The services process personal information in order to carry out service delivery and basic administration of adult social care and support services in community and residential/Health care settings either directly or jointly with partners, and commissioned private providers and voluntary organisations. 

This includes:

• consideration of the physical and mental health, learning and behavioural, financial social care needs, as appropriate, of vulnerable adults and/or their carers/designated representative/holders of Power of Attorney/Court Appointed Deputies, requiring support or social care packages
• enabling the provision of a range of personalised adult social care services
• maintaining our own accounts and records
• supporting and managing our employees
• awarding and managing contracts with social care providers as commissioned by us and to ensuring the quality of care to our customers
  • shaping the current and future social care provider market by consulting with customers and/or their carers/representatives
• providing “signposting” services for some adult social care-related advice and guidance
• provide tailored support to individuals based on their needs, as identified through a predictive model, developed to target community interventions at specific geographies and identify preventative measures to support Worcestershire residents
• responding to complaints if things go wrong
• safeguarding vulnerable adults
• for the prevention of crime
• compliance with regulatory/inspection regimes (e.g. Ofsted and Care Quality Commission), including providing anonymised statistics

Some anonymous aggregated data, such as statistical or demographic data maybe processed for any purpose, including statistical and research purposes. While this data may be derived from your personal data it has been suitable anonymised before being processed for these purposes so it does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity and is not considered personal data.

The services process personal information, which is relevant to individual cases but may include some but is not limited to:

• personal details – e.g. name / age / address / and family details
• contact information – e.g. telephone numbers / email address
• personal reference numbers – e.g. Social Care unique customer reference number / National Insurance Number / NHS number
• employment details
• details of Police involvement
• financial details – for contribution assessment purposes
• lifestyle and social circumstances
• opinions and decisions
• details of assessments, conversations
• details of care package
• records of complaints
• safeguarding reports
• visual images, personal appearance and behaviour
• communication and language preferences

We may also process some special category (sensitive) information, which is relevant to individual cases but may include some but is not limited to:

• biometric information
• physical or mental health details
• racial or ethnic origin
• religious or other beliefs
• offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences
• political affiliation / opinions
• sexual orientation

The legal bases for processing this personal information are:

• necessary for a public task or in the exercise of official authority
• necessary for compliance with a legal obligation e.g. Care Act 2014
• necessary for a contract for the supply of services
• consent of the individual or their legal representative
• legitimate interests for the purposes of managing employees

The special category personal data condition(s) for processing are:

• necessary for the provision of health or social care or the management of health or social care systems and services
• necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, proportionate to the aim pursued

We may receive from or need to share personal information about you with partner organisations where relevant to you and your care. 

These include but are not limited to:

• police and probation service
• health services – Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust,  GPs, Dental Practices, Opticians, Ambulance Services, Hospitals, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), Integrated care systems (ICSs)
• regulatory inspection regimes – Care Quality Commission, Ofsted
• statistical, anonymised data is shared with NHS Digital
• schools/colleges
• housing agencies and providers
• Worcestershire District Councils and other local authorities
• commissioned advocacy and appointeeship providers
• commissioned carers hub provider
• care home and other social care providers
• representatives who will act on your behalf should you lack the capacity to make decisions regarding your care, including but not limited to:
  • Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA)
  • those with Power of Attorney
  • Court Appointed Deputy
  • nominated personal representative
  • Court of Protection
• Office of the Public Guardian
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Home Office
• HMRC
• banks and building societies
• credit reference agencies
• Adult Safeguarding Board
• appropriate adult/children’s social care team(s)
• other Worcestershire County Council services as appropriate including Legal Services 
• local Government & Social Care Ombudsman
• prison and probation Services

We do have specific data sharing agreements in place with local agencies and sometimes the law requires that we may have to pass your details on to a third party, for example, to prevent crime.

Information will only ever be shared when it is strictly necessary to help us provide effective services and you may have the right to refuse, this may affect the range of services available to you. We will not pass it onto any other parties unless required to do so by law or in all reasonable circumstances the disclosure is fair and warranted for the purposes of processing or subject to a legal data protection exemption.

The NHS National Data Opt-Out allows individuals to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning purposes.

NHS organisations and local authorities that are part of the health and adult social care system in England must apply the national data opt-out to confidential patient information that originates within that system. Confidential patient information includes information about both health and social care of individuals.

For further information about the National Data Opt-Out please see our National Data Opt webpage.

e standard adult social care record retention is 8 years after adult social care services have ended. There are also a range of other retention periods affecting different information and service need.

Information related to records of those Sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983: 20 years from no further treatment required then summary information kept for 10 years OR 8 years from the person’s death if the case is already closed.

Information related to records of those not Sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983: 10 years from when care was no longer being received or 2 years form the person’s death if the case was already closed. More information about our retention periods can be found in our summary Disposal Schedule (Excel).

Please note: stated retention periods may be subject to any legal holds imposed under the Inquiries Act 2005 that may concern the information and override standard retention.

You are entitled to a copy, or a description, of the personal data we hold that relates to you, subject to lawful restrictions. Please go to our Make a Data Protection Request page to find out how to make a request.

You may be entitled to rectification, restriction, objection, and erasure of your personal information depending on the service and legal basis. Please in the first instance contact your Social Worker or care provider to exercise these Information Rights or call the Worcestershire County Council Adult Contact Team on 01905 768053 or email at afdadmin@worcestershire.gov.uk. 

See our overall privacy notice for further contact details and if you have a complaint about your information rights.