London Care Record privacy notice

We are required to inform individuals whose data we hold (data subjects) about our processing (GDPR articles 13/14) as part of data protection regulations.

A privacy notice is information to make sure you (the data subject) know how your data is being used or shared. This includes information about sharing adult social care data on the London Care Record (LCR) platform.

About the London Care Record platform

The LCR is a platform that holds combined essential health and care information from providers across London securely, offering professionals a joined-up view that improves communication and care delivery. This supports quicker decision-making and better coordination for patients and service users.

Find out more about the London Care Record on OneLondon.

A record of care is usually held on a secure clinical system (a local record). LCR combines data from a number of secure electronic health and care systems into an up-to-date, read-only summary of that data to a health or social care professional when required for the purpose of your direct care.

The care provider can see relevant parts of your clinical record - without certain sensitive data - and is based on their role – for example, a doctor sees different information to a health care assistant or a social worker. Each role sees only information relevant to their direct care to you.

Since 2023, adult social care staff at Islington Council have had read-only access to health information for our residents on the LCR.

Now Islington can share this read-only data on the people we support from our system into the LCR. This means both us and the wider health and care system can now share your information between us when needed.

Benefits of the London Care Record platform

Some of the benefits of this platform sharing integrated health and care data.

• Improved quality of care: Information about your care will be instantly available to professionals for more accurate diagnosis and ongoing treatment. This will help professionals avoid doing the same things when unnecessary.
• Improved safety: Your health and social providers will be able to see information about your current medications, allergies and bad reactions, and current packages of care.
• Fewer delays, faster care: Faster treatment because access to your complete care history allows professionals to treat people more quickly and safely, especially in emergencies.
• More coordinated care: People receive care that is most suitable for them because all their care providers have access to the same important information.
• Better informed decisions: People can be more involved in decisions about their care, as care teams have a fuller picture of their needs and history.
• Less time telling your story: You won’t need to keep telling different professionals about your medical history.
• Improved results: The LCR means more joined-up care, supporting better treatment results for people across London.

Meeting Data Protection regulations

To ensure we meet UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and to show we are accountable, we have done a full data protection impact assessment to find, analyse, and reduce data protection risks from London Borough of Islington sharing adult social care information on the London Care Record platform.

We have made sure we are compliant with all necessary data protection and processing requirements. Social care data is processed to comply with the following legislation:

• Health and Care Act 2022
• Health and Social Care Act 2012
• Care Act 2014
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Mental Capacity Act 2005

Under the data protection regulations, the processing of personal data for the purpose of health and social care provision is permitted by the Data Protection Act

• 2018 section 8(c) – “the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment or rule of law”, specifically the NHS Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The processing (sharing) of Personal Data for these purposes is permitted under: 
• Article 6(1)(e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
• Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject

Where special category data is being processed the council does so under:

• Article 9(2)(h) – the provision of health or social care.

The processing is deemed necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

We are committed to open and clear communication with ryou about sharing adult social care information on the LCR. Islington Adult Social Care will share the following information with the LCR:

• your details - full name, date of birth, gender, NHS number, and address
• any current disabilities  
• the name and contact of your key allocated worker
• name and type of care plan or current support package

About your rights

Under the data protection regulations, you have the right to:

• be informed of our uses of your data (the purpose of this document)
• request copies of your personal information and to use these for data portability
• request rectification of any inaccuracy in your personal data or special categories of personal data
• restrict the processing of your personal information where the accuracy of the data is contested or, where the processing/sharing is no longer needed
• not be subject to automated decision making or profiling (there is no automated decision making or profiling in the LCR)
• complain about our handling of your data to our data protection officer or to the regulator

You also have the right to opt out of sharing data through the London Care Record (the right to object to processing).

If you don’t want your data shared

If you don’t want your social care information shared, you can opt out.

Before opting out you need to know and think about the following.

• If you choose to opt out, you will not be able to take advantage of the benefits that electronic joined-up records can bring you.
• The care professionals looking after you will not have your full history and most recent information available to them, and decisions about your care may take longer, even in emergency situations.
• Opting out will also make it harder for health and care professionals to plan ahead and manage your care and support your wellbeing.

If you still want to opt out of sharing your records after reading this, follow the instructions below.

• Fill in this online form for yourself or someone else - you must tell us what relation you are to the person opting out