Bedford Borough Council (“The Council”) and its Public Health team have a statutory duty to improve and protect the health of the local population
To help us do this, we use data and information from a range of sources including the Office for National Statistics, NHS Digital, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and hospitals to understand more about the nature and causes of disease and ill health in Bedford Borough.
Data controller
The Council is a data controller. This means we are the organisation that decides how personal data (information about living individuals) we collect will be used.
As part of our duties as a data controller, the Council is registered with the Information Commissioners Office, and is bound by a number of information sharing agreements which are drawn up to ensure information is received from and shared with other organisations in a way that complies with relevant legislation.
Shared service
The Public Health team is a shared service between Bedford Borough Council, Central Bedfordshire Council and Milton Keynes City Council. The Public Health Evidence and Intelligence Team is based in Bedford Borough and is responsible for processing public health data on behalf of all three councils.
Where we collect personal information for Public Health purposes, this information will be held securely and will not be disclosed to anyone other than those stated above, unless we have a legal reason to do so, for example disclosure is necessary to protect a person from suffering significant harm or necessary for crime prevention or detection purposes.
The Public Health team obtains data from different organisations. This includes (list not exhaustive):
- Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) from NHS England.
- Primary Care Mortality Database (PCMD) from NHS England.
- Births data tables from NHS England.
- Population Health Management data from local and national data sources from health and care providers.
- UK Health Security Agency (eg to deal with disease outbreaks).
- Commissioned services data including from the National Child Measurement Programme (PDF), Integrated Contraception and Sexual Health Services, the drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services Path 2 Recovery and Addiction Recovery Community MK, the 0-19 Health Child Programme in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, the Choose You integrated behaviour change service (including weight management and smoking cessation) and NHS Health Checks.
Please note: All of the above organisations have their own privacy notices which set out why they need to share this data.
Statutory Public Health functions
We use the data to exercise our statutory Public Health functions, which include:
- measuring the health, mortality and care needs of the population for specific geographical area or population group, and looking at variation in health outcomes between groups
- planning, evaluating and monitoring health and social care policies, services or interventions
- protecting and improving public health, including measuring the incidence and prevalence of disease, considering different demographic characteristics (eg age, gender and ethnicity) and risk factors pertaining to specific population groups, and the effectiveness of preventative care services
Processing of personal data
The processing of personal data is governed by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The legal basis for the Council using this information in this manner is contained in Section 42(4) of the SRSA (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.
As partners in the local Integrated Care System, we also access pseudonymised health and care data through a sublicensing agreement with NHS Central East ICB. This is to support population health management and understanding how risk of disease and poor health varies across the population in our area. The datasets we use are listed here: Commissioning datasets - NHS England Digital.
In addition, where we need to share sensitive or confidential information such as medical details, we will do so only with your permission or where we are legally required to. We may share information to prevent risk of harm to an individual.
The Public Health team may undertake surveys, focus groups, photography, filming and other engagement activities to support the improvement and protection of public health locally. Where you have agreed to be contacted for these purposes, we will retain your contact details and use them only in relation to these activities. You may withdraw your consent and request removal from our contact list at any time by emailing dpo@bedford.gov.uk.
Your rights
You have the right to opt out of the Bedford Borough Council Public Health team receiving or holding your personal identifiable information.
There are occasions where we or our 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 Data Protection Officer by email: dpo@bedford.gov.uk.
You also have the right to request a copy of any information the Council holds about you.
To obtain a copy of your personal information, please write to:
Request for Information
Bedford Borough Council
Information Governance
6th Floor Borough Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP
Or email: requestforinformation@bedford.gov.uk.
The Information Commissioner's Office is the national regulator for compliance with the Data Protection Act.
If you remain unsatisfied with a response you have received from the Council or if you require more information about data protection, you can contact them at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Email: icocasework@ico.org.uk
How to find out more
See the Public Health webpage for more information about Public Health in Bedford Borough.
See our Privacy notice webpage for information about how the Council will protect your privacy.