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Telecare

What we do

Telecare is a service that arranges help for vulnerable people in the case of an emergency in the home. It uses technology, such as alarms and sensors, to connect you to Greenwich Telecare staff who are able to help you.

The service operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year and the alarm calls are answered by Royal Greenwich staff based in a control centre in the borough.

Contact details

The Woolwich Centre,
35 Wellington Street,
London SE18 6HQ

telecare@royalgreenwich.gov.uk
020 8921 4444
Telecare web page

Why we need your information and how we use it

The information we collect and the information provided to us is used to assist us when receiving emergency calls. The data we hold is shared with the emergency services to help provide emergency assistance to our customers.

We process this data for the following reasons:

  • to ensure we meet our legal requirements
  • to allow us to communicate and provide services appropriate to your needs
  • where necessary to protect citizens from harm or injury
  • to conduct research or statistical analysis that allows us to target and plan the provision of services
  • to identify residents and users for the purpose of notifying them of proposed or planned changes to services that may affect them
  • to assist the Council in responding to emergencies or major accidents. This allows the Council, in conjunction with the emergency services, to identify citizens who may need additional support.

Phone calls to our customer service team may be recorded for training and quality improvement purposes.

What is our power to obtain and use personal data?

The Council may process personal information lawfully for a number of reasons:

  • Public task as the processing is necessary for us to perform our official function
  • We can use your personal data in accordance with prevailing legislation
  • Where we do not directly provide the service, we may need to pass your personal data onto organisations that do.  These providers are under contract and have to keep your details safe and secure, and use them only to provide the service
  • The protection of your vital interests;
  • In the public interest or in the exercise of official authority;
  • Special category data is information which is deemed particularly sensitive and which unlawful processing could create risks to you. We need to collect and use special category data relying on the following lawful basis for this processing:
  • Where it is necessary in order for us to carry out our obligations in relation to employment and social security and social protection law;
  • Where it is necessary for the purposes of preventive and occupational medicine, for assessment of working capacity of an employee, medical diagnosis or for the provision and management of health or social care systems and treatment.
  • Necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health;
  • Necessary for reason of substantial public interest;
  • Necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historic research.
What type of information we collect

Your details are securely stored in an in-house system called Answerlink and is supported and maintained by Jontek Ltd.

When you contact us we may need to collect personal information about you or your family so that the appropriate service can be provided. The information we require from you may include personal information, such as:

  • first name
  • family name or surname
  • address
  • contact details
  • date of birth
  • date of death
  • relationship information
  • payment information
  • marital status
  • medical history.
Who we may share your information with

Your data may be shared with the following:

  • internal departments
  • other local authorities
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)
  • NHS Trusts
  • NHS Foundation Trusts
  • Local Health Boards
  • agencies with whom we have a duty to co-operate, such as the Police, Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service.
How long we keep your information

Data is kept in accordance with departmental time limits as information is forwarded on to other services within the Council.

Version date
June 2019