Privacy Policy

Who we are

Specialist Care Limited is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 11826141.

Our registered office is:

Unit 3

Millennium House

Gapton Hall Road

Great Yarmouth

Norfolk

NR31 0NL

Specialist Care Limited is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

Our Data Protection Officer is Joshua Nyamse:

Email: joshua@specialist-care.co.uk

Telephone: 01493 804020

We process personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable data-protection legislation.

What this policy covers

This policy explains how we use personal information collected through this website.

Separate privacy notices may apply to people receiving our services, employees and other individuals whose information we process outside the website. We will provide those notices when appropriate.

If you apply for a position through the website, the recruitment section of this policy applies to your information.

Information you give us

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect:

• your name;
• email address;
• telephone number;
• organisation and professional role;
• your relationship to a person being referred;
• the type of service being enquired about;
• correspondence, enquiries and feedback;
• referral information;
• information about another person included in a referral;
• health, care and support information;
• safeguarding or risk information;
• employment history and qualifications;
• your CV and application information; and
• any other information you choose to include in a form or correspondence.

Please only provide information about another person where you are authorised or otherwise have a lawful basis to do so. This might be because you are their social worker, professional representative or a family member acting on their behalf.

Do not upload or include complete care plans, medical records or other detailed confidential documents through the general website form. Contact us first so that we can arrange an appropriate method of secure transfer.

Information collected automatically

We do not currently use analytics, advertising or visitor-profiling software.

When you use the website, our hosting and technical service providers may record information in server and security logs, including:

• your IP address;
• browser and device information;
• the page or file requested;
• the referring webpage;
• the date and time of the request; and
• information concerning errors or suspected malicious activity.

This information is used to operate, secure and troubleshoot the website. We do not use these logs to create advertising profiles or follow visitors across different websites.

The contact page also loads a map from OpenStreetMap. This causes technical information, including your IP address and browser information, to be sent to OpenStreetMap. Please see our Cookie and Similar Technologies Policy for further details.

How we use your information and our lawful bases

• Purpose: Responding to general enquiries and feedback

Information used: Contact details and correspondence

Lawful basis: Our legitimate interests in communicating with people interested in our organisation and services.

• Purpose: Assessing referrals and possible placements

Information used: Contact details, referral information, care needs, risks and support information

Lawful basis: Our legitimate interests and, where applicable, taking steps connected with providing requested services.

• Purpose: Providing or arranging health and social care

Information used: Health, care and support information

Lawful basis: The applicable Article 6 lawful basis and Article 9(2)(h), concerning the provision or management of health or social care.

• Purpose: Protecting people and responding to safeguarding concerns

Information used: Contact details, health information, risk information and safeguarding information

Lawful basis: Compliance with a legal obligation, protection of vital interests or our legitimate interests, depending on the circumstances.

• Purpose: Receiving and assessing job applications

Information used: Contact details, CV, employment history and application information

Lawful basis: Taking steps at the applicant’s request before potentially entering into an employment contract, and our legitimate interests in recruitment.

• Purpose: Operating and protecting the website

Information used: IP address, website request information and security logs

Lawful basis: Our legitimate interests in maintaining a safe, secure and reliable website.

• Purpose: Meeting legal, regulatory and insurance requirements

Information used: Relevant enquiry, referral, application or service information

Lawful basis: Compliance with our legal obligations and our legitimate interests in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Health information is special-category personal data. Where Article 9(2)(h) applies, we process it in accordance with the relevant health and social-care condition in Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and applicable duties of confidentiality.

We do not sell or rent personal information or use it for third-party marketing. We do not currently send marketing emails or operate a newsletter.

Recruitment

When you apply through the website, we use your information to:

• assess your suitability for employment;
• communicate with you about your application;
• arrange interviews;
• verify information where appropriate; and
• comply with employment and safeguarding requirements.

If your application progresses, we will provide further privacy information covering recruitment checks and employment records.

Who we share information with

Where necessary, we may share information with:

• our website-hosting and content-management providers;
• our email-delivery and Microsoft 365 providers;
• organisations providing IT support and website maintenance;
• commissioners, local authorities and healthcare professionals involved in a referral;
• regulatory bodies, including the Care Quality Commission and Ofsted;
• professional advisers, insurers and auditors;
• safeguarding authorities, emergency services or the police; and
• other organisations where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Suppliers acting as our data processors are required to process information only on our instructions and to protect it appropriately.

We will only share information that is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

International transfers

Our website and email services use infrastructure located in the United Kingdom and European Economic Area.

Some technology suppliers may provide support or processing from other countries. Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that an appropriate safeguard applies, such as:

• UK adequacy regulations;
• the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;
• the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses; or
• another legally recognised safeguard.

You can ask our Data Protection Officer for further information about the safeguards used for a particular transfer.

How long we retain information

We retain information only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, regulatory, safeguarding and insurance requirements.

Our normal website retention periods are:

• general enquiries and feedback: up to two years after the matter is closed;
• referrals that do not result in a placement: up to one year after the referral is closed;
• successful referrals: transferred to the person’s care record and retained under our service-user retention schedule;
• unsuccessful job applications: normally six months after the recruitment decision;
• speculative CVs: up to six months, unless the applicant agrees to a longer period; and
• website security logs: for the period reasonably required for security and troubleshooting.

Information may be retained longer where necessary for safeguarding, complaints, legal proceedings or regulatory requirements.

Our full retention schedule is available from our Data Protection Officer.

Confirm that these periods match your internal retention schedule before publishing.

How we protect information

We use technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal information, including:

• encrypted website connections;
• access controls;
• restricted access to mailboxes and records;
• staff confidentiality requirements;
• supplier contracts; and
• appropriate security and incident-management procedures.

Website form submissions are delivered to authorised staff. They are not intended to remain permanently stored within the public website.

No internet transmission can be guaranteed completely secure. Please contact us before sending detailed clinical records or other highly confidential documents so that we can arrange an appropriate secure method.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

• request access to your personal information;
• have inaccurate information corrected;
• request erasure;
• restrict the way we use your information;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent where processing relies on consent; and
• complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

These rights are not absolute and may not apply to every type of processing.

We normally respond to rights requests within one calendar month. Where a request is complex or several requests have been made, this may be extended by up to two additional months. We will explain any extension. ICO time-limit guidance

To exercise your rights, contact joshua@specialist-care.co.uk.

We may request proportionate information to confirm your identity or authority to act for another person.

Automated decision-making

We do not make decisions about people solely by automated means and do not use website information for automated profiling.

Other websites

This website contains links to external websites, including regulator and OpenStreetMap websites. We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please read their privacy information before providing personal information.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal information, you can complain to our Data Protection Officer:

Joshua Nyamse

Email: joshua@specialist-care.co.uk

Telephone: 01493 804020

Address: Unit 3, Millennium House, Gapton Hall Road, Great Yarmouth, NR31 0NL

Please provide:

• your name and preferred contact details;
• a description of your concern;
• relevant dates or reference numbers; and
• the outcome you are seeking.

We aim to acknowledge complaints sooner, but will acknowledge them no later than 30 days after receipt. We will investigate appropriately, keep you informed and communicate the outcome without undue delay.

You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office without contacting us first:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: Make a complaint to the ICO

Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least annually and whenever our website, suppliers, processing activities or applicable law change.

The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated.