Volunteer privacy policy

During the course of our volunteer activities, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust collects, stores, and processes personal information about prospective, current, and former volunteers.

We recognise the need to treat volunteer personal data in a fair and lawful manner. No personal information held by us will be processed unless the requirements for fair and lawful processing can be met.

What types of personal data do we handle?

In order to carry out our activities and obligations as an organisation we handle data in relation to:

• personal demographics (including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion)
• contact details such as names, addresses, telephone numbers and Emergency contact(s)
• references and proof of eligibility to work in the UK and security checks
• bank details if claiming for travel expenses
• medical information including physical health or mental condition (occupational health information)
• offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes, and sentences

The Voluntary and Community Development staff are trained to handle your information correctly, protect your privacy and securely hold all data according to General Data Protection Regulations.  We aim to maintain high standards, adopt best practice for our record keeping and regularly check and report on how we are doing. Your information is never collected or sold for direct marketing purposes.

Your information is not processed overseas.

What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

• performance of a contract to which you as a data subject is party to (volunteer agreement)
• compliance with any legal obligation which the Trust may be subject to
• consent

Additional lawful basis for special category data processing

Explicit consent.

What is the purpose of processing data?

• volunteer administration
• volunteer recruitment
• disclosure and Barring Service checks (criminal record checks)
• for occupational health administration
• implementing, tracking, and improving our EDI initiatives
• sharing with services where you are placed

We may use your information to periodically invite specific volunteer groups to take part in research and service improvements to ensure we best support volunteers under equality and disability legislation.

We have a legal basis to process this as part of your volunteer agreement and as part of our recruitment processes following data protection rules and the General Data Protection Data (GDPR).

Sharing your information

There are several reasons why we share information.

This can be due to obligations to comply with current legislation.

Any disclosures of personal data to inform Occupational Health or services where you are based

We may have a legal duty to share information without obtaining permission. Examples of these are:

• to protect children or vulnerable adults who are not able to decide for themselves whether their information should be shared
• crime prevention and/or reporting serious crime to the police
• a court orders us to do so
• reporting events to the appropriate authorities, such as serious incidents

To administer your travel expenses

We use your bank details and national insurance number so that we can make travel expense payments.

To manage other aspects of your volunteer relationship with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

The personal information we collect and use for this purpose will include (or be included in) information about your volunteer placement, any supervision notes, training compliance, information about any absence history and any referrals needed to Occupational Health, any incidences/problems whilst volunteering.

On occasions we may need to share anonymised data with partner organisations such as  National Health Service England /Health Education.

To contact you or your nominated contact in the case of an emergency (either yours or ours)

We will ask you to provide us with home telephone numbers, mobile numbers, and the names of people we can contact in an emergency. Where you nominate a contact for emergencies (e.g. a friend or relative) please ensure you advise them of this arrangement.

Prevention and detection of crime and fraud

As a volunteer we ask you to complete a DBS form and a self-declaration form. We may use the information we hold about you to detect and prevent crime or fraud. We also need to ensure you have read and understood the DBS privacy policy for standard and enhanced checks.

Individuals rights

General Data Protection Regulation  give individuals rights in respect of the personal information that we hold about you. These are:

• to be informed why, where, and how we use your information
• to ask for access to your information
• to ask for your information to be corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• to ask for your information to be deleted or removed where there is no need for us to continue processing it

Volunteer files will be archived for 6 years once a volunteer leaves, after the 6-year retention period has been met the records will be destroyed in the confidential waste. ID will be retained for 1 year and held securely)

To ask us to restrict the use of your information.

To ask us to copy or transfer your information from one IT system to another in a safe and secure way, without impacting the quality of the information.

To object to how your information is used. 

To challenge any decisions made without human intervention (automated decision making).