Privacy Policy

1. Business details

This is the privacy notice of Henley Care Limited.

Our registered office is at Graffix House, Newtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1HG. This is our only branch.

Henley Care Limited is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide personal, health and social care to adults in their own homes. The support we provide ranges from one hour a week to full-time live-in care.

2. Aims of this notice

Henley Care Limited is required by law to tell you about your rights and our obligations regarding our collecting and processing any of your personal information, which you might provide to us. We have a range of policies and procedures to ensure that any personal information you supply is only with your active consent and will always be held securely and treated confidentially in line with the applicable regulations. We have listed the relevant documents in a later section (6) and can make any available.

3. What personal information we collect about:

a) service users, b) employees and volunteers, c) third parties

a). Service users.

As a registered care provider, we must collect some personal information on our service users, including financial information, which is essential to our being able to provide effective care and support. The information is contained in individual files (manual and electronic) and other record systems, all of which are subject to strict security and authorised access policies. Personal information that becomes inactive, eg from enquiries or prospective users who do not enter the service is also kept securely for as long as it is needed, before being safely disposed of.

b) Employees and volunteers.

The service operates a safe recruitment policy to comply with the regulations in which all personal information obtained, including CVs and references, is, like service users’ information, securely kept, retained and disposed of in line with data protection requirements. All employees are aware of their right to access any information about them.

c) Third parties.

All personal information obtained about others associated with the delivery of the care service, including contractors, visitors, etc will be protected in the same ways as information on service users and employees.

4. How we collect information

The bulk of service users’, employees’ and thirds parties’ personal information is collected directly from them or through form filling, mainly manually, but also electronically for some purposes, eg when contacting the service through its website.

With service users, we might continue to build on the information provided in enquiry and referral forms, and, for example, from needs assessments, which feed into their care and support plans.

With employees, personal information is obtained directly and with consent through such means as references, testimonials and criminal records (DBS) checks. When recruiting staff, we seek applicants’ explicit consent to obtain all the information needed for us to decide to employ them.

All personal information obtained to meet our regulatory requirements will always be treated in line with our explicit consent, data protection and confidentiality policies.

5. What we do with personal information

All personal information obtained on service users, employees and third parties is used only to ensure that we provide a service, which is consistent with our purpose of providing a person-centred care service, which meets all regulatory standards and requirements. It will not be disclosed or shared for any other purpose.

6. How we keep your information safe

As already stated, the service has a range of policies that enable us to comply with all data protection requirements. These include:

• Applications for Access to a Deceased Service User’s Care Records
• Confidentiality of Service Users’ Information
• Consent to Care and Treatment
• Complaints
• Data Protection
• Protecting Personal Data under the General Data Protection Regulation
• Obtaining Medical Reports
• Record Keeping
• Records Kept in Service Users’ Homes
• Giving and Receiving References
• Service Users’ Access to Records
• Staff Recruitment and Selection

A copy of any of these individual policies is available on request.

Our website and databases are regularly checked by experts to ensure they meet all privacy standards and comply with our general data protection security and protection policies.

We take every possible measure to ensure all written and electronic data is kept securely, safely and confidentially. However, in the unlikely event that a data breach occurs that might result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, the people affected will be informed as soon as possible and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be notified within 72 hours.

7. With whom we might share information

We only share the personal information of service users, employees and others with their consent on a “need to know” basis, observing strict protocols in doing so. Most information sharing of service users’ information is with other professionals and agencies involved with their care and treatment. Likewise, we would not disclose information about our employees without their clear agreement, eg when providing a reference.

The only exceptions to this general rule would be where we are required by law to provide information, eg to help with a criminal investigation. Even when seeking to notify the local authority of a safeguarding matter or the Care Quality Commission of an incident that requires us to notify it, we would only do so with consent or ensure that the information provided is treated in confidence.

Where we provide information for statistical purposes, the information is aggregated and provided anonymously so that there is no privacy risk involved in its use.

8. How personal information held by the care provider can be accessed

There are procedures in place to enable any staff member, employee or third party whose personal information we possess and might process in some way to have access to that information on request. (See the policies listed in No. 6 above.) The right to access includes both the information and any uses which we might have made of the information.

We will comply with the one-month timeframe for responses set down in the GDPR. As a general rule, a copy of the requested information will be provided free of charge although Henley Care reserves the right to charge a reasonable fee (usually no more than £10) when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive. If this proves necessary, the person concerned will be informed of their right to contest our decision with the supervisory authority (the ICO). As set out in the GDPR, any fee will be notified in advance and will be based on the administrative cost of providing the information.

9. How long we keep information

In line with the relevant legislation and regulations, manual and electronic records are kept safely and securely at the Henley Care office for the full duration of the period for which the person works for or is a client of the company.

On termination of a contract, records are retained for a further six months, after which time they are transferred to a secure archive and kept for up to five years from the date of last contact.

Unless required to be kept for legal reasons, any records that have not been accessed for five years will be deleted and/or destroyed in a manner which prevents their reconstitution – i.e. incineration or shredding.

10. How we keep our privacy policies up to date

The staff appointed to control and process personal information in our organisation are delegated to assess all privacy risks continuously and to carry out comprehensive reviews of our data protection policies, procedures and protocols at least annually.