Privacy Policy

Caring Hands East London Ltd respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, enquire about our care services, apply for employment or otherwise interact with us.

It also explains your rights in relation to your personal information.

Who We Are

Caring Hands East London Ltd (“Caring Hands”, “we”, “us” or “our”) provides care and support services.

For the purposes of applicable data protection law, Caring Hands East London Ltd is responsible for the personal information it processes as a data controller where it determines how and why that information is used.

Caring Hands East London Ltd
Imperial House
41 York Road
Ilford
Essex
IG1 3AD
United Kingdom

Company Number: 10384661
Telephone: 020 8478 0525
Email: info@caringhandseastlondon.com
Website: caringhandseastlondon.com

Caring Hands East London Ltd is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Personal Information We May Collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with us.

Information You Provide to Us

When you contact us, make an enquiry, request a call back, enquire about care or complete a form on our website, we may collect information such as:

your name;
telephone number;
email address;
postal address;
the name of the person requiring care;
your relationship to the person requiring care;
information about the type of care or support required;
preferred contact details;
location and service requirements;
information contained within messages or enquiries; and
any other information you choose to provide.

Care and Health Information

When you enquire about or receive care services, it may be necessary for us to process more sensitive information.

This may include information relating to:

physical or mental health;
disabilities;
medical conditions;
medication;
mobility;
care and support requirements;
dietary requirements;
allergies;
communication needs;
religious or cultural requirements where relevant to care;
emergency contacts;
healthcare professionals involved in your care; and
other information necessary to understand and safely meet care needs.

Health information and certain other sensitive information are treated as special category personal data and receive additional protection under data protection law.

Information About Service Users

Where Caring Hands East London Ltd provides care or support services, we may collect and maintain information necessary to plan, manage and deliver appropriate care.

Depending on the services provided, this may include:

personal and contact details;
care assessments;
care plans;
risk assessments;
health and medical information;
medication information;
daily care records;
mobility and accessibility requirements;
communication preferences;
emergency contact and next-of-kin information;
GP and healthcare professional details;
safeguarding information where applicable;
incidents or accidents;
complaints and feedback;
funding and payment information where applicable; and
records relating to the delivery and review of care.

We aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for the purpose for which it is required.

Information About Family Members and Representatives

Sometimes a family member, friend, advocate, attorney, representative or healthcare professional may contact us on behalf of a person requiring care.

In these circumstances, we may process information about both the person making the enquiry and the person requiring care.

If you provide personal information about another person, you should only provide information that you are entitled to share with us.

Recruitment and Employment Information

If you apply for a job or other position with Caring Hands East London Ltd, we may collect information including:

your name and contact details;
CV and employment history;
qualifications and training;
professional experience;
references;
right-to-work information;
identification information;
availability;
driving information where relevant to the role;
interview and assessment information;
professional registrations where applicable; and
other information relevant to your application.

Care roles may also require appropriate safeguarding and background checks.

Where legally permitted and appropriate to the role, this may include information relating to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

If your application is successful, additional information will be collected and processed as part of our employment and workforce administration procedures.

Information Collected Through Our Website

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically.

Depending on the technologies used on the website, this may include:

IP address;
browser type;
device type;
operating system;
pages visited;
referring website;
approximate location derived from technical information;
date and time of visits;
website interactions; and
cookie or similar technology information.

We may use this information to operate, secure and improve our website and to understand how visitors use it.

For further information about cookies and similar technologies, please see our Cookie Policy and cookie consent settings.

How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information to:

respond to enquiries;
arrange call backs;
discuss care requirements;
assess whether we can provide appropriate care or support;
carry out care assessments;
create and maintain personalised care plans;
provide and manage care services;
communicate with service users, families and authorised representatives;
coordinate with healthcare and social care professionals where appropriate;
maintain care and service records;
manage medication information where relevant to the care provided;
protect the health, safety and wellbeing of service users;
manage safeguarding concerns;
handle incidents and complaints;
process payments and administer accounts;
recruit and manage staff;
respond to job applications;
maintain the security and functionality of our website;
comply with regulatory and legal obligations;
maintain appropriate business and care records; and
establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

We will not use personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes for which it was collected unless permitted or required by law.

Our Lawful Bases for Processing

Data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

Processing may be necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract with you.

For example, this may apply when arranging and providing agreed care services.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal information where necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, employment, safeguarding, health and safety, record-keeping or other obligations that apply to us.

Legitimate Interests

We may process information where necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of another person, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

This may include operating our organisation, responding to enquiries, improving services, maintaining security and managing appropriate business communications.

Consent

Where appropriate, we may ask for your consent to process information for a specific purpose.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Vital Interests

In limited circumstances, information may be processed where necessary to protect someone’s life or vital interests.

Special Category Information

Because we provide care and support services, we may need to process special category personal information, particularly information concerning a person’s health.

Where special category information is processed, we will identify both an appropriate lawful basis and an additional condition permitting the processing of special category information.

Depending on the circumstances, this may include processing necessary for the provision or management of health or social care, employment and social protection obligations, safeguarding, substantial public interest, legal claims, vital interests or explicit consent where appropriate.

We apply additional safeguards to sensitive information in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

Who We May Share Personal Information With

We do not sell personal information.

Where necessary and lawful, information may be shared with appropriate organisations or individuals involved in providing, managing or regulating care and our organisation.

These may include:

authorised members of our care and management teams;
healthcare professionals;
GPs;
pharmacies;
hospitals;
NHS organisations;
local authorities and social services;
commissioners and funding bodies;
safeguarding authorities;
emergency services;
authorised family members, representatives or advocates;
professional advisers;
insurers;
payroll, accounting and administrative service providers;
IT, hosting and website service providers;
recruitment and employment service providers;
regulatory and inspection bodies;
the Care Quality Commission (CQC);
law enforcement agencies; and
courts or other public authorities where required by law.

We aim to share only information that is necessary and appropriate for the relevant purpose.

Where service providers process personal information on our behalf, we expect appropriate contractual, confidentiality and security arrangements to be in place.

Safeguarding and Emergencies

There may be circumstances where we need to share personal information without obtaining consent first.

For example, this may occur where we reasonably believe that:

a person is at risk of abuse, neglect or serious harm;
another person may be at risk;
there is an urgent medical emergency;
disclosure is required for safeguarding purposes; or
we are required to disclose information by law or an appropriate authority.

Any disclosure will be considered carefully and made only where there is an appropriate lawful basis for doing so.

Keeping Personal Information Secure

We take the security of personal information seriously.

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to protect personal information against:

unauthorised access;
accidental loss;
inappropriate disclosure;
alteration;
destruction; and
other unlawful processing.

Measures may include access controls, secure systems, password protection, staff training, confidentiality requirements, secure record keeping, appropriate backups and information security procedures.

Access to sensitive information is restricted to people who have an appropriate reason to access it.

How Long We Keep Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet applicable legal, regulatory, contractual and professional requirements.

Different categories of information may have different retention periods.

When determining how long information should be retained, we may consider:

the nature and sensitivity of the information;
the reason it was collected;
applicable care-sector record-keeping requirements;
safeguarding requirements;
employment requirements;
regulatory requirements;
tax and accounting obligations;
potential legal claims; and
whether the information remains necessary for the provision of our services.

When information is no longer required, we will take appropriate steps to securely delete, destroy or anonymise it where appropriate.

International Data Transfers

Some organisations providing technology, website, communications or other services to us may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection requirements.

Where required, this may include using recognised adequacy arrangements, contractual safeguards or another lawful transfer mechanism.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate correctly, remember preferences, improve security, understand website usage or provide other functionality.

Some cookies may be essential for the operation of the website, while others may require your consent before they are used.

Where consent is required, you should be provided with an appropriate choice through our cookie consent system.

You can find further information about the cookies used on our website in our Cookie Policy.

Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites operated by organisations such as regulators, review platforms, public authorities or other third parties.

Caring Hands East London Ltd does not control the privacy practices of independent third-party websites.

If you follow an external link, you should review the privacy information provided by that organisation.

Children’s Personal Information

Our services and website are not generally directed at children for independent use.

However, personal information relating to children or young people may be processed where this is necessary and lawful in connection with care, safeguarding, recruitment-related matters or another legitimate purpose.

Where children’s information is processed, we recognise that additional care and safeguards may be appropriate.

Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which your information is processed, you may have rights including:

Right of Access

You may have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Right to Rectification

You may ask us to correct personal information that is inaccurate or complete information that is incomplete.

Right to Erasure

In certain circumstances, you may ask us to delete your personal information.

This right is not absolute and may not apply where we are required or permitted to retain information.

Right to Restrict Processing

In certain circumstances, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information.

Right to Object

You may have the right to object to certain types of processing, particularly where processing is based on legitimate interests.

Right to Data Portability

In certain circumstances, you may have the right to receive personal information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or ask for it to be transferred to another organisation.

Right to Withdraw Consent

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

Rights Relating to Automated Decision-Making

You may have additional rights where a significant decision about you is made solely through automated processing.

Caring Hands East London Ltd does not intend to make significant care decisions about individuals solely through automated decision-making.

Some rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions and therefore may not apply in every situation.

Exercising Your Rights

If you wish to exercise a data protection right or have a question about how your information is handled, please contact us:

Email: info@caringhandseastlondon.com
Telephone: 020 8478 0525

Postal Address:
Caring Hands East London Ltd
Imperial House
41 York Road
Ilford
Essex
IG1 3AD
United Kingdom

We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests in order to protect personal information from unauthorised disclosure.

Complaints About the Use of Your Information

If you have concerns about how Caring Hands East London Ltd has handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and respond.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator.

Further information about your data protection rights and how to raise a concern is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, website, technology, business practices or applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The latest version will be published on our website.

Where appropriate, the “Last updated” date at the top of this policy will be changed when significant amendments are made.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy or the way Caring Hands East London Ltd handles personal information, please contact: