Introduction
This privacy notice covers how we will use collect, use and store your personal information if you are nominated as a next of kin for a patient referred to St Catherine’s Hospice. Please see our overarching privacy statement for more information about other ways we use your personal data.
What information we collect from or about you
- Name, address, telephone number, email address
How we use your information
We use your personal data for a number of purposes including the following:
- To contact you regarding the patient and their ongoing care
- To contact you about wellbeing services, local fundraising events, bereavement information and to send out service satisfaction surveys
How we share your information
We will share your personal data in certain ways:
- With other healthcare professionals such as the GP and district nurses who the hospice have a data sharing agreement with to ensure that we work together in the interests of patients care
- With other healthcare professionals such as your GP if we have concerns for your personal wellbeing
Sometimes we have to pass on information about you by law. For example, where a formal court order has been issued; when we find an infectious disease that may endanger the safety of others, or when other organisations like the police or social services need it to prevent serious crime or where there is a child or adult at risk of abuse or neglect.
Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Data
The lawful basis for collecting and using the personal data described above will depend on the personal data concerned and the specific context in which we collect it, including but not limited to: (a) consent to collect and process your personal data and (b) legitimate interest.
How we keep your information safe and confidential
Everyone working for the hospice or who receives information from us has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. This is monitored by the hospice’s Caldicott Guardian, a senior clinician responsible for ensuring patients’ rights to confidentiality are respected. Our Information Governance Group ensures that we manage all personal data in compliance with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Your information will be retained in accordance with the national guidance for health and social care records, unless the law requires them to be kept longer.
Your information rights
You have the right to:
- Know how we will use your data – that is what this statement aims to tell you
- Access your data- please see, “How you can gain access to your record” section below
- Object to us making use of your data
- Ask us to restrict or change the way we use your data; we are obliged to agree if it is possible to do so
- Include any corrections you want to make in your data
If you wish to exercise these rights, you should contact a member of the St Catherine’s team who can put you in touch with the Caldicott Guardian via email at qualityteam@stch.org.uk or write to us at St Catherine’s Hospice, Grace Holland Avenue, Pease Pottage, West Sussex, RH11 9SL. You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) should you feel that we have not respected your rights. Details can be found on the ICO’s website.
How you can gain access to your record
The Data Protection Act 2018 gives you, or someone acting for you, the right to see or have a copy of your records. We can arrange for you to view your record on a hospice computer with a doctor or nurse or for a paper copy to be provided.
According to the Access to Health Records Act 1990, other people are allowed to view relevant information from your records after your death – but only if they are your personal representative, an executor named in your will, or someone who has a legal reason to access your records.
Anyone wanting to access their own data, or access the record of someone who has died, should email clinicalsystemsteam@stch.org.uk or write to us at St Catherine’s Hospice, Grace Holland Avenue, Pease Pottage, West Sussex, RH11 9SL. We will ask for a form to be completed with details of the request, and which parts of the record are required. We may ask for proof of identity (like a passport) and if someone claims to be acting on your behalf we will contact you to confirm the request. There is no charge for these requests.
Version 2 – Reviewed December 2025
