Privacy Policy

Beulah Lodge Privacy Policy 

Our privacy notice sets out how Beulah Lodge uses and protects information that you provide when you are a resident of the home; are employed by the home or otherwise use the service we provide.

You may decide to provide information about yourself, for example in order for us to assess your care needs or during the course of the employment application process / employment with us.  Some of this information may be of a personal or sensitive nature. We may also collect certain information to help us make improvements to the service we provide.

The confidentiality of your information is of paramount concern to Beulah Lodge and we are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected.  

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time and new versions will be available through our policies and procedures and on our website: www.beulahlodge.co.uk.

What information may we collect?

We may need to collect data that is personal to you such as your name, address and date of birth, which is called “Personal Data” or “Personal Information”. Sometimes you also may decide to provide personal information, which is of a more private nature, which we refer to as “Sensitive Information”. Examples of Sensitive Information which may be provided to us by residents and/or staff are as follows:

  • Racial/ethnic origin
  • Political opinions
  • Religious beliefs or similar
  • Trade union membership
  • Physical/mental health
  • Sex life
  • Offences

What do we do with the information you provide?

Residents

We use data provided by Residents and their Representatives in order to:

  • Undertake pre-residency assessments to ensure that we are able to meet the resident’s needs and requirements.
  • Conduct a financial assessment to ensure that appropriate funding is available to meet the fees that we charge.
  • Undertake care planning procedures. This includes developing personal care plans which will, for example, include details of medication needs, personal preferences etc.
  • Liaise with medical professionals and share information as part of care planning.
  • Deliver care services during the period of residency.
  • Produce risk assessment for daily life, more specifically in relation to mental health, mobility, diet and nutrition.
  • Take appropriate steps in the event of a residents’ death – for example, sharing information with relevant parties such as funeral directors, medical professionals including your GP, district nursing team and coroner if appropriate.

Staff

We use data provided by Employees (including potential employees applying for positions) to:

  • Conduct background checks in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements applying to registered care homes including staff reference requests.
  • Set up personnel files and produce payroll information
  • Fulfil reporting requirements to the Care Quality Commission (we are part of the National Minimum Data Set “NMDS”)
  • Perform competency and staff performance reviews
  • Produce training records
  • Implement risk assessments
  • Data may be collected at the request of our regulator the Care Quality Commission.

Third Party personal information

Before you share any information with us about other people (for example where the Representative of a resident or potential resident) you must make sure that you have their informed consent.

Anonymous, aggregated data collected

We may also gather information about our service that is typically anonymous and the analytics that we share for this purpose will not identify you as an individual.  We refer to this as “non-personal” information. The collection of this non-personal data may be for the following reasons:

  1. In order for us to learn more about our residents and staff, in order to improve our service.  
  2. Assisting the Care Quality Commission with our registration requirements.
  3. Liaising with other governing bodies such as Kent County Council with our regulatory requirements.
  4. Completing National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) online database records.
  5. Any other government agency such as the Competition and Markets Authority, academic surveys.

 

This data is collected as part of our legal duties in our industry and as part of ongoing continuous improvement.

Where is your personal information kept?

We retain both paper “hard’ copies and electronic “soft” copies of personal information. We maintain security controls outlined below. Access to information is restricted to staff requiring access to perform the services provided by us. All staff are informed of their duties of confidentiality and are contractually bound by such duties.

How long will we keep your data for?

We hold personal information for as long as it is reasonably necessary to do so, having regard to the purposes for which it was collected and the purposes for which it is to be used.  We also have a document retention schedule that sets out the timeframes for which we keep and then securely destroy or delete records and data.

It may not be always possible to completely delete the data due to technical constraints.  We also retain a back-up archive of data (only accessible by the Company) where this is necessary to resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems and enforce Term and Conditions.  However, we keep this data under periodic review to ensure it is still necessary for us to retain it, in compliance with UK data protection law.

Controlling information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:  

  • Whenever we ask for information, you will be given a consent form.  You do not need to provide your consent but if you are not willing to provide consent this may limit the steps we can take – for example, completing required pre-employment checks that are necessary before making an offer of employment or completing a mandatory pre-residential assessment.
  • If we ask for any optional information (which will be clearly identified), you can choose whether or not to provide it.
  • You may request details of the personal information which we hold about you.  A small fee may be payable depending on the nature of the request and which we will discuss with you in advance.  If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you please contact the Registered Manager.
  • You may also contact us to update or amend your personal information or to request that we delete your personal information or withdraw your consent, subject to where we have legal or regulatory duties to retain information.

 

Security of your personal information

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is secure.  In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the personal information we collect.

Personal information is not on display without consent and files are stored securely.  Access to computerised records is limited.

Registration information

Beulah Lodge is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller (Registration Number ZA052655).

Beulah Lodge is registered with the Care Quality Commission (Registration Number 23890).

How to make a complaint

If you wish to report a concern about how we have handled your information please contact the Registered Manager.

If you remain unsatisfied by our response, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office below:

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

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number

Fax: 01625 524 510

https://ico.org.uk/concerns