Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy explains how Alive Health Care and Support Services Ltd collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when people use our website, contact us, make a care enquiry, apply for work with us, or receive information about our services.

Alive Health Care and Support Services Ltd provides care at home and support services in Scotland. We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely.

Who We Are

Alive Health Care and Support Services Ltd is the data controller for the personal information we collect and use through this website and through our business activities.

What Personal Information We May Collect

We may collect personal information when you contact us, complete a website form, request care and support, apply for a job, make a complaint, give feedback, or communicate with our team.

The information we may collect includes your name, address, telephone number, email address, preferred contact method, details of your enquiry, and any information you choose to provide in a message or form.

If you make a care or support enquiry, we may also collect information about your care needs, health, mobility, medication support needs, communication needs, risks, family contacts, unpaid carers, representatives, social work involvement, funding arrangements and preferred support.

If you apply to work with us, we may collect information about your employment history, qualifications, training, right to work, references, professional registration, availability, identity documents and suitability for the role.

Special Category Information

Some information we collect may be classed as special category information under data protection law. This may include information about health, care needs, disability, ethnicity, religion, sex life, sexual orientation, biometric information, or other sensitive personal information where this is relevant to the service or recruitment process.

We only collect special category information where it is necessary and lawful to do so. This may be needed to assess care and support needs, protect health and safety, meet legal duties, support safeguarding and adult support and protection, make reasonable adjustments, or assess suitability for employment in a care or support role.

How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information directly from you when you complete a form, telephone us, email us, visit our website, apply for a job, or ask us to provide care and support.

We may also receive information from family members, unpaid carers, representatives, local councils, social work teams, Health and Social Care Partnerships, NHS professionals, community health teams, previous employers, referees, Disclosure Scotland, the Scottish Social Services Council, regulators, commissioners or other professionals involved in care and support.

How We Use Personal Information

We use personal information to respond to enquiries, provide information about our services, assess whether we can meet a person’s needs, arrange care and support, communicate with people and families, manage referrals, keep appropriate records, and deliver safe and person-centred support.

We also use personal information to recruit staff, complete safer recruitment checks, manage staff records, arrange training, support supervision, meet legal and regulatory duties, respond to complaints, improve our service and protect people from harm.

Our Lawful Bases for Using Personal Information

We only use personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the situation, we may use personal information because it is needed to take steps before entering into a contract, to provide a service under a contract, to meet a legal obligation, to protect vital interests, to carry out a task in the public interest, or because we have a legitimate interest in running and improving our service.

In some situations, we may ask for consent. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. However, there may be situations where we still need to keep or use certain information because we have a legal duty, safeguarding duty, contractual duty, regulatory duty, or health and safety reason to do so.

Care Enquiries and Referrals

When you contact us about care at home, supported living support, respite support, mental health support, step-down support or any other service, we may collect information to understand what support is needed and whether we may be able to help.

We may use this information to respond to your enquiry, arrange a call or assessment, prepare a proposal, liaise with authorised family members or representatives, and work with relevant professionals where appropriate.

Recruitment, PVG and Disclosure Scotland Checks

When someone applies to work with us, we collect personal information to assess their suitability for the role and to complete safe recruitment checks.

This may include identity checks, right to work checks, employment history, references, qualification checks, training checks, professional registration checks and Disclosure Scotland or PVG checks where required for the role.

Some roles may require Scottish Social Services Council registration or evidence of an application for registration. We may process information relating to this where it is relevant to the role.

Sharing Personal Information

We only share personal information where it is necessary, lawful and appropriate. We may share information with the person receiving support, their authorised representatives, family members, unpaid carers, staff, local councils, social work teams, Health and Social Care Partnerships, NHS professionals, community health teams, pharmacies, emergency services, commissioners, regulators, insurers, professional advisers and IT service providers.

We may also share information where required for safeguarding, adult support and protection, complaints, incident reporting, legal claims, audits, regulatory inspections, employment checks or to protect someone from harm.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

How We Protect Personal Information

We take the security of personal information seriously. We use practical and technical measures to protect information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include secure systems, password protection, access controls, staff training, confidentiality requirements, secure record keeping, safe disposal of records and limiting access to people who need the information for their role.

No method of electronic transmission or storage is completely risk-free. However, we take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold.

How Long We Keep Personal Information

We only keep personal information for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as we are required to keep it by law, regulation, contract, insurance requirement, safeguarding requirement or good care governance practice.

Care records, enquiry records, recruitment records, staff records, complaints, incident records and financial records may be kept for different periods depending on the type of information and the reason it is held.

When information is no longer needed, we will delete, destroy or anonymise it securely.

Cookies and Website Information

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to help the website work properly, improve user experience, understand how visitors use the website and support website security.

Cookies are small files stored on your device. You can usually manage or block cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not work properly if cookies are disabled.

We may collect basic website information such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, date and time of visit and how visitors use the website. This helps us monitor and improve the website.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of external websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit.

Email and Contact Forms

If you contact us by email or through a website form, we will use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and manage any follow-up action. Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through website forms unless it is needed for your enquiry.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal information. These may include the right to be informed about how your information is used, the right to access your information, the right to ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, the right to ask for information to be erased in certain circumstances, the right to restrict processing, the right to object to processing, and the right to data portability in certain circumstances.

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the reason we hold the information. For example, we may need to keep certain information to meet legal, regulatory, safeguarding, employment, insurance or contractual duties.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the details in this Privacy Policy.

Complaints About How We Use Personal Information

If you are unhappy with how we use your personal information, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concern.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK regulator for data protection matters.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Website: https://ico.org.uk/
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Children and Young People

Where we process information relating to children or young people, we take extra care to protect their privacy and safety. We only collect and use information that is necessary for the relevant service, enquiry, employment process, safeguarding concern or legal requirement.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, website, legal duties or data protection practices. The latest version will be published on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use personal information, please contact us: