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Privacy Notice

 

Heart Networks UK Limited fully appreciates the importance of protecting and managing your data and maintaining your privacy. To ensure that we comply with these requirements all our data management and clinical processes fully recognise the data protection law in force in the UK (e.g. the Data Protection Act 1998 and from 25th May 2018, the Data Protection Act 2018 which includes relevant Articles from the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

 

Please read the following information carefully to understand how we process your personal data.

 

For the purpose of the Data Protection Laws, the Data Controller is Heart Networks UK Limited, whose address is 15 Christie Way, Manchester, M21 7QY

 

When we refer to ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’, we mean Heart Networks UK Limited.

 

  • Use of Your Personal Information

  • Maintaining the Confidentiality of Your Records

  • Legal Basis for Processing

  • Partner Organisations

  • Access to Personal Information and Your Rights

  • Retention of your Data

  • Withdrawal of Consent

  • Cookies

  • Updating Personal Details

  • Complaints

 

 

 

Use of Your Personal Information

 

This privacy notice explains why we collect information about you and how that information may be used.

 

Our healthcare professionals, who provide you with our services, maintain records about your health and any treatment or care you have received previously (e.g. GP Surgery, Hospital etc.). These records help to provide our patients with the best possible healthcare.

 

Your records may exist in several formats including electronic, paper or a mixture of both, and we deploy many working organisations and approaches to ensure that such information is maintained within a confidential and secure environment. The records which we could hold about you may include the following information: 

 

  • Personal details relating to you, including your address and contact details, carer, legal representative and parents’ emergency contact details

  • Any contact we have had or intend to have with you, such as appointments, clinic visits, etc.

  • Notes and reports about your health which is deemed to be of a sensitive nature

  • Details about your referral, diagnostic procedures, treatment and care

  • Results of any additional relevant investigations

  • Relevant information from other health professionals, relatives or those who care for you
     

To ensure you receive the highest levels of care, your records will be used to facilitate the care that we provide. Anonymised information held about you could, on occasions, be used to help protect the health and well-being of the general public and to help us manage our contracts with commissioners. Information could also be used within our organisation for the purposes of clinical audits which in turn, will provide monitoring of the quality of the services we provide.

 

Some of this information will be used for statistical purposes and we will ensure that individuals cannot be identified. For situations where we may contribute to research projects, we will always gain your explicit consent before releasing any relevant information.

 

 

 

Maintaining the Confidentiality of Your Records

 

We will take all possible care to protect your privacy and will only use information collected with the law including: 
 

  • Data Protection Act 1998 and the Data Protection Act 2018 from 25th May 2018

  • Human Rights Act 1998

  • Common Law Duty of Confidentiality 

  • Health and Social Care Act 2012 (if appropriate)

  • Codes of Confidentiality, Information Security and Records Management
     

Our staff members are all trained and briefed on Data Protection principles and understand they have a legal obligation to keep information about you confidential. They also understand that information about you will only be shared with other parties if there is an agreed need to do so or a legal reason. We will only share your data without your permission if there are very exceptional circumstances (i.e. life or death situations), where the law requires information to be passed on and/or in accordance with the Caldicot Principle 7 e.g. to share or not to share. This means that health and social care professionals should have the confidence to share information in the best interests of their patients within the framework set out by the Caldicott Principles. Whilst the Caldicott Principles were originally developed for NHS purposes, we have adopted the underlying principles in order to align with best practice.

 

All personal information that we manage is stored in the UK within a secure environment and we always use suitably protected methods and systems to transfer your personal information.

 

 

Legal Basis for Processing

 

Our legal basis for processing your data relies on certain conditions set out GDPR Articles 6 and 9 which will be relevant from 25th May as part of the 2018 UK Data Protection Act.

 

 

Partner Organisations

 

It may be possible that we will share your information with other organisations. If this is required, we will apply very strong controls. The current organisations whom we share data with includes: 
 

  • NHS Trusts / Foundation Trusts

  • GP’s

  • Private sector providers – reporting ECG’s

  • Clinical Commissioning Groups

  • NHS Digital

  • Police & Judicial Services

  • Other ‘data processors’ which you will be informed of
     

It is noted that the above list is not exhaustive, and we may contract with other external organisations to undertake the process of your personal information. These 3rd party organisations will abide by our stringent contractual conditions regarding the protection of personal data.

In some cases, you will be requested to provide positive consent if we intend to share your personal details with other organisations.

 

Access to Personal Information and Your Rights

 

You have a right under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Data Protection Act 2018 from 25th May 2018, to request access to view or to obtain a copy of what information the organisation holds about you and to have it modified should it be inaccurate. The process to access your records is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR) and the way it works is outlined below: -
 

  • Your SARs request must be made in writing to the organisation’s IG Lead at the address shown above or by email to sars@heartnetworks.org

  • The latest regulations state that there is no charge to have a copy of your electronic or paper information unless the request is repetitive.

  • The request will be reviewed and if possible completed within one calendar month (subject to our possible requests for further clarification for you)

  • You will need to provide adequate proof of your identity before we will release the requested details (e.g. full name, address, date of birth, NHS number and details of your request), you must also provide two forms of identification 
     

In addition to the right of access, under the Data Protection Act 2018, you will also have the following rights: 
 

  • Erasure, which is the right to request that your personal data is removed from our systems be they paper or electronic – please note that under certain circumstances we are legally obliged to maintain a copy of your data for contractual and or statutory reasons.

  • Restriction of processing, this is the right for you to request that we only process certain parts of your data.

  • Objection – you have the right to object to the way that we are processing your data portability – this concerns the right to request that we provide a copy of your data in an easily transportable format. 

  • Automatic processing – you have the right to object to the way we automatically process data – in the case of our organisation we do not, at present, carry out automatic processing of your data.

  • If you have provided us with your consent to process your data for the purpose of providing our services, you have the right to withdraw this at any time.  In order to do this, you should contact us by emailing or writing to the organisation. 
     

 

Retention of your data

 

Your data will be retained for no longer than is absolutely necessary and in accordance with our Records Management Lifecycle Policy and the associated Schedule of Retention

 

 

Cookies

 

Cookie Policy

 

This website makes use of cookies to optimise user experience. By using our website, you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.

 

 

Updating Personal Details

 

If any of your details e.g. your name, address or other personal data have changed or are incorrect, you have a responsibility to inform the professional treating you who will arrange for the necessary updates to be made. This will help us to ensure that the data we hold about you is accurate and complete.

 

 

Notification

 

The Data Protection Act 1998 and the Data Protection Act 2018 requires organisations that control data to register with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) website www.ico.org.uk

 

The organisation is registered with the ICO as a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998. The registration number is ZA177718 and can be viewed online in the public register at http://www.ico.gov.uk/

 

 

Complaints

 

Should you have any concerns about how your information is managed by the Organisation please contact us at: -

 

Heart Networks UK Limited

15 Christie Way

Manchester 

M21 7QY

 

If you are still unhappy following a review by the Organisation, you can then complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) via their website www.ico.org.uk

or in writing to: -

 

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

 

If you are happy for your data to be extracted and used for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, then you do not need to do anything. If you have any concerns about how your data is shared, then please contact us.

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