Privacy Notice

Hello! When you come to Alder Hey, we want you to feel safe, cared for, and heard. To help look after you, we ask for some information about you. Here’s how we use it:

What we need to know about you

We might write down things like:

• Who looks after you at home, so we know who to contact when we need to discuss your care.
• Your name and birthday, this is so we know we are talking and treating the correct person!
• Your address, to make sure your documents are sent to the correct home
• What makes you feel unwell, so we know how to treat you
• What helps make you feel better, so we can help make your stay as peaceful as possible

Why do we need it

We use this info to:

• Make sure we’re doing everything safely and properly; without this information, there may be a delay in your care because we won’t have up-to-date records of what is making you feel unwell.
• To give you the best care, we need to collect this information to ensure our staff know how to treat you as quickly and effectively as possible.
• Help your doctors and nurses understand how to help; this allows them to make notes to help diagnose and treat you during your visit to us.

Keeping it safe

Your information is locked away safely in our computers, and only special hospital helpers (like your doctor or nurse) can see it. We will regularly update and review these files to ensure all information is securely kept.
 

Who we share it with

Sometimes we talk to other doctors or helpers (like a lab that runs tests) to make sure you get everything you need; you may also need care from other organisations that will need information from us so they can plan the best treatment.

Some conditions or infectious diseases must be added to national registers. Sometimes this does require a patient’s name, but if this is the case, we will tell you

There may be occasions when we will be obliged to share your information in order to comply with a court order, coroner’s instruction, to prevent or detect crime or to comply with the law. Where we do this, we will process your personal and/or special category data to comply with a legal obligation to which Alder Heyis subject.

Sometimes your parents or carers may need access to your information, however they don’t have an automatic right to the information as it still belongs to you!

So, in line with Alder Hey policy and guidance issued from the Information Commissioner’s Office, organisations must take reasonable steps to verify the identity of any person making a subject access request prior to releasing any personal information, particularly where the personal data is sensitive personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018, which includes health data.

We must ensure that disclosing your information is in your best interest, and that verifying your identity and confirming parental responsibility are key requirements before releasing any information. Information can be shared and requested in various ways, such as via online forms, email, and verbal requests; however, all checks must be completed to ensure we are disclosing to the correct individuals, in the safest ways.

We are a teaching hospital

We help teach the next generation of doctors and nurses; this is extremely important for the NHS and your care.

But don’t worry, they are properly taught and supervised whilst they are with us, however you have the choice to refuse to have any students take part in your treatment.

Things that may happen with your information during teaching and/or research

• Students’ training may involve reviewing some of your records and test results
• If any of our students or staff are involved in any research project and would like to provide their information, you or your guardian will be informed.
• Permission from yourself or a guardian will be asked for whenever it may be possible to identify any patient individually.

All students are fully aware that it is their duty to keep any information they use during their training confidential.

National opt out

You can choose whether your confidential patient information is used for research and planning. You can view or change your national data opt-out choice at any time by using the online service on the NHS website at www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/  

What allows us to collect your information

The Data Protection Act requires all information to be kept safe and gives all patients certain rights. 

• Patients, or their guardians, have the right to see the information which we keep.
• All information is kept securely, and only those who need it to help with treatment have access to it. 
• We only pass on the information about our patients if the other person has a genuine need to know or to protect your health. 
• We only pass on the information which is needed and no more. 
• You have the right to ask for us to correct incorrect data
• The Data Controller is Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

Each type of record is held for a certain amount of time before it is recognised as no longer being needed and can be confidentially destroyed. National time periods are shown in the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016’ 

Unless subject to an exemption, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

1. To be informed – this enables you to be informed how your data is processed.
2. Right of access – this enables you to receive a copy of the personal information held about you and to check the lawful processing.
3. To rectification – this enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information held about you corrected.
4. To erasure – this enables you to ask to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for continuing to process it.
5. To restrict processing – this enables you to ask to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example, if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
6. To data portability – this enables you to transfer your electronic personal information to another party.
7. To object – this enables you to object to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
8. In relation to automated decision making & profiling, this enables you to be told if your data is being processed using automated software.

We have a legal basis for collecting your data

The legal basis for data protection under the GDPR includes the following six lawful bases for processing personal data:

• Consent: The individual has given clear consent for you to process their personal data for a specific purpose. 
• Contract: Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the individual or to take steps at their request before entering into a contract. 
• Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject. 
• Vital Interests: Processing is necessary to protect someone’s life. 
• Public Task: Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority. 
• Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject. 

Have your say and get in touch

If you want to know what we’ve written about you, you can ask a grown-up to help you. If something’s not right, we can fix it!

If you, or someone advocating for you would like to speak anyone regarding anything above, or how to request your information, we can be contacted in the following ways:

• Subject Access Requests (your own personal files) – [email protected]
• Freedom of Information Requests (recorded information about Alder Hey) – [email protected]
• General Questions relating to Data Protection within Alder Hey – Infogov.alderhey.nhs.uk
• Data Protection Officer, Wyn Taylor – [email protected]

Or speak to one of Alder Hey’s representatives in the Foyer or at your next appointment

If you have any complaints regarding how we have handled your Data, please contact us by email at [email protected], telephone via 0303 123 1113, or postal Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF