabinet Office Department of Health)
  • Fraud department
  • Children’s social services
  • HM Courts & Tribunals Service
  • Other Council departments including shared services
  • The Police

Sharing your data electronically - London Shared Care Record

We have improved the way we connect your care records across London. At the moment each care organisation has a different system for manging your records. The London Shared Care Record is an electronic way of securely sharing information about you between these systems. This means that Health and care professionals can access your records from NHS services to make the best decisions about your care.

You can find more information on South West London Integrated Care System and the One London website.

Do I have a choice?

If you are happy for your information to be shared electronically in this way, then you don’t need to do anything. 

You have the 'right to object' to information sharing by individual data controllers (the organisations that hold information about you). For citizens of South West London this means that if you do not want specific health and care records shared with other health and care providers via the London Shared Care Network, you can register an objection with each or any of those organisations to request that your information is not electronically shared.

You will need to contact each health and care organisation individually that holds the records that you do not want to be shared.

For Adult Social Care you can do this by contacting the Council’s Data Protection Officer (DPO): dpo@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk setting out:

  • The specific elements of your record that you object to being shared
  • The specific personal reasons for your objection

All health and care organisations are required to have a process in place to respond to, review and manage such requests. Your request will be acknowledged, and you should receive notification of the outcome of the review within 30 days of receipt of your request (if there is a delay you will receive notification of this).

All requests will be reviewed on an individual basis by the lead professional in charge of your care, in accordance with your health and care needs, supported by the DPO. The right to object to sharing is not absolute. For more information please see ICO Right to Object.

Objecting to the electronic sharing of your information through the London Shared Care Network does not mean that your health and care records will never be shared. Organisations who are directly involved in your care may still share information about you, but this may be done by email, letter, or telephone, and is less secure than sharing information through the London Shared Care Network.

It is vital that you are aware that in an emergency situation, having the ability to share your health and care records safely and securely can impact your immediate assessment or care.

We would like to assure you that information shared through the London Shared Care Network is only available to those immediately involved in your care, at the time when they are caring for you or providing you with a service. The London Shared Care Network view is a read-only, 'virtual' display of data that is viewed directly from within each organisation’s record system. No information from this view can be electronically transferred.

What type of information is collected about you?

  • Contact details: including name, address, email address, telephone number
  • Date of birth
  • National identifiers such as: NHS number and NI numbers
  • Information about your family and people who care for you, 
  • Information about people who you care for
  • Information about people who might legally represent you (for example, a Lasting Power of Attorney or Deputy appointed by the Court of Protection)
  • Lifestyle, social and personal circumstances
  • The services you receive
  • Financial details for purposes of receiving or making payments and calculating how much you might have to pay towards some services we provide or organise for you
  • Employment details
  • Housing information relating to the type of property you live in, whether you own or rent it, and whether it is suitable for your needs
  • Visual images, personal appearance and behaviour

We may also collect sensitive personal data that may include:

  • Physical or mental health details
  • Details about help you might need looking after yourself or your house
  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Gender and sexual orientation
  • Languages you speak and how you prefer to communicate
  • Offences (including alleged offences)
  • Religious or other beliefs of a similar nature
  • Criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences
  • Sections of the Mental Health Acts that may have applied to you

Using your data to make automated decisions

We do not use your data to make automated decisions.

Data sent to countries outside of the EEA

Generally, the Council will not process your personal data outside of the UK or the EEA. In exceptions where we do, we will ensure equivalent data protection controls are in place.

Further information

To see what data is collected and how to exercise your rights to your data, please read our corporate privacy notice.

Up to Departmental privacy notices

Updated: 21/11/2023