Why we collect information about you:

 At Friends For Lives we aim to provide you with the highest quality of support. To do this we must keep records about you, your wellbeing and the support we have provided or plan to provide to you.

These records may include:

Basic details about you such as address, date of birth, next of kin

Contact we have had with you such as advice and guidance visits

Notes and reports about your wellbeing

Details and records about your support and activities

Results of questionnaires

Relevant information from people who support you such as health professionals etc.

The people who support you use your records to:

Provide a good basis for all support decisions made in consultation with you and other support professionals

Deliver appropriate support.

Make sure your support is safe and effective.

Work effectively with others providing you with support

Others may also need to use records about you to:

Check the quality of support (such as standards audit)

Keep track of spending (funding audit)

Help manage Friends For Lives services

Help investigate any concerns or complaints made about your support

Teach support workers and help with research.

Some information will be held centrally to be used for statistical purposes .

In these instances we take strict measures to ensure that individual clients cannot be identified. We use anonymous information, wherever possible, but on occasions we may use personal identifiable information for essential purposes such as auditing. Where your personal information is used it will be either to meet contractual and/or legal requirements or it will be with your informed consent. If your consent is requested you may say no and it will have no negative impact on your support. You may also withdraw your consent at any time.

You have the right to confidentiality under the Data Protection Act 2018, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidence (the Disability Discrimination and the Race Relations Acts may also apply). These rights have been added to by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with the following rights:

You have the right of access. You can ask to see all records about you.

Your request must be made in writing to the organisation holding your information

We are required to respond to you within 30 working days.  You will need to give adequate information (for example full name, address, date of birth etc.)  You will be required to provide ID before any information is released to you.  You can request that we delete your information but some data is protected, such as data used to gain funding for your support, and in those cases your request will be deferred until that reason no longer applies.

You have the right to erasure. If you think anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know and we will correct it.

How we keep your records confidential:

All of our staff are trained in their responsibilities to protect your data and are under legal obligations not to disclose this information to unauthorised bodies or people.

We have a duty to:

Maintain full and accurate records of the support we provide to you

Keep records about you confidential and secure

Provide information in a format that is accessible to you (e.g. large type if you are partially sighted)

We will not share information that identifies you for any reason unless:

You ask us to do so

We ask and you give us specific permission

We have to do this by law

We have a contractual requirement as part of your support

We have a duty of care to do so.

We may share information with the following main partner organisations:

NHS Trusts (Hospitals, GPs, Social Prescribers)

Official Funding Bodies.

We may also share your information, with your consent and subject to strict sharing protocols on how it will be used, with:

Social Services

Education Services

Local Authorities

Voluntary Sector Providers

Private Sector (employers, private counsellors)

Anyone who receives information from us also has a legal duty to:

KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL!