Guidance

Adult weight management services grant data collection: privacy information

Updated 15 February 2023

About the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) (formerly Public Health England) focus on improving the nation’s health so that everyone can expect to live more of life in good health, and on levelling up health disparities to break the link between background and prospects for a healthy life. OHID is part of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Find out more about OHID and what it does.

OHID’s responsibilities include running the adult weight management services grant data collection. The aim of the collection is to monitor the effectiveness of and people’s access to adult tier 2 behavioural weight management services across England.

This privacy notice explains the information we collect for this purpose, how we use it and who we may share it with. It also explains how you can find out more or raise a concern.

Working with OHID on this data collection are:

• local authorities, who are responsible for commissioning weight management services in their area

• weight management service providers, who provide tier 2 behavioural weight management services to individuals referred to them

The information collected by local weight management services

If you are referred to a weight management service for help with reducing your weight and maintaining a healthy weight, you are asked to provide personal information about yourself.

The personal information collected by your local service includes:

• demographic information, including your name, date of birth, sex, address, ethnic group, religion and sexual orientation
• health information, including your height and weight and information about your physical and mental health and wellbeing

Information about changes in your weight and mental health and wellbeing is collected at regular points as you progress through the service.

The information that is collected is used to monitor how effective the service is, and to help understand if there are differences in the effectiveness of and access to weight management services between groups in the population.

The information shared with OHID

The adult weight management services grant data collection was set up by Public Health England (now OHID) to help understand whether there are differences in the effectiveness of and access to weight management services across England.

To support this, information about the users of local weight management services is shared with OHID. This information is de-personalised only and does not directly identify anyone participating in local weight management services funded under the grant.

For example, your name, date of birth and address is not needed by OHID, so, to protect your confidentiality, this information is not shared with us by your weight management service.

How the information is used by OHID

The de-personalised information shared with OHID is used to monitor the effectiveness of adult tier 2 behavioural weight management services across England in helping people to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, and in improving their mental health and wellbeing.

We also use the information to monitor the effectiveness of and access to local weight management services across groups in the population. This includes looking to see if there are any differences by ethnic group, deprivation, sex, religion, sexual orientation and health conditions.

The de-personalised information shared with OHID by local weight management services is used to produce a range of statistics and will be published.

No information that could identify any individual will ever be published by OHID.

How the information is protected by OHID

The information shared by local weight management services with OHID is protected in a number of ways. It is sent to OHID using a secure data transfer service and is held on computer systems that have been tested to make sure they are secure and kept up-to-date to protect them from viruses and hacking.

The information can only be seen by OHID staff who have been specifically trained to protect people’s privacy. Strong controls are in place to make sure these staff can only see the minimum amount of information they need to do their job.

The information is held in the UK only and no information that could identify you will ever be published by OHID.

How long OHID keeps the information

The de-personalised information shared with OHID is kept for 2 years following the end of the 24-month data collection period, which starts in April 2021.

At the end of this period, the unique code used to update the information collected by OHID about changes in people’s weight and mental health and wellbeing as they progress through treatment is removed. The resulting anonymous data is then kept for a further 8 years before it will be reviewed and, if no longer needed, permanently destroyed.

Who the information is shared with

OHID may share the de-personalised information it receives from local weight management services with university and other researchers.

We will only do so if there is a justified public health purpose for sharing the data, and we will only share the minimum amount of information necessary for the research. Any information we share will be released under a contract that states what it can be used for and how long it can be kept by the researcher.

A register of the information shared with researchers and other organisations is published by Public Health England. Please note that although on 1 October 2021, parts of Public Health England transition to OHID, this register is currently still published in Public Health England’s name.

Data controllers

OHID is listed under the Department of Health and Social Care’s registration with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We are the data controller for the information we collect and use for the adult weight management services grant data collection.

You can find further information in our general privacy notice.

As local authorities are responsible for commissioning weight management services in their local area, they are the data controller for the personal information collected and used by the services they commission. Find out more in the privacy notice on your local authority’s website.

Legal basis for OHID to use the information

The law on protecting personal information, known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, allows OHID to use the de-personalised information shared with it by local weight management services.

The sections of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act that apply are:

• GDPR Article 6(1)(e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
• GDPR Article 9(2)(i) – processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health, such as protecting against serious cross-border threats to health or ensuring high standards of quality and safety of healthcare
• Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 Part 1 (3) – public health

Your rights over your information

Under data protection law, you have a range of rights over your personal information.

As the information shared by adult weight management services with OHID is de-personalised, this means OHID cannot identify you from the information it receives.

Should you wish to exercise any of your rights, such as the right to receive a copy of your personal information, you will need to contact your local weight management service, or your local authority as the data controller for your personal information.

How to find out more or raise a concern

If you would like to find out more about the information collected and used for the adult weight management services data collection, you can contact OHID/DHSC.

If you have any concerns about how your information is used and protected, you can contact the DHSC Data Protection Officer at odpo@dhsc.gov.uk.

If you have any concerns about how your personal information is used and protected by your local weight management service, you can contact your local authority data protection officer. You can find their contact details on your local authority’s website.

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office if you have any concerns about how your local weight management service, your local authority or OHID use and protect your information.

You can do so by calling the ICO helpline on 0303 123 1113 or visiting the ICO website.

About this privacy notice

If we need to make any additions or changes to the information provided in this notice, the publication date and version number will change.

Version: 01.00.