Natalie Swift BSc (Hons) MA (Cantab) MCIPD CMgr MCMI
HR Consultant | Swift HRTel: 07918 015846
Email: natalie@swifthr.co.uk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/natalie-swift-8711715a/
Website: https://www.swifthr.co.uk/
This guidance is for adult social care providers who arrange regular COVID-19 antigen tests for employees and/or agency workers based in residential care homes or domiciliary services, to identify asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.
COVID-19 test results (positive/negative) convey medical information, categorised as ‘Special Category Data’ under GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Receiving COVID-19 test results and taking action to manage positive cases means that you are processing the test results data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance about testing and processing the results is here.
You need to:
If regular COVID-19 testing will be mandatory for your staff, the lawful basis will be ‘legitimate interest’ (protecting your staff and service users from COVID-19 infection). For this you need to:
If participation in regular COVID-19 testing will be voluntary for your staff, the lawful basis for processing the data could be ‘legitimate interest’ or ‘consent’.
Employees must be given a free choice about whether to complete the form and do the test, and can withdraw their consent at any time.
Swift HR is based in Newquay and offers specialist HR advice and support for Adult Social Care Providers in Cornwall. Registering your business with us is FREE, and once registered you can contact us for HR support whenever you need to. Full details of our services are on our website. We offer affordable pay-as-you-go rates for one off pieces of work, or if you need a few hours of support each month we can offer a retained HR service at a discounted rate. There are no long contracts (you can end or change your level of support with a month’s notice), so that you only pay for the HR support you need, and within your budget. For your FREE registration with Swift HR, call Natalie Swift on 07918 015846 or email natalie@swifthr.co.uk.
Pulse Cyber are GDPR Compliance Specialists for Health & Social Care and may be able to offer more specialist guidance and advice for specific situations.