Privacy notice

We ask that you read our privacy statement carefully as it contains important information on how and why we collect, store, use and share personal information. It will also explain your rights and how you can contact us with regards to data enquiries.

Introduction

Abbots Care understands, respects, and values the privacy of everyone, we also understand that you care about how your personal data is used and shared. However, for us to be able to offer you the correct package of employment, care or support, we need to collect and use certain personal information about you.

Personal information means any information about you from which you can be identified, but it does not include information where your identity has been removed (anonymous data).

As the ‘controller’ of personal information, Abbots Care Ltd are responsible for how that data is managed. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies in the United Kingdom and across the European Union, sets out our obligations to you and your rights in respect of how we manage your personal information.

As the ‘controller’ of your personal information, Abbots Care Ltd will ensure that the personal information we hold about you is:

Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way
Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes
Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes
Accurate and kept up to date
Kept only if necessary for the purposes we have told you about
Kept securely

GDPR Privacy Policy

How we use cookies on our website

We use cookies to tailor our content and digital advertising, provide social media features and analyse our website traffic so that we can provide the best service for of customers. We do not use cookies to collect any personal data. By clicking the ‘Accept Cookies’ on our website, you will help us ensure we are providing our customers with relevant content and resources.

Information collected by us

When you enquire about our products and services through our website, phone, email, post, face to face, external application forms and or social media, and while providing products and services to you we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

Your name, home address, date of birth and contact details (including your telephone number, email address)
Your allergies and any medical, physical, or mental conditions and your care needs
Your likes, dislikes, and lifestyle preferences (including your religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, racial or ethnic origin, politics, genetics, health, marital status and sexuality trade union membership or biometrics (as far as they relate to providing you with suitable care)
Credit, direct debit details or other payment information (if you pay for some or all our services using one of these methods)
Your feedback and contributions to questionnaires and surveys about the service we offer
Your complaints, compliments, or concerns about the service we provide
Any accidents and incidents or near misses you may have been involved in whist on our premises or whilst our employees are delivering a regulated service to you – this may include details of injuries and treatment you may have received.
When using our website, we collect standard internet log information including IP address and details of the pages you visit
The provision of your medical, physical, or mental condition is necessary to enable us to create a care plan and to provide you with suitable care and support services. Without this information, we will not be able to assess your care needs or provide any care services to you.
Information through our website, which is statistical information only which we collect to find out the numbers of visitors to our site and the pages they have visited. This information collected in such a way that it is not used to identify individuals. Where we do collect personal information on the website, this will be made obvious to you through the relevant pages.

Information collected from other sources

Abbots Care Ltd work closely with third parties such as social and healthcare professionals and public bodies to ensure that we are able to provide you with a safe and effective service. Some of the information that we may be required to collect may include: –

Your allergies and any medical, physical, or mental conditions, test results and your care and support needs, from any appropriate external social or health care professionals (including your GP)
Your name, home address, date of birth, contact details, needs assessments from any appropriate external social or health care professionals
Your likes, dislikes, and lifestyle preferences (including your religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature, racial or ethnic origin, politics, genetics, health, sex life, marital status and sexuality (so far as they relate to providing you with suitable care) from your family, friends and any other person you have nominated as your representative
Your legal representative (for example Lasting Power of Attorney), if applicable

How we use your personal information

Abbots Care Ltd will only use your personal information to:

Prepare, review, and update a suitable care plan, describing the nature and level of care and support services which you have requested we supply to you
To communicate with you, your representatives and any appropriate external social or health care professionals about your individual needs and personalise the service delivered to you
Make reasonable adjustments, when required, to meet your individual needs and to ensure we have suitable facilities to ensure your safety
Invoice you for the care and support services in accordance with our terms and conditions
Carry out quality assurance procedures, review our service and improve our customer experience (please note that feedback can also be provided anonymously)
Send information about our services which we believe you may be interested in. You may unsubscribe from this at any time
Notify you about changes to our services which are relevant to you
Monitor how effective our services are and to make sure that the services we provide meet your needs
Improve your experience of our website and to ensure that the content is presented in the most effective way.
To communicate with you opportunities of employment with us

The personal information we collect and use in relation to people who work in our service

Abbots Care will only process your personal information for legitimate business purposes. We collect, use, and transfer your personal information through automated and/or paper-based data processing systems. We have robust processing system in place (such as processing for regular payroll and benefits administration). We also process personal information on an occasional or ad hoc basis (such as when an employee is being considered for a new position or in the context of changes to its marital status for example).

We collect the following types of personal information:

Personal identification information, such as your name, home address, date of birth, gender, work- related photographs, and home phone number.
Government-issued identification numbers, such as national ID for payroll purposes.
Immigration, right-to-work and residence status.
DBS
Family and emergency contact details
Job-related information, such as years of service, work location, employment ID, work record, annual leave, and contract data
Educational and training information, such as your educational awards, certificates, vocational records and in-house training attendance
Recruitment and performance-related data, such as objectives, ratings, comments, feedback results, career history, work equipment, career and succession planning, skills and competencies and other work-related qualifications;
Information needed for compliance and risk management, such as disciplinary records, background check reports and security data
Payroll and payment or benefits-related information, such as salary and insurance information, dependents, government identifier or tax numbers, bank account details, and employment related benefits information.

How we use our employee’s personal data

Abbots Care Ltd will only use and share your personal information internally with the Operational, Finance and Learning & Development departments, for legitimate purposes, for example:

Payroll and Pension
Mandatory and update training matrix
Additional training requests
Career progression
Compliance and risk management

Sensitive personal information will not be collected, processed or transferred, except where adequate privacy protection mechanisms are in place and after having first obtained your informed consent, and if required by law. For example: –

A newly formed or acquiring organisation if Abbots Care Ltd is involved in a merger, sale or a transfer of some or all of its business;
Any recipient, if we are required to do so, such as by applicable court order or law;
Any recipient, with your consent, such as for employment verification or bank loans; or
Any recipient when reasonably necessary such as in the event of a life-threatening emergency

Abbots Care Ltd will hold your personal information

For the length of your contract plus 7 years
Obtain from our feedback questionnaires for 1 year so that we can identify trends and patterns in our service
Financial records for 7 years in line with our legal requirements.

Who we share your personal information with

Abbots Care will only share your personal information with: –

Appropriate external social or health care professionals (including your GP and pharmacist) and any individuals you have nominated as your representative as and when required.
Designated employees to establish the right care or support package to suit your individual circumstances.
Designated employees to provide safe and effective services to you.
Law enforcement or other authorities if legally required.
Public bodies to evidence our compliance with the applicable regulatory framework.
External social or health care professionals, including public bodies and local safeguarding groups (in some circumstances) to ensure your safety.

Abbots Care will not share, sell, or trade your personal information with any other third party without your consent. However, for us to be able to provide you with a safe and effective service we do rely on third parties to provide specialist support to us. All our third-party providers are under a written contract to ensure the same level of privacy and security that we promise to you. For example: –

IT and Telecoms Support companies – to ensure the safe, secure, and resilient operation of our IT infrastructure including computers, servers, phones, and mobile devices
Software support companies – to provide specialist support and resolve issues with the software that we run, for example the systems we use to store and manage your customer records
Marketing systems providers – to organise marketing communications and for the delivery and analysis of email communications
Data archiving companies – responsible for the secure storage and destruction of records.

How long your personal information will be kept

Abbots Care Ltd will hold your personal information: –

For the length of your contract plus 3 years
3 years from the date of the last entry
Obtain from our feedback questionnaires for 1 year so that we can identify trends and patterns in our service
Financial records and transactions for 7 years in line with our legal requirements

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on the following grounds within the GDPR:

Article 6(1)(a) – processing is conducted with your consent to process personal data for specified purposes
Article 6(1)(b) – processing is necessary for the performance of our contracts to provide individuals with care and support services
Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for us to demonstrate compliance with our regulatory framework and the law
Article 6(1)(f) – to process your personal data in pursuit of legitimate interests, which include;

Marketing purposes – the privacy impact on you is expected to be minimal. Marketing will be specific to services we believe are of interest to you using information from enquiries we receive from you, you can unsubscribe at any time

Corporate due diligence and financial modelling, service development and innovation – the privacy impact on you is expected to be minimal. We will process your data internally to ensure our business is stable, trusted and innovating to provide the best possible service to you
GDPR recognises that additional care is required when processing special category (sensitive) data such as your health. We process this under the following grounds within GDPR;
Article 9(2)(h) – processing is necessary for the provision of social care or the management of social care systems and services

International transfers

All Service Users and Employees personal data is stored and processed on systems that comply with the European Economic Area (EEA) and offer the same level of protection ion and rights over your data. This is done to provide our employee with your name, address, contact details and care needs information which they require to deliver a safe service. This information is only shared once you have accepted the employee as part of the service we provide.

For recruitment applicants only

To new applicants into our recruitment process your details will be retained on the Workable ATS system. [which stores data in the U.S and is fully compliant with EU data protection laws], and we will not share them with anyone else that is not involved with the hiring process of our employment positions. Our data policy conveys that if your application is unsuccessful we will delete your details from our system within 6 months. If we would like to proceed with this application for the “applied” role or other opportunities in our business, we will retain details on file for no longer than 2 years from application date. If you wish to have all details deleted or reviewed, please email recruitment@abbotscare.com with your request. This data is only collated for recruitment purposes only.

Refer a Friend

The bonus is payable once the candidate has completed their 3-month probation period after induction. The referred candidate must not have worked for Abbots Care in the last 12 months.

Training

*Fully-Funded Training – Our Induction Training course is fully-funded, on the condition that you remain employed by Abbots Care Ltd past your 3 month probationary period. Please note that if you terminate your contract during your 3 month probationary period, you will be charged for the training you have attended, and for the DBS check we have made.

*Paid Training – In addition to the course being fully-funded, you will be paid an hourly rate for the number of hours you have attended training. This is on the condition that you do not terminate your offer of employment or contract of employment before the first payroll date after your last day of training.

Please note that the courses and qualifications listed on our website are subject to change depending on the needs of the business and the requirements of our employees. Your induction training is part of the overall recruitment process and must be completed prior to commencing work and signing your contract of employment.

Following induction, you will shadow a senior care worker who will assess you. If we feel you require further training, this will be fully explained to you and further training will be provided. If you feel you require more training, you can request this by speaking to your line manager.

If you visit our Facebook page

Facebook uses cookies to track visitors to our business page. These cookies are set even if you do not have a Facebook account. They will track your Internet activities on and off Facebook. Despite the fact that only Facebook has access to the data from these cookies, not us, by creating and maintaining a Facebook business page, we are deemed responsible for the cookies being set. We have no way to prevent these cookies being used. We want to be as transparent as possible so you are aware of the way your data is being used by Facebook.

Facebook lead forms

Personal details provided on Facebook forms will be retained on the Workable ATS system. [which stores data in the U.S and is fully compliant with EU data protection laws], and we will not share them with anyone else that is not involved with the hiring process of our employment positions. Our data policy conveys that if your application is unsuccessful we will delete your details from our system within 6 months. If we would like to proceed with this application for the “applied” role or other opportunities in our business, we will retain details on file for no longer than 2 years from application date. If you wish to have all details deleted or reviewed, please email recruitment@abbotscare.com with your request. This data is only collated for recruitment purposes only.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to: –

Fair processing of information and transparency over how we use your use personal information
Access to your personal information and to certain other supplementary information that this Privacy Promise is already designed to address
Require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold
Require the erasure (i.e. deletion) of personal information concerning you, in certain situations. Please note that if you ask us to delete any of your personal information which we believe is necessary for us to comply with our contractual or legal obligations, we may no longer be able to provide care and support services to you
Receive the personal information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations
Object at any time to processing of personal information concerning you for direct marketing
Object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you
Object in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information
Otherwise restrict our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
Claim compensation for damages caused by our breach of any data protection laws

If you would like to exercise any of your GDPR rights as listed above, please:

Contact us using the details above – making clear that you wish to exercise one of your privacy rights
Let us have enough information to identify you (e.g. your name and address)
Let us have proof of your identity and address (a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill), and
Let us know the information to which your request relates, including any account or reference numbers, if you have them

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation https://ico.org.uk

Keeping your personal information secure

Abbots Care Ltd limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so. If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.

Changes to this privacy promise

This privacy promise was first published on 24th May 2018, and last updated on 23rd May 2018. We may change this privacy promise from time to time, when changes are significant we will draw your attention to this via email and on our website.

Do you need extra help?

If you would like this privacy promise in another format (for example: audio, large print, braille) please contact us.

Glossary

If you have any questions about this privacy statement or would like further explanation as to how your personal information is managed, then please contact us. Please note when we refer to:

A ‘public body‘ we mean any organisation in the United Kingdom which delivers, commissions or reviews a public service and includes (but is not limited to) the Ombudsman, local authorities, councils, unitary authorities, clinical commissioning groups, health and social care trusts, the National Health Service as well as their arm’s length bodies and regulators.
A ‘social or health care professional‘ we mean any person who provides direct services, acts as consultant or is involved in the commission of your healthcare or social care services, including (but not limited to) your general practitioner (GP), dental staff, pharmacists, nurses and health visitors, clinical psychologists, dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, hospital staff, social workers and other care and support related professionals.