This Privacy Statement sets out the data processing practices carried out by Healthwatch Trafford. We retain and use personal data (information that relates to and identifies living people) to help us carry out our role as the national independent champion for people who use health and social care services.

We use personal data (information that relates to and identifies living people) and other information to help us to carry out our role as the independent champion of local people who use health and social care services.

For more information about the Healthwatch purpose and role, see this page. 

Find out more about our purpose and what we do

We will always make sure that your information is protected and treated securely. Any information about you that we hold, or details you give us, will be held in accordance with:

  • Data protection law - the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018
  • CQC's Information Governance Policies
  • CQC's Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information.

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information.

Contact details

Healthwatch Trafford

12-14 Shaw’s Road, 

Altrincham, 

Cheshire, 

WA14 1QU, GB

Telephone: 0300 999 0303

Email: info@healthwatchtrafford.co.uk

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect feedback and views from people via forms on our website, via surveys, interviews and focus groups about the health and social care services that they access. We analyse the data to identify issues of concern which we’ll take up with government or the NHS.

We’ll tell you what information we are asking for and how we’ll use it before we start collecting it. We will not usually collect your personal data or use it in ways that you have not agreed to.

Our role in being the public champion for people who use health and social care is set out in law. This gives us a lawful basis to process personal data under Article 6(1)(e) of GDPR.

We collect or use the following information 

  • Name, address and contact details
  • Health information (including medical conditions, allergies, medical requirements and medical history)
  • Information about care needs (including disabilities, home conditions, dietary requirements and general care provisions)
  • Relevant information from previous investigations
  • Records of meetings and decisions

We collect this information when you share your experience of health and care with the Healthwatch in your area and process this information under a legal basis called 'public task'. 

We process the names, email addresses and phone numbers of people who work or volunteer for the Healthwatch network, those who use our online community platform, Facebook Workplace, sign up for our webinars, e-learning or other events or for our newsletter and other communications. We process this information Article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR.

When you sign up to our newsletters, we collect your first and last name and your email address from you so we can:

  • send you the information you've asked for
  • let you know when and how we'll be contacting you in the future
  • When you subscribe, you give us permission to process your information and contact you. You might do this by:
    • ticking a consent box on a sign-up form
    • completing a form or survey on our website
    • asking Healthwatch England staff to add you to a mailing list
    • You can unsubscribe at any time - click on the 'unsubscribe' link in your newsletter or email.

This data may also include sensitive details about you. This helps us understand how different groups experience local health and social care services and supports our focus on improving equality, diversity and inclusion. This may include your:

  • Health conditions and treatment
  • Ethnic origin
  • Religion or belief
  • Sexual orientation

We’re allowed to collect and use sensitive information under a legal basis called ‘health or social care (with a basis in law)’. This is because:

  • of our role in speaking up for all people who use health or social care services in Trafford
  • As a public body, we must ensure we consider the needs and disadvantages faced by people with protected characteristics

We may use quotes in our reports, but we will not use any information that will identify you.

When you use our website we collect your IP address and the pages you visit. We seek your consent to use non-essential cookies when you first visit our website.  We use Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies to help analyse how people use our site. For further details about our cookie settings, see this page on the Healthwatch England website.

We don’t routinely process children’s data.  However, there are occasions where we are required to gather data which may include that of children as part of a national or local research campaign for a specific topic.  On the occasions when we capture children’s data the source data may include physical or online surveys, interview recordings or notes of meetings contemporaneously taken by our staff.  We ensure that this data is anonymised as it is transcribed onto our systems and the source data is removed from our computers or devices as soon as it has been transcribed onto our systems.  We provide access to a crosscut shredder or confidential waste disposal bags to destroy physical copies of the data.  Electronic data is deleted from our systems and back ups as soon as it is no longer required.  

Your data protection rights

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are in brief set out below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

Where we get personal information from

We collect your personal data in the following ways:

  • Directly from you
  • Family members or carers
  • Charities or voluntary sector organisations
  • Publicly available sources
  • Councils and other public sector organisations

What we do to keep your data safe

We are strongly committed to data security and we take all possible steps to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption.

We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information you provide to us.

Only authorised employees and contractors under strict controls will have access to your personal data. We also require our staff to undertake training on data protection when they join the organisation and refresher training every year to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

How long we keep information

We follow the Healthwatch England a retention and disposal schedule (https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/privacy#AssetRegister) which explains how long we keep different types of records and documents for, including records and documents containing personal data. Personal data is deleted or securely destroyed at the end of its retention period.

This document also shows the legal basis under Article 6 of GDPR for processing each type of record and document. Where records and documents contain ‘special category’ personal data (such as health information, or information about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or sex life or sexuality), the document also shows the legal basis under Article 9 for Healthwatch’s processing of that information. 

This document is available on request.

Who we share information with

We only share personal data with other organisations such as health providers (eg GPs and consultants) and care providers where it is lawful to do so and in accordance with CQC’s Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information.  Usually we will share anonymised data. 

We do not use personal data for direct marketing (promoting or selling goods, services etc.) or share information with anyone else who will use it for direct marketing, unless you have specifically consented to this.

We work together with other local Healthwatch organisations and Healthwatch England to share information, expertise and learning to improve health and social care services in England. 

We access the information people share with us via our web-form or online surveys and share it with other local Healthwatch organisations and Healthwatch England to help us spot trends both nationally and locally to identify areas for improvement.

We will only disclose your personal data where there is another very good reason to make the disclosure – for example, we may disclose information to CQC or a local authority where we think it is necessary to do so in order to protect a vulnerable person from abuse or harm.

We sometimes use other organisations to process personal data on our behalf. Where we do this, those companies are required to follow the same rules and information security requirements as us, and are not permitted to reuse the data for other purposes.

We don’t routinely share information outside the UK.  However, our accessibility tool provider is Userway who are based in Israel.  We have a data sharing agreement in place with Userway to protect the data rights of our service users.

Duty of confidentiality

We are subject to a common law duty of confidentiality. However, there are circumstances where we will share relevant health and care information. These are where:

  • you’ve provided us with your consent (we have taken it as implied to provide you with care, or you have given it explicitly for other uses);
  • we have a legal requirement (including court orders) to collect, share or use the data;
  • on a case-by-case basis, the public interest to collect, share and use the data overrides the public interest served by protecting the duty of confidentiality (for example sharing information with the police to support the detection or prevention of serious crime);
  • the requirements of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 are satisfied.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

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

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint