Privacy Policy

How we collect, use, retain and protect your personal information.

This notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information. East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme will respect your privacy and look after your personal data. This notice contains information about:

Who we are
What is personal data and special category data?
Why we collect your personal information
How is your data collected?
How we use your data
How long we keep information
How we keep information secure
Your rights
How we provide the information
Can you see all the information we hold about you?
Information sharing and third parties
Information collected from third parties

1. Who we are

East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme, also known as EMICS (Charity No 1188852), is the "data controller" of the personal information we hold for the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, which supplements GDPR and extends its application in the UK.

2. What is personal data and special category data?

Personal data is defined in the GDPR as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. It can include obvious data like your name but also identification numbers, online identifiers and/or one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that person.

Special category data includes data revealing race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning a person's sex life or sexual orientation.

3. Why we collect your personal information

This policy applies to information we collect about:

Visitors to our website
Volunteers, both clinical and administrative
Donors (including individuals, club members, clubs, other charitable organisations, trusts, corporate bodies and executives handling probate and legacies)
People who make enquiries about our activities
Others connected to our work and charitable objectives

The types of information we may collect:

Normal personal data including name, address, telephone number, date of birth, email address, geographical/location details, bank account details, employment details, National Insurance number, educational qualifications
Special categories of personal data — for example we may process data concerning professional qualifications or career information
Details, images or photos when attending emergency call-outs

As a registered charity, most of the personal data we process relates to our core objectives. Data may also be processed because it is necessary for the pursuit of our legitimate interests and/or the legitimate interests of others associated with our work.

There may be occasions where we process data to comply with legal or contractual obligations, particularly in the context of compliance with requests by medical agencies and law enforcement.

We will not generally rely on consent as a basis for processing personal data. In the limited circumstances where we may rely upon consent, we will specifically obtain this in the course of collecting the data.

We may also use data to improve our level of service and the quality of our medical activities — for example by monitoring or recording call-out data for quality, compliance and accuracy purposes.

If you fail to provide personal data: Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract (formal or informal) we have with you or medical authorities, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to meet our Charity's objectives. If you choose not to give us consent for marketing and fundraising, this will have no effect on the services we provide to those in need.

4. How is your data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Directly: You may give us your identity and contact details by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes when you make an enquiry, make a donation, apply to become a volunteer, give feedback or complete a Gift Aid form.

Automated technologies or interactions: As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies, including website analytics provided by our web developer (dotwall). See our Cookie Policy for further details.

Third parties or publicly available sources: We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources, including analytics providers (e.g. dotwall and Google), payment and delivery services, the Charity Commissioners, Companies House, the Electoral Register, and referrals from online agencies such as JustGiving.

5. How we use your data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly we will use your personal data:

Where we need to perform the clinical care we provide to those in need
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of an associated third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests
Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation
For marketing and fundraising purposes

Generally we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing personal data other than in relation to managing Charity membership or sending direct marketing communications to you via email or post. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us at info@emics.org.uk.

As a charity, we operate a Gift Aid scheme approved by HMRC and will retain any required data for the period defined by HMRC where a donor has elected to provide data to enable us to reclaim Gift Aid.

6. How long we keep information

We will only keep your personal data for as long as we need it to complete the purpose for which we collected it. Provided we have not identified any of your data as being required for a longer term, we will aim to destroy all papers and data we hold about you upon the expiry of a 7-year period after collection, unless we have a legal, regulatory or statutory obligation to dispose of it earlier.

Volunteer applications: we use information to process applications and decide outcomes. Information is kept for 1 year, after which it is destroyed unless your application is accepted.

If you have opted in to receive marketing communications we'll seek re-consent every 2 years from the date you originally consented. You can unsubscribe at any time.

7. How we keep information secure

We are under a general duty to keep personal data and information confidential. Where we share information, we take all reasonable steps to keep it secure, use it fairly and ensure data protection safeguards are in place. We use secure portals and encryption tools when necessary to ensure data in transit is protected.

Cookies: You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible. See our Cookie Policy for the detail.

8. Your rights

Depending on the information we hold about you, you have certain rights. If you have any concerns, email our Data Protection Manager, Mary Boothroyd, at info@emics.org.uk.

Right to rectification — have records amended where data is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to erasure — request deletion where data is no longer needed, processed unlawfully, or where consent is withdrawn and there is no other lawful basis.
Right of access — obtain a copy of personal data we hold about you, with reasons, sharing parties and retention periods.
Right to restrict processing — limit how we use your data if you're concerned about accuracy or use.
Right to object to processing — particularly for direct marketing (an absolute right).
Right to data portability — ask us to transfer information to another organisation, where processing is based on consent or contract and is automated.
Right not to be subject to automated decision-making — we don't make decisions solely by automated means.
Right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Helpline 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745, or +44 1625 545 700 from outside the UK. ico.org.uk.

9. How we provide the information to you

We usually send a hard copy by special delivery post to your residential address or by email. We can make other arrangements in some cases.

10. Can you see all the information we hold about you?

You may not be entitled to see all the information held about you if an exemption applies. Examples include information that is about another person or is subject to legal privilege. If an exemption applies we will explain which one and tell you if we have removed any information from the copy we send you.

11. Information sharing and third parties

All of the Charity's extranet data is stored on servers physically located in the UK. All facilities meet or exceed the recommendations of Department of Health guidance on information storage. We also store a small amount of hard-copy material of a non-clinical nature for corporate governance purposes in the UK.

We also share data with organisations who perform audit and assurance roles for us and those who provide professional advisory services — including legal, medical and other professional advisers — with whom we have arrangements to ensure their compliance matches our requirements.

12. Information collected from third parties

We may obtain data from third parties when exercising our regulatory functions, powers and duties — for example from complainants, other regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies and witnesses.

Changes to this notice

We keep this notice under regular review. Last updated June 2026.