Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

Buoyant Care UK Ltd recognises that we have a duty of confidentiality to our Residents and staff. We believe that respecting an individual's right to a private life, which includes confidentiality, is important in ensuring a trusting, caring and supportive environment where both Residents and staff are confident that information about them will be protected safely and not shared inappropriately or unnecessarily. This notice is to inform you what data we hold about you and why, what we do with that data, and informs you of your rights regarding the personal information we hold under current data protection law.

What information we hold and why

Buoyant care will store and process personal data related to our website users for referrals, whistle-blowing concerns, complaints, compliments and any other general enquiries. Personal data held in relation to these enquiries include:

your name, contact telephone number, email address, home address;
enquiry details;

We process personal data with your express consent to respond to any comments or complaints we may receive from you, and/or in accordance with our legitimate interests including to investigate any complaints received from you or from others, about our website or services.

Buoyant care will also store personal data related to our website users to help us select services or materials for inclusion on the Website that may be of interest to our customers. Personal information in relation to this service include:

internet browser, IP address and operating system;
information related to the browser or device you use to access our website;

Where we obtained your information

We obtain data directly from you via our Buoyant care website.

The Lifeways Group website may contain links to other sites that may request additional information from you. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other web sites to which link from our site.

Sensitive Data Types

No sensitive data types are collected or processed.

Profiling

No automated profiling or decision-making on data subjects will take place.

What we do with the data

Information collected by Buoyant care will only be used to communicate with our customers. We will use your personal information to:

monitor use of our websites and online services. We may use your information to help us check and improve our services and websites, both online and offline, in accordance with our legitimate interests;
communicate with you about the enquiries you have submitted with your consent;
gain feedback from our customers, in order to improve our services.

Any details we do retain will be stored in secure systems in line with the data protection principles of integrity and confidentiality.

Who we share the data with

Your details may be passed on third parties, but that is not for any purposes other than the purposes mentioned above.

Categories of third parties are as follows:

we may pass your information to third parties who help us to maintain, administer or develop the website but, if so, that information is only given to those third parties for that limited purpose. We also monitor traffic patterns and usage of our website to help us improve our website design and layout.
we may engage third parties to help carry out the Buoyant care marketing and promotional communications.
we may disclose your personal information to government bodies and law enforcement agencies to comply with any legal obligations, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our staff, our company or others.

Transfer outside of the EEA

We do not transfer your data outside of the EEA.

How long we keep your data

As long as you have an outstanding enquiry with us, we will consider you to be an active customer and will retain your personal data outlined above. Buoyant care will delete customer enquiries known to be no longer required within 6 months of inactivity. However, should you wish to have any personal data erased, you may invoke your rights as described in the section below.

Your rights

Buoyant care recognise the rights of the data subject in regard to this data processing. As a data subject, you have:

the right to access personal data held, and to portability, by requesting a copy of the information held.
the right to rectification should any errors be noticed.
the right to erasure, by requesting that we delete your data held at any time, should that data no longer be necessary for us to keep.
the right to restrict processing, e.g. by asking us not to send marketing communications with you.
the right to be informed once the erasure, rectification or restriction has been actioned.
the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority (The Information Commissioner’s Office).

Furthermore

It is the policy of Buoyant Care UK Ltd that we will only share information that is in the best interest of the Residents and with their consent. Sharing of information will be carried out in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018, Mental Capacity Act and Best Interests policies and procedures at Buoyant Care UK Ltd. We aim to comply with the relevant legislation and include the Caldicott Principles.

1. Caldicott Guardian
Buoyant Care UK Ltd understands its obligations to appoint a Caldicott Guardian in line with guidance from the National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care.
Further information is available in the Caldicott Guardian Policy and Procedure.

2. Core Principles of Confidentiality

All staff will ensure that all Resident information remains confidential. Residents have the right to expect that personal information held about them is not accessed, used or disclosed improperly

The same duty of confidentiality applies to personal information about staff with the exception of names and job titles. Information about Directors, which is published, and therefore is a matter of public record, is also excepted.

All staff have the individual responsibility for ensuring that they conform to the Caldicott principles, UK GDPR, Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and Article 8 Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998

Staff must not inappropriately access, misuse or share any information or allow others to do so. Staff are personally liable for deliberate or reckless breaches of the UK GDPR, Data Protection Act and may be liable to disciplinary action and/or prosecution

Any personal information given or received in confidence for one purpose may not generally be used for a different purpose, or passed to anyone else without the consent of the provider of the information

3. The Position of Buoyant Care UK Ltd on Confidentiality
We will share with Residents, their families and their carers, as far as the law allows, the information
they want or need to know about their health, care and ongoing treatment, sensitively and in a way
that they can understand.

Confidential information will not be used for a different purpose or passed on to anyone else without the consent of the information provider
There may be occasions when it could be detrimental to the Resident or to another individual if this principle is strictly adhered to
There is a recognition that breaches of confidence are often unintentional. They are often caused by staff conversations being overheard, by files being left unattended, or by poor computer security. However, the consequences could be equally serious for all concerned
Buoyant Care UK Ltd will ensure that personally identifiable information will always be held securely and, when used, treated with respect. This rule will apply regardless of€where€the information is held
Although the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act no longer applies to identifiable data that relate to a person once they have died, we respect that any duty of confidence established prior to death€continues after a€Resident€has€died
All information regarding the Residents we support will be treated with respect and integrity
We will be transparent in our approach to ensure that anyone associated with Buoyant Care UK Ltd
(whether Resident, staff or visitor) is fully aware of how, what, when, who and why we share any information about them and source their agreement before doing so

4. All relevant staff will be bound by their professional code of ethics issued by their relevant licensing body, such as the General Medical Council, The Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Support Workers will follow the Skills for Care Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England.

5. All staff must sign a confidentiality agreement as part of their contract of employment (a template canbe found within the forms section of this policy). The confidentiality agreement also extends to agency andcontract workers.

6. Responsibilities - Registered Manager

Ensuring that systems and processes are in place for the security of records€and they are reviewed to ensure that they remain fit for purpose
Ensuring that all staff understand this policy at the start of employment and that its importance is reiterated during supervision or team meetings
Ensuring€that staff have received€the appropriate training and are competent in their role
Reviewing, monitoring and auditing practice within Buoyant Care UK Ltd to ensure that staff remain knowledgeable
Acting on any breaches in confidentiality in a timely manner and notifying the appropriate bodies
Ensuring that confidentiality rules are never used as a barrier to sharing appropriate information and fulfilling Duty of Candour obligations

7. Responsibilities - All staff will ensure the following:

That information received is effectively protected against improper disclosure when it is received, stored, transmitted and disposed of
That confidential information is only accessed if it is appropriate to the job you undertake
That every effort is made to ensure that Residents understand how information about them will be used before they supply any confidential information
That when Residents give consent to the disclosure of information about them, they understand what will be disclosed, the reasons for disclosure and the likely consequence/s .
That Residents understand when information about them is likely to be disclosed to others, and that they have the opportunity to withhold their permission
If disclosing€information outside the team that could have personal consequences for the Resident, that consent is obtained from the Resident
If the Resident withholds consent, or if consent cannot be obtained for whatever reason, disclosures may be made only where:
They can be justified in the public interest (usually where disclosure is essential to protect the Resident or someone else from the risk of significant harm)
They are required by law or by order of a court
If required to disclose confidential information, staff will only release as much information as is
necessary for the purpose
That the person(s) to whom information is disclosed€understands that it is given to them in confidence which they must respect
When disclosing€confidential information, staff€must be prepared to explain and justify the decision. Where there are doubts, they will discuss them with Vanita Aggarwal
Queries concerning this policy will be brought to the attention of Vanita Aggarwal
During the induction period for new staff, they will be made aware of this policy and their individual responsibilities