Adult Social Care Prevention and Wellbeing

Skip to:

Our duties

The Prevention and Wellbeing Service works with residents with health and social care needs, and their carers, to prevent, reduce and/or delay health and social care needs from escalating, while improving their wellbeing outcomes in line with the Care Act 2014.

We also support people living with dementia and their carers. 

We provide good quality information and advice. We work alongside residents, so they recognise their strengths and how to build on these. We support people to achieve outcomes that matter to them and ensure their voices are at the centre of our work. We also aim to improve the information and advice offered to residents and work alongside community partners.

Personal information collected

  • name
  • address and contact details
  • date of birth
  • financial information
  • equalities information
  • health and medical information  
  • Social Services records 
  • information from the local authority from where you live and previously lived
  • family and relationship information
  • NHS number
  • support network
  • referral and assessment information
  • education information 
  • housing information  

Who we share information with

  • environmental services like recycling and waste such as treating hoarding or arranging assisted refuse collections)
  • children’s services for individuals transitioning between child and adult social care, and to carry out our duties to safeguard children in need or at risk 
  • finance such as for council tax and benefits
  • police and fire service, when in your interest 
  • health agencies or GPs
  • legal representatives
  • government departments, for example Department of Health, Department of Education
  • professional regulatory bodies like the Care Quality Commission
  • council legal service
  • other local authorities, for example if you move to another local authority 
  • voluntary agencies and third sector
  • housing providers like Barnet Homes, including to help them understand your Health or Social Care needs, for example, if you are affected by an eviction or a decant of one of their buildings
  • care homes or residential facilities

We will work with you to choose what if any information about you is given to your family, friends, and support network. 

Our work with Health colleagues

To provide linked and person-centred social care, we work closely with NHS colleagues. These include:

  • Health care agencies and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
  • Practitioners, acute health services, specialist health professionals, GPs, and district nurses
  • Health staff in hospitals via our hospital social work teams
  • Hospital admissions services to be aware when someone we work with is admitted
  • Health colleagues in our integrated Mental Health Service
  • Health colleagues in our integrated Learning Disabilities Service

We share information about how cases are managed to enable us to work together and provide the best possible service to you.

The National Data Opt-Out

The National Data Opt-Out was introduced on 25 May 2018, to allow you to ‘opt out’ from the use of your data for anything other than your individual care and treatment, preventing it being used for research or planning purposes as listed above.

The Opt-Out is in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian in her review of information security, consent, and opt-outs. Data Opt-Out applies to the NHS and some of the activities of the council.

Health agencies and councils must check the NHS National Data Opt-Out system before using your data for research or planning. 

If you are happy with use of your data for research and service planning, 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.

You can change your national data opt-out choice at any time by using the online NHS service or by selecting "Your Health" in the NHS App, and selecting "Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning".

Legislation that applies

  • The Local Government Finance Act 1992. The Local Government Finance Act
  • Care Act 2014 (Encourages caregivers to adopt a person-centred approach with vulnerable Safeguarding adults)
  • The Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015 (a duty on health and adult social care providers to share information about a person's care with other health and care professionals)
  • Health and Safety Care Act 2012 (Legal duties about health inequalities)
  • Equalities Act 2020 (established equality duties for all public sector bodies which aim to integrate consideration of the advancement of equality into the day-to-day business of all bodies subject to the duty)
  • Health Act 2009 Chapter 3 (Direct Payments - the electronic transfer of funds to make payments)
  • Mental Health Act 1983, 2007 (Designed to give health professionals the powers, in certain circumstances, to detain, assess and treat people with mental disorders in the interests of their health and safety or for public safety)
  • Local Safeguarding Children and Adults Boards Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/90)
  • Mental Capacity Act 2005: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
  • Social Security Administration Act 1992 (the main piece of legislation dealing with the administration of social security benefits)

How long we keep your information

In most circumstances, we retain your information for 10 years. 

If your support or service is assessed as Adult Protection (Safeguarding), we retain your information for 10 years from last contact or 10 years from date of death.  

For clients receiving support from the Mental Health Service, we retain your information for 20 years from last contact or 10 years from date of death. 

If you have made a complaint, sent us a compliment, or made representation, we retain your information for 10 years from last contact or 10 years from date of death.  

For services involving financial assessments and invoicing, we retain your documentation for 10 years from last contact or 10 years from date of death.

For Deputyship, Property and Protection, we retain your data for 10 years from last contact, a nil balance, or date of death.