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Privacy Policy

Medical Staff Agency is committed to protecting the privacy of visitors to our website, subscribers to our newsletters and those providing us with contact information. Please read the following Privacy Policy to understand how your personal information is treated. From time to time, Medical Staff Agency may offer new information or services that may affect this policy. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact a member of our team, who will process your request accordingly. You can do this via the “Contact Us” area on our website.

 

How we use your information

 

This privacy policy tells you what to expect when Medical Staff Agency collects your personal information. It applies to information we collect about:

  • Visitors to our websites
  • Visitors to our social media channels
  • People who submit their information to us via online contact forms, emails, social media or face-to-face and telephone conversations
  • People who use Medical Staff Agency services
  • Job applicants and current and former employees

Our privacy policy also details:

  • The third-party systems and providers we use
  • Complaints or queries about our privacy policy
  • Access to personal information
  • Disclosure of personal information
  • Links to other websites
  • Changes to this policy
  • Company details

 

Visitors to our websites

 

When someone visits www.medicalstaffagency.co.uk use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors we receive to various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will do this in an honest, transparent way. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.

 

Use of cookies by Medical Staff Agency

A ‘cookie’ is a small text file which attaches to your hard drive and from which it can store and sometimes track information on how you make use of a particular website.

We may use cookies for administrative purposes such as cataloguing traffic patterns throughout the website and to assign a ‘user ID’ for this purpose. Cookies, by themselves, cannot be used to find out the identity of any user. If you have a user ID, this will automatically identify your computer to our server when you visit our website, but it will not identify you. Unless you specifically tell us, we will never know who you are, even if we do assign a cookie to your computer.

You may set your browser to automatically reject all cookies. It is also possible to set your browser to notify you if a cookie has been sent to you so that you can, at your discretion, accept or reject that particular cookie. However, please note that you may not be able to use the full service on our website or other websites without cookies.

 

Website search engine

 

Our website search queries and results are logged anonymously to help us improve our website and search functionality. No user-specific data is collected by either Medical Staff Agency or any third party.

 

Social Sharing

 

On our website, we use social sharing buttons for services including, but not limited to, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. These allow you to share website pages with your friends via those networks. Whilst you will be asked to login to use these services, this process is handled directly with the social network providers and their databases and servers; Medical Staff Agency accepts no responsibility for any use of your personally identifiable information and/or any further use of cookies by those social network providers.

 

Security and performance

 

Medical Staff Agency uses a third-party service to help maintain the security and performance of the Medical Staff Agency website. To deliver this service it processes the IP addresses of visitors to the Medical Staff Agency website.

 

WordPress

 

We use a third-party provider to publish our website and content and some of our microsites. These sites are hosted by a third party on our behalf, through a Service Level Agreement. We use a WordPress installation and may collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example, the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it.

Visitors to our social media channels

 

Medical Staff Agency has an active presence on several external social channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus (“our social media channels”) from which we post company news and content which may be of interest to our connections. We may use Hootsuite, a social media management tool, to post messages.

While Medical Staff Agency has official profiles on external social media channels this does not mean that we endorse those channels or the companies that own them, or that we are responsible for their products or services.

If you access external social media channels, you do so at your own risk and Medical Staff Agency is not responsible for any losses or other damages which you may suffer as a result of its use.

The social media channels we use have their own terms and conditions and you need to comply with those terms as well as ours.

When you use any of our social media channels we may record and retain information (anonymous or otherwise) about you. This may include your use of our sites and the frequency of your visits. The individual social media channels may also be permitted to share certain information with us in accordance with your personalised privacy settings on those channels.

By using our social media channels and providing us with, or posting personal information to our social media channels, you are agreeing that you accept these terms. If you disagree with any of these terms you should not access our social media channels.

 

People who submit their information to us via online contact forms, emails, social media or face-to-face and telephone conversations

 

Your personal data will enable Medical Staff Agency to keep you updated with relevant information about our services. Our communications with you may be via post, telephone or e-mail and may originate from Right at Home Colchester.

We will not pass your details onto third-parties for marketing purposes.

You will be entitled to opt-out of receiving a chosen communication at any time, by following the unsubscribe directions provided (if appropriate) or by contacting our office via the “Contact Us” section of our website.

 

People who contact us via online forms

 

When a visitor submits an enquiry form on our website, the form will only require you to enter information which is vital for the purpose of the form, to ensure we can give you the intended response.

When a contact form is submitted, the site takes the information and outputs an email to the designated email address for that enquiry. Please see ‘People who contact us via email’ for detail on how this data will be handled. The enquiry is also saved to the website’s primary database using the Ninja Forms plugin. The data is retained on the website for six months before it is deleted. This data can be accessed by a restricted team of staff members with their own login information.

 

People who contact us via email

 

We use Microsoft Outlook for our email communications. Our emails are backed up using secure, tier 3 military grade data centres replicated around the country. The relevant information will be taken from the email, used for its intended purpose and stored securely. The email will then be deleted.

We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

 

People who contact us via social media

 

Please be aware that:

(a) our social media channels are public and any contribution you make will be available for anyone to see; and

(b) messages sent over the Internet or via mobile applications may not be completely secure as they are subject to possible interception or loss or possible alteration. This is not within our control and so we are not responsible for them and will not be liable to you or anyone else for any damages or otherwise, in connection with any message sent by you to us, or any message sent by us to you over the Internet or through a mobile application.

We are always striving to understand our customers better, so we may also record comments and opinions that you make publicly on our social media channels.

If you send us a private or direct message via social media, the message will be stored by the social media channel and Hootsuite for three months. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

Any personal data which you do provide us with is covered under our privacy policy.

 

People who contact us via telephone or face-to-face

 

When we speak to you regarding our business, we may take contact details from you to progress our conversation with you. We will only take your contact details if you provide us with them and by doing so, you agree to us holding these details and, if relevant, sharing these details with relevant persons within our business. We will not share your details with people outside our business without your permission.

 

People who make a complaint to us

When we receive a complaint from a person, we will create a file containing the details of the complaint. This normally contains the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.

We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We do compile and publish statistics showing information like the number of complaints we receive, but not in a form which identifies anyone.

We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. This is inevitable where, for example, the accuracy of a person’s record is in dispute. If a complainant doesn’t want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for two years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘need to know’ principle.

Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us, we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues, and to check on the level of service we provide.

Usually we do not identify any complainants unless the details have already been made public.

 

People who use Medical Staff Agency services

 

Medical Staff Agency is a provider of Home Care Services.

We must hold the details of the people who enquire about our services in order to provide our services or the relevant information. However, we only use these details to provide the service the person has requested and for other closely related purposes. For example, we might use information about people who have requested to become a Medical Staff Agency client, to carry out a survey to find out if they are happy with the level of service they received.

We will respect your privacy and confidentiality at all times and will always act in accordance with this Privacy Policy when handling all Personal Data. In accordance with the Data Protection Law, we may use your Personal Data as necessary for the provision of our services to you. We may use your Personal Data with your consent, to get in touch with you and offer you other services that we think may be of interest to you. We also may use your Personal Data when it is in our legitimate interests for internal purposes associated with maintaining our business, to ultimately support in providing a safe and effective home care service to you, and for the purpose of marketing. We may also use your Personal Data as required by law, such as for tax purposes and to satisfy the legislative requirements of the Care Regulator.

Your personal details may also be used for:

– The purpose of processing payment for services and as such will be held on our accountancy system, Xero, by our card payment provider, Global Payments and by our direct debit provider, First Capital Connect.

-The purpose of scheduling your package of Home Care and as such will be held on our scheduling system Access PeoplePlanner.

-The purpose of electronic monitoring and record keeping and as such will be held on our electronic monitoring System Access Mobizio.

We may disclose Personal Data (including Sensitive Personal Data) to third parties in certain limited circumstances, such as to our CareGivers, or to any other person or party if we believe such disclosure is in your best interest; appropriate for the performance of the Services; or is required as a matter of law. If another person or organisation is paying your fees, and / or has agreed to guarantee your obligations under your Agreement for the supply of care services, details of their name, address and payment record may also be submitted to a third party.

 

Job applicants, current and former Right at Home Colchester employees

 

Medical Staff Agency is the data controller for the information you provide during the process unless otherwise stated. If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information, please contact us via the “contact us” area of our website.

 

What will we do with the information you provide to us?

 

All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your job application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.

We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes and will not share any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors, whether the information is in electronic or physical format.

We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.

 

What information do we ask for, and why?

 

We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.

The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for, but it might affect your application if you don’t.

 

Application stage

We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all this information.

You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information; if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.

 

Shortlisting

 

Our hiring managers shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details, or with your equal opportunities information if you have provided it.

 

Assessments

 

We might ask you to participate in assessment days, complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires, and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test, or we might take interview notes. This information is held at Medical Staff Agency.

If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we may ask if you would like your details to be retained in our talent pool for a period of six months. If you say yes, we would proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise.

 

Conditional offer

 

If we make a conditional offer of employment, we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.

You may therefore be required to provide:

  • Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents. We will take copies.
  • Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents. We will take copies.
  • You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any previous convictions.
  • Relevant personal details to complete an application for an enhanced Criminal Record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service, which will verify your declaration of previous convictions, cautions, reprimands, final warnings, information held by the police. This check will also identify if you are on any barred lists.
  • Referee details – We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references.
  • Health related information – We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work.

If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:

  • Bank details – to process salary payments
  • Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
  • Membership of a previous pension scheme with Medical Staff Agency; if applicable – so we can send you a questionnaire to determine whether you are eligible to re-join your previous scheme.

 

Use of data processors

 

Data processors are third parties who provide elements of our recruitment service for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.

 

NEST Pensions

 

Your details will be provided to NEST Pensions, who provide a workplace pension scheme to employees. You will be auto-enrolled into the pension scheme and the details provided to NEST Pensions will be your name, date of birth, National Insurance number and salary. Your bank details will not be passed to NEST Pensions at this time.

 

Payroll

 

We currently use a third party, “Tax Assist” to process payroll and as such, the details which will be provided to our payroll provider will be your name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number, P45, salary and bank account details.

 

Health Management

 

If we make you a conditional offer, we will ask that you complete a questionnaire which will help to determine if you are fit to undertake the work that you have been offered or advise us if any adjustments are needed to the work environment or systems so that you may work effectively.

We will send you a link to the questionnaire or ask that you fill in a paper-based version. The information you provide will be held on file for the duration of your employment and for 6 years following the end of your employment. You can request to see the report before it is sent to us. If you decline for us to see it, then this could affect your job offer.

 

How long is the information retained for?

 

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 6 months from the closure of the campaign.

Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for 6 months following the closure of the campaign.

Equal opportunities information is retained for 6 months following the closure of the campaign whether you are successful or not.

 

How we make decisions about recruitment?

 

Final recruitment decisions are made by hiring managers and members of our recruitment team. All of the information gathered during the application process is considered.

You can ask about decisions made about your application by contacting our office with your request, who will direct your enquiry appropriately.

 

The third-party systems and providers we use

The third-party systems we use are:

PeoplePlanner

We use PeoplePlanner to manage customer and employee information and to schedule home care services

Mobizio

We use Mobizio to monitor and record home care related activities

Outlook

We use Outlook as our email system

Xero

We use Xero to manage our accountancy and payroll requirements

Azura

We use Azura as our internal intranet system

The Grey Matter Group

We use the Grey Matter Group to track and deliver training requirements

WeTransfer

We use WeTransfer to share large files and images

 

The third-party providers we use are:

Tax Assist – payroll

William B Rose – HR

The Grey Matter Group – eLearning

MCS & Colchester IT – IT support

NEST Pensions – pension provider

Global Payments – card payment provider

First Capital Connect – Direct Debit provider

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and represents our current primary third-party providers and systems, which are updated on a regular basis.

 

Complaints or queries about our privacy policy

 

Medical Staff Agency tries to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this policy very seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate. We would also welcome any suggestions for improving our procedures.

This privacy notice was drafted with brevity and clarity in mind. It does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of Medical Staff Agency’s collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent in writing to the address below.

 

Access to personal information

 

Medical Staff Agency tries to be as open as it can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ (SAR). If we do hold information about you, we will:

  • provide you with a description of the information we hold;
  • tell you why we are holding it;
  • tell you who it could be disclosed to; and
  • let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

Anyone wishing to make a SAR to Medical Staff Agency for any personal information, should do so by putting the request in writing to the address provided below.

If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example, by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.

If we do hold information about you, you can ask us to correct any mistakes by, once again, contacting our data controller at the address below.

 

Disclosure of personal information

 

In many circumstances we will not disclose personal data without consent. However, when we investigate a complaint, for example, we will need to share personal information with the organisation concerned and with other relevant bodies.

You can also request further information on the following, by writing to us at the address provided below:

  • agreements we have with other organisations for sharing information;
  • circumstances where we can pass on personal data without consent for example, to prevent and detect crime and to produce anonymised statistics;
  • our instructions to staff on how to collect, use and delete personal data; and
  • how we check that the information we hold is accurate and up to date.

 

Links to other websites

 

This privacy notice does not cover the privacy of the websites which are linked up through our website. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites which you visit.

 

Changes to this privacy notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 17/09/2020.

 

Company Information

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