Adisham House – UK GDPR Privacy Information for Residents
Adisham House is committed to handling your personal information lawfully, fairly, securely and transparently. This notice explains what information we may hold about you as a current or former resident, why we use it, where it comes from, who we may share it with, how long we keep it and the rights you have.
Adisham House is the data controller. Contact: Adisham House, Pond Hill, Adisham, Near Canterbury, Kent CT3 3LH; telephone 01304 840170; email adishamhouse@btinternet.com.
The Data Protection Officer is Mr Jamie Bishop (Service Provider). In his absence, contact Mr Leigh Crocker (Registered Manager) using the details above.
We may process identity and contact details; photographs; emergency-contact, next-of-kin, representative, attorney or advocate details; NHS and healthcare identifiers; health and care information; medical history; diagnoses; medicines; allergies; mobility; nutrition; personal-care needs; mental and physical health; risk assessments; care plans; communication needs; disability information; capacity, consent and best-interest records; preferences, routines, interests, cultural needs and relevant religious or philosophical beliefs; funding and financial administration information; safeguarding information; incidents, accidents, complaints and concerns; hospital and healthcare contacts; CCTV images; and criminal-offence or safeguarding-related information where necessary and lawful.
We may obtain information from you and, where appropriate, your family, representative, attorney or advocate; local authorities, social workers and commissioners; GPs, hospitals, pharmacies, community services and other healthcare professionals; previous care providers; emergency services; safeguarding bodies; and other public authorities where appropriate.
We process information where necessary to provide and administer your care and accommodation, comply with legal obligations, protect vital interests, perform public-interest tasks where applicable, or pursue legitimate interests where appropriate and not overridden by your rights.
Purposes include assessing, planning, providing, reviewing and coordinating safe care; administering placements, fees and funding; communicating with people involved in your care; maintaining care, medication, incident and safeguarding records; meeting regulatory and safety duties; responding to emergencies; investigating complaints and incidents; preventing fraud or abuse; handling legal claims; and maintaining secure premises and systems.
Health and other sensitive information is special category data. We will identify an Article 6 lawful basis and an additional Article 9 condition. Depending on the activity, this may include provision or management of health or social care, substantial public interest such as safeguarding, vital interests, or explicit consent where consent is genuinely appropriate.
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out and does not prevent continued processing where another lawful basis applies.
We process criminal-offence information only where necessary, proportionate and permitted by law, for example in connection with safeguarding, protecting residents and others, or meeting legal obligations. The applicable legal condition and any required policy documentation will be recorded.
We may share necessary information with staff and managers involved in your care; GPs, pharmacies, hospitals, community nurses and other health or social care professionals; local authorities, commissioners, funding and safeguarding bodies; emergency services; professional advisers, insurers and contracted service providers; regulators, courts and public authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
We do not sell resident information. Service providers acting on our behalf must be subject to appropriate confidentiality, security and data-protection requirements.
Adisham House will identify whether any supplier, cloud service or other recipient processes resident information outside the UK. Where a restricted transfer occurs, an appropriate transfer mechanism and safeguards will be used and information about those safeguards will be available on request. This position will be reviewed when systems or suppliers change.
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect resident information against accidental or unlawful loss, alteration, destruction, disclosure or access. Access is restricted according to role and need.
Resident information is kept in accordance with the Adisham House Data Retention Schedule. Adult social care records, including care plans, are normally retained for 8 years from the end of the care episode or last entry; a new linked episode restarts the period. Where a longer clinical-specialty period applies, that longer period is used; for example, qualifying mental-health records may require 20 years or 10 years after death.
Resident complaint case files are retained for 10 years from closure after complaint, appeal and related litigation processes end. Non-serious incident investigation files are retained for 10 years from the incident date; serious incidents requiring investigation are retained for 20 years from the incident date or recorded closure.
Safeguarding files are retained according to the current safeguarding authority/framework and record inventory. Linked care material will normally align to the applicable care-record period, but records will be preserved for any open enquiry, inquiry or claim. A case-specific review is required rather than applying an invented universal period.
Routine CCTV is normally overwritten after 31 days. Footage preserved for an incident, request or claim is retained until the matter and applicable appeal/claim period close and is reviewed at least every 3 months. Visitor logs are retained for 12 months unless linked to an incident or safeguarding matter.
We do not intend to make decisions about you solely by automated means where the decision would have a legal or similarly significant effect. If this changes, we will provide the information and safeguards required by law.
Depending on the circumstances, your rights include being informed; access; rectification; erasure; restriction; data portability; objection; rights concerning automated decision-making; and withdrawal of consent where consent is relied upon. These rights are not absolute and some apply only in particular circumstances.
To exercise a right, contact the Data Protection Officer using the details in section 1.
If you are concerned about how your information has been handled, please contact the Data Protection Officer so that Adisham House can try to resolve the matter. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data-protection supervisory authority.
We review this notice regularly and update it where our use of information, service arrangements or data-protection requirements change. Important changes will be brought to residents' attention in an appropriate and accessible way. A representative or accessible explanation can be provided where needed.
