Privacy notice – Public Health

Information about how and when the Public Health Team processes personal information about you..

What we do

The Public Health Team aims to improve the health of the people in Lewisham. To help achieve this, we use data and information from a range of sources including the Office for National Statistics, NHS Digital, clinical commissioning groups, hospitals and primary care to understand more about the nature and causes of disease and ill health in Lewisham. From time to time we run health campaigns.

Lawful basis for processing

Legal requirement.

What information we collect

The team has a legal status which allows it to process personal data for certain public health purposes. The use of such data will be restricted so that the principles contained in the General Data Protection Regulation are fully adhered to. The legal basis is section 42(4) of the Statistics and Registration Service Act (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.

The information we collect about you may include:

• NHS number
• name
• address
• postcode
• date of birth
• date of death
• cause of death
• age
• ethnicity
• GP code

Agencies we might share the information with

 We may share your information with:

• other services within Lewisham Council
• South East London Integrated Care System (SEL ICS)
• partner Boroughs Lambeth and Southwark (in aggregated format)
• Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
• UK Health Security Agency 
• Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
• GP practices

Why we process your information

We process your information to:

• provide health protection

• manage risks to public health such as air quality, smoking and harmful alcohol use

• organise the National Child Measurement Programme

• organise the National Child Measurement Programme

• organise the NHS Health Check Programme

• organise and support the 0-19 year olds health service and school nursing services

• commission sexual health services

• commission maternity services

• commission substance misuse services

• provide an overview of child deaths and prevent future deaths

Retention and deletion

Your information is securely stored. Information is accessible only to staff working to improve public health.

Typically, we will keep that information for as long as you are supported, and for a period not longer than 10 years following the end of services.

Data is permanently deleted after this period, in line with Lewisham Council’s Retention Policy/Schedule or the organisation sharing the data with us.

Your rights

The law gives you a number of rights. You can view your rights on our website.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Contact number: 0303 123 1113