Public Health Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revised at any time. It was last updated in October 2025. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.  

  1. Introduction
  2. What personal data do we collect?
  3. How we use personal data
  4. Legal Basis for processing
  5. Who do we share personal data with?
  6. How long do we keep personal data?
  7. Automated decisions
  8. Your rights
  9. Data Protection Officer.

Introduction

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the  Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.

This notice provides additional privacy information for Public Health improvement services.

What personal data do we collect?

To carry out activities and obligations as a Public Health and Health Improvement Services we process the following personal data:

  • Name
  • Date of birth
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Gender
  • Occupation
  • NHS number.

We also process the following Special Category Data:

  • Health-related data including information from GP services, hospital services, NHS community services, Mental Health services, National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), Be Well Health Improvement Service.

Race, ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs and sexual orientation.

How we use personal data

The main purposes for processing your personal data are:

  • To enable us to carry out specific functions, such as:
    • Control of infection and manage and protect the health of the population
    • Direct, manage and deliver care
    • Management of risks to the public
    • Commission Public Health services such as:   Drug & Alcohol, Sexual Health NHS Health Check Programme, Healthy Child Programme, Health Improvement,
    • Monitor National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
    • Investigate queries, complaints and legal claims.
  • To derive statistics and intelligence which is used to:
    • Produce assessments of health and care needs of the population to support with the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), Director of Public Health Annual Report and Health and Wellbeing strategy
    • Identify priorities for action
    • Inform decisions on, for example, the design and commissioning of services
    • Assess the performance of local health and care system
    • Report summary statistics to national organisations
    • Undertake equity analysis of trends, particularly for vulnerable groups
    • Carry out health research and development through surveys and clinical audits
    • Improve and adapt our services to meet the needs of patients and future patients
    • Report on service outcomes and impact on health inequalities
    • Train and educate healthcare professionals.

These statistics are used in such a way that individuals cannot be identified from them, and personal identifiable details are removed as soon as is possible in the processing of intelligence.

Legal Basis for processing

The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is:

  • It is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
  • It is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation under the following:
    • Necessary for the purposes of preventative or occupational medicine, for assessing the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management of health or social care systems and services.
    • The Health and Social Care Act 2012 under section 12 gives local authorities power to perform the public health function. This means the council now has a duty to improve the health of the people and will have responsibility for commissioning appropriate public health services.
    • Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
  • Contract
  • Consent.

The condition we rely on for processing your special category data is:

  • Explicit consent
  • Processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health.

Who do we share personal data with?

In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share and collect data with the following when required:

  • Other teams within Wigan Council, including but not limited to, Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care and Education Services
  • Other local authorities
  • Government agencies
  • NHS trusts and hospitals that are involved in your care
  • Integrated Care Boards and other NHS bodies
  • General Practitioners (GPs)
  • Ambulance Services
  • Voluntary and private sector providers

This is not an exhaustive list.

National Data Opt Out

Information may only be used for purposes beyond your care when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified, in which case your confidential information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care.

To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit your NHS data matters (external link).

To find out more about how patient information is used for research, visit understanding patient data (external link) which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made.

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

How long do we keep personal data?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.

Automated decisions

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

Your rights

More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found in at Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.

Data Protection Officer

If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.

We will respond to all requests within one month.

If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).

Document information

Owner: Laura Wharton, Deputy Director of Public Health

Author: Amy Dunne, Public Health Service Lead

Version and date: V4.0 October 2025