Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

Hedgerow Homecare Ltd ("Hedgerow", "we", "us") is an independent home care provider registered with the Care Quality Commission. We are the controller of the personal information described in this notice, which means we decide how and why it is used.

• Our office (where our team works): Office 1, Second Floor, Park Lorne, 111 Park Road, London NW8 7JL
• Registered in England & Wales, company number 09548295
• Telephone: 020 3876 7833
• Privacy questions: jkd@hedgerowhomecare.uk

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number ZA129513. You can check our entry on the ICO’s public register at ico.org.uk.

2. What this notice covers

This notice explains how we handle personal information collected through our website: care enquiries and the acknowledgement email we send in reply, brochure downloads, requests for printed brochures and leaflets, job applications, and cookies and analytics.

If you or a relative receive care from us, how we look after care records is explained separately when care is arranged. Please ask us if you would like a copy.

3. Information we collect

• Care enquiries (our home page and contact forms): your name, email address, telephone number, postcode or area, the type of care you’re interested in, when it might be needed, how you would like us to contact you, any support needs you select, and anything you choose to write in your message.
• Printed brochure and leaflet requests: your name, email address, telephone number if you give it, your postal address, the publications you choose and any message you add.
• Job applications: your name, contact details, postcode, care experience, driving and availability, the type of work you’re looking for, any message you choose to send and, if you choose to attach one, your CV or covering document (PDF or Word).
• How you found our website: if you send a care enquiry, we receive the campaign tags or advertising click ID in the link you followed (if there was one), the website that referred you and the page you first landed on.
• Website use: with your permission only, analytics cookies that tell us how the site is used (see Cookies and analytics below).
• Information kept on your own device: your cookie choices, and any support needs you tick on our Elderly Care page so they can be added to your enquiry. Selected support needs are removed from your device once your enquiry is sent, or when you choose “Clear”.

Downloading a brochure or leaflet does not require any personal information. Please don’t include detailed medical information in website forms: we’ll talk through care needs with you directly.

4. How we use your information

• Care enquiries are emailed securely to our care team, who use them to reply to you, discuss your needs, arrange a free care assessment and, if you decide to go ahead, set up your care.
• Acknowledgement emails: when your care enquiry is received, we automatically email you at the address you gave to confirm it has arrived, with a copy of our brochure and, if you chose a type of care that has its own leaflet, that leaflet too. This is a one-off email about your enquiry, not marketing.
• Printed requests are emailed to our office so we can post the publications you asked for and contact you about your request if needed. We use your address only for this.
• Job applications go to our recruitment team, separately from care enquiries, so we can consider your application, contact you about suitable roles and, if successful, begin pre-employment checks.
• With your permission, analytics help us understand which pages are useful so we can improve the website.

We don’t sell your information, and we don’t add you to a mailing list or send you marketing because you made an enquiry, requested printed information or applied for a job.

5. Our lawful bases

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal information. We rely on:

• Care enquiries, acknowledgement emails and printed requests: taking steps at your request before a possible care agreement, and our legitimate interests in responding to people who contact us and sending the information they ask for.
• Any health information you choose to share in an enquiry: the provision of health or social care (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h)), together with the relevant condition in the Data Protection Act 2018.
• Job applications: taking steps at your request before a possible contract of employment, and our legitimate interests in recruiting suitable staff.
• Analytics cookies: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

6. Who we share it with

Only our own team can see what you send us. We use a small number of service providers to run the website and email, and they handle information only to provide their service to us:

• Netlify: hosts our website and processes form submissions when you press send.
• Google: provides the email service that delivers website forms to our team and sends acknowledgement emails; and, only if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics.
• homecare.co.uk: provides the independent reviews shown on some pages (see Cookies and analytics).
• YouTube: plays the film on our home page, only if you press play.

We may also share information where the law requires it, for example with regulators.

7. International transfers

Some of our service providers are based in, or use systems in, the United States and other countries outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, it is protected by the safeguards set out in each provider’s terms. Please contact us if you would like more information.

8. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purpose it was collected, and then delete it securely:

• Care enquiries and our acknowledgement emails: for as long as we need them to respond to you and follow up your enquiry. If you become a client, relevant details become part of your care records.
• Printed requests: for as long as we need them to post your information and deal with any questions about the request.
• Job applications: for as long as needed to complete the recruitment process. If you join us, relevant details become part of your employment records.
• Analytics: Google Analytics keeps usage data for the period set in our account settings.

Because form submissions arrive by email, copies are held in our email accounts for these periods.

9. Keeping your information secure

Our website uses HTTPS, so information you send is encrypted in transit. Forms are checked on our server before they are sent, protected against automated spam, and delivered only to the relevant Hedgerow inbox. Access is limited to the staff who need it.

10. Your rights

You have rights under UK data protection law, including the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete
• ask us to delete your information
• object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it
• ask for your information in a portable format, where this applies
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent

To make a request, email jkd@hedgerowhomecare.uk, call 020 3876 7833 or write to us at our office. We may need to confirm your identity before we act on a request. We will respond within one month, as the law requires.

11. Cookies and analytics

Essential cookies and similar storage keep the site working and remember your cookie choices. Analytics cookies are used only if you accept them, and you can change your choice at any time using “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page.

Some pages show independent reviews from homecare.co.uk using their review widget. When one of these pages loads, your browser connects to homecare.co.uk to fetch the reviews and their images, so homecare.co.uk receives technical information such as your IP address and browser details. Their own privacy policy applies to that information.

The film on our home page plays from YouTube in privacy-enhanced mode. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play; after that, YouTube may store information on your device.

12. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we use your information, please contact us first at jkd@hedgerowhomecare.uk or on 020 3876 7833, and we’ll do our best to put it right.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator: ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.

13. Changes to this notice

We review this notice from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.