Public Health privacy notice

1. Council contact details

1.1. West Northamptonshire Council
Registered Office:
One Angel Square
Angel Street
Northampton
NN1 1ED

2. Information that we hold

2.1. West Northamptonshire Council will have access to the following data:

Primary Care Mortality Database (PCMD)

2.2 The PCMD holds mortality data as provided at the time of registration of the death along with additional GP details, geographical indexing and coroner details where applicable.

Births and Vital Statistics datasets

2.3 Births files include date of birth, sex, birthweight, address, postcode, place of birth, stillbirth indicators and age of mother.
Deaths data includes:

2.4 Deaths broken down by age, sex, area and cause of death sourced from the deaths register.

Hospital Episode Data (HES)

2.5 A data warehouse containing details of all admissions, outpatient appointments and A&E attendances at NHS hospitals in England. This data is collected during a patient's time at hospital and is submitted to allow hospitals to be paid for the care they deliver. HES data is collected for administrative purposes, but it is also used for non-clinical purposes, such as monitoring the impacts of specific diseases and conditions on health services.

2.6 Categories of personal data processed

Mortality data:

cause of death
date of birth
NHS number
address and postcode
postcode of place of death

Births:

place of birth
address and postcode of mother
NHS number
date of birth

HES:

(Pseudo anonymised)
age
sex
ethnicity
GP
details of health including diagnosis, treatment and admission details

2.7 Drug & Alcohol Related Deaths (DARD)

The real time drug related deaths surveillance management system will record a range of personal data on deceased individuals, who have died in relation to drugs and/or alcohol. Data covers demographic information, location information, substance information and history of the individual including what is known by partner organisations. This can include the following:

Location of death type
Substance type
Problem substance
Sexual orientation
Physical health conditions
Mental health conditions
Multiple disadvantages
Marital status
Religion
Occupation
Known services involved
Known to be in treatment
Previous non-fatal overdose
Circumstances of death
Next of Kin details to signpost to bereavement support (this is only data on the living and is based on their consent to contact)
Was this person known to be misusing substances
If a drug user, were they injecting
Were you aware of any suicidal intent
Service/Organisation contact and engagement
Prescription/medication
Possible vulnerabilities – personal situations/factors
Timeline of contact with services/organisations
Final death conclusion

2.8 This collection of real-time information from partners is essential in the ability to learn from, and react to, emerging patterns and trends in substance misuse. This ultimately delivers a significant opportunity to identify risk factor groups and demographics and input targeted resource and activity on local, regional and national levels. The DARD system brings together both surveillance and reporting functionality with case management features to ensure lessons can be turned into action, and the review process can be followed from start to finish securely within the system.

3. How the information is obtained

3.1. This data is supplied to Public Health by NHS Digital under section 42 (4) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, as amended by section 287 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, and Regulation 3 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002.
3.2. Lawful basis for processing this data

Statutory public health duties that the data will be used to support:

3.3 a. Duty to improve public health: Analyses of the data will be used to support the duty of the local authority under Section 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the population, for example by providing information and advice, services and facilities, and incentives and assistance to encourage and enable people to lead healthier lives.

3.4 b. Duty to support Health and Wellbeing Boards: Analyses of the data will be used to support the duty of the local authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)-led Health and Wellbeing Board under Section 194 of the 2012 Act to improve health and wellbeing, reduce health inequalities, and promote the integration of health and care services; the data will also be used to support the statutory duty of Health and Wellbeing Boards under Section 206 of the 2012 Act to undertake Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments.

3.5 c. Duty to produce Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWBs): Analyses of the data will be used to support the duty of the local authority under Sections 192 and 193 of the 2012 Act to consult on and publish JSNAs and JHWSs that assess the current and future health and wellbeing needs of the local population.

3.6 d. Duty to commission specific public health services: Analyses of the data will be used to support the local authority to discharge its duty under the Local Authorities Regulations 2013 to plan and provide NHS Health Check assessments, the National Child Measurement Programme, and open access sexual health services.

3.7 e. Duty to provide public health advice to NHS commissioners: Analyses of the data will be used by Local Authorities to discharge its duty under the 2013 Regulations to provide a public health advice service to NHS commissioners.

3.8 f. Duty to publish an annual public health report: Analyses of the data will be used by Directors of Public Health to support their duty to prepare and publish an annual report on the health of the local population under Section 31 the 2012 Act.

3.9 g. Public Health responses on behalf of the local authority to licensing applications and other statutory local authority functions requiring public health input: Analyses of the data will be used by the Director of Public Health to provide informed responses to licensing applications. This duty exists under Part 3 of the National Health Services Act 2006 (as amended by Section 30 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012) and Public Health is a responsible authority under the Licensing Act 2003, as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 Schedule 5 - Part 1.

Lawful basis for access to civil registration data (mortality, births and vital statistics) DARs

3.10 This data helps local authorities understand their local population so that they can provide evidence-based interventions to improve public health and reduce health inequalities as directed in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

3.11 Section 42(4) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (2007) as amended by section 287 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and Regulation 3 of the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002.

3.12 Vital statistics:

•    Processing: General Data Protection Regulation Article 9 (2) (h)
•    General Data Protection Regulation Article 6 (1) (e)
•    Dissemination: Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261(5)(d)

3.13 Primary Care mortality data:

•    Processing: General Data Protection Regulation Article 9 (2) (h)
•    General Data Protection Regulation Article 6 (1) (e)
•    Dissemination: Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261(5)(d)

3.14 Births:

•    Processing: General Data Protection Regulation Article 9 (2) (h)
•    General Data Protection Regulation Article 6 (1) (e)
•    Dissemination: Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261(5)(d)

4. What we do with the information

4.1. We may share this information with North Northamptonshire Council in order to support the statutory duties of the Director of Public Health and enable the provision of evidence based Public Health services across both Unitary Authority areas.

4.2. No automated decision making, or profiling is made with this data.

5. How long we keep your information for and how we securely dispose of it after use

5.1. We keep your personal information for all aspects of processing in line with the council’s retention schedules.

5.2. We will securely dispose of your information in line with retention schedules.

6. How we store your information

6.1. Your information is securely stored on the council’s systems in electronic format. The Council’s servers are based in the UK.

7. Your data protection rights

7.1. The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how we can use it. Please see section 15 of the council’s Privacy Policy for further information.

7.2. Please be aware that your rights may differ depending on the lawful basis for processing your personal data.

8. Who to contact

8.1. Alongside your Right to Object, the NHS National Data Opt-out Programme gives you the right to opt out of your confidential patient information being used for reasons other than their individual care and treatment (such as for research and planning purposes). Patients and the public will be able to use the national system from 25 May 2018. All health and care organisations will be required to uphold patient and public choices by March 2020.

There are occasions where service providers will have a legal duty to share information, for example for safeguarding or criminal issues. The process for opting out will depend on the specific data and what programme it relates to. For further information, please contact the Public Health team by emailing [email protected].

Or write to us at:
Public Health Team, West Northamptonshire Council
One Angel Square
Angel Street
Northampton
NN1 1ED

8.2. If you would like further information about how we use your personal information, or you wish to exercise one of your data rights or you wish to complain about the use of your personal information please contact the Data Protection Officer.

8.3. If you are still dissatisfied once you have contacted the Data Protection Officer, you have the right to complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

9 Changes to this privacy notice

9.1 Privacy notices are live documents, which will be updated or revised in line with legislation.

Last updated 15 March 2024