Information we collect for recruitment and employment
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when NEAS collect personal information from you in relation to recruitment and employment.
We use www.jobs.nhs.uk during our recruitment process. NEAS is the data controller for your application on NHS jobs and all the information you provide to us during the process.
We ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. The recruitment team will only have access to this and will only share with hiring managers your information on education, experience and suitability for the role. At the point of interview, your hiring manager will be able to see your personal details- name, address.
You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including hiring managers, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary. The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for employment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t.
Assessments
We might ask you to participate in assessment days; complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires; and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes. This information is held by NEAS
If you are unsuccessful following assessment for the position you have applied for, we may ask if you would like your details to be retained in our talent pool for a period of six months. If you say yes, we would proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise.
Conditional offer
If we make a conditional offer of employment we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability. You will therefore be required to provide:
- Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- A criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions.
We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references.
Occupational health
We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work. The information you provide will be held by our Occupational Health team, who will provide us with a fit to work certificate or a report with recommendations. You are able to request to see the report before it is sent to us.
When a referral is made to Occupational Health Department while you are in employment with us, we collect data about your condition and any other relevant information. This will be held securely within the Occupational Health Department and accessed only be Occupational Health staff.
We use third party providers for some occupational health services e.g. counselling, blood tests etc. Information is shared with them with your consent. Some information may also be passed to solicitors, especially if there is a claim involved. All our third party contractors are bound by the same confidentiality clause as NEAS.
Post start date
Some roles require a higher level of security clearance – this will be clear on the advert. If this is the case, then you will be asked to submit information via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) website. DBS will be the data controller in this instance. When you sign upto the DBS update service, the ESR will regularly pull information from the system to keep your ESR records updated.
DBS will tell us whether your application is successful or not. If it is unsuccessful, NEAS will not be told the reason(s) why but we might need to review your suitability for the role or how you perform your duties.
Our Code of Conduct requires all staff to declare if they have any potential conflicts of interests. If you complete a declaration, the information will be held on your personnel file.
If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:
- Bank details – to process salary payments.
- Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work.
- Membership of NHS Pension scheme – so we can send you a questionnaire to determine whether you are eligible to re-join your previous scheme.
What will we do with the information you provide to us?
All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements including:
- Staff administration and management (including payroll and performance)
- Pensions administration
- Business management and planning
- Accounting and Auditing
- Accounts and records
- Crime prevention and prosecution of offenders
- Education
- Health administration and services
- Information and databank administration
- Sharing and matching of personal information for national fraud initiative
We have a legal basis to process this as part of your contract of employment (either permanent or temporary) or as part of our recruitment processes following data protection and employment legislation. We will not share any of the information you provide with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
Electronic Staff Record
On commencement of employment with us, your personal data will be uploaded to the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). ESR is a workforce solution for the NHS which is used to effectively manage the workforce leading to improved efficiency and improved patient safety.
Streamlining
In accepting employment with us, you accept that we will transfer personal data under the streamlining programme if your employment transfers to another NHS organisation:
Streamlining is the process by which certain personal data is transferred from one NHS organisation to another when your employment transfers. NHS organisations have a legitimate interest in processing your data in this way in establishing the employment of a suitable workforce. The streamlining programme is a data sharing arrangement which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make costs savings for Trusts but also to save you time when your employment transfers.
How long is the information retained for?
If you are successful during the recruitment process and then employed by us, we will store your information as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment. This includes your criminal records declaration, fitness to work, records of any security checks and references.
Who do we share information with?
We may share your data with external agencies as part of our legal obligations to aid an investigation and may not inform you of this. These agencies could include Police, HMRC, Court, Professional bodies and CQC.
Foundation Trust Membership
Foundation Trusts are different from standard NHS Trusts. They have freedom to decide locally how to meet their obligations and they are accountable to local people and staff who can become members and governors. As a Foundation Trust NEAS has a statutory duty to ensure that its membership is representative of the organisation and the areas it serves. Under contract of employment a staff member is a Foundation Trust member unless they advise that they wish to ‘opt out’.
FT membership is free and crucially it means you can vote and or even stand in Staff Governor elections. Staff Governors represent you at our Council meetings and make sure the Trust is acting in the best interests of its staff, volunteers and patients. The Trust uses the National Health Service Act 2006, as our lawful basis for processing membership data because there is a statutory requirement to do so and it is exercising its official authority as a public body.
Should you decide to ‘opt out’ of Foundation Trust membership please contact the Membership Office as follows:
Membership Officer
North East Ambulance Trust
Bernicia House
Newburn Riverside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE15 8NY
Can I see the information you hold about me?
Data Protection laws gives you 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.
- 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)
The right of access to this information is referred to as Subject Access Request (SAR). You can find out more about Subject Access Requests here.