Just after some direction on the data protectection act.

Regarding the emergency services and first response like red cross and StJohn.

I look after a music venue and we use the red cross for our first aid cover, they use their standard forms which are great, however due to the data protection act we are not allowed to see the persons name and address. Which for us can somtimes hinder when a complaint comes in as we need to verify the name of the person making the complaint and the first aid form.
The same goes for the amubulance service.

We do have a safe and secure place to hold personal information as we store our own internal forms which have all of the information including name address etc.

Is it unreasonable to ask to see this information from red cross and the ambulance service?

Cheers

It's doubtful if dealing with 'complaints' would reduce the requirements of DPA.
What is the nature of the complaint referred to here?
The OP states they have their own record - presumably an incident/ accident record? Any other record held by a third party should be neither here nor there from the employer's perspective.
If a MoP is intent on complaint/claim then the onus is on them to secure relevant information from the third party - a request that they cannot reasonably be denied - and their choice whether they wish to make this available as part of the evidence substantiating or proving their complaint.

Avoid knee jerk. Customer care and satisfaction is important, but isn't the be-all and end-all.

You cannot just ask for it. As a minimum it would require some form of data sharing agreement. That would seem most unlikely to ever occur.

Look at this way, I give info to the emergency service for their purposes and not to be shared with 3rd parties. They must secure and protect that info in accord with the law and their policies.
However, it is far easier to share info that has been de-personalised. That is why you can see details except those that identify me as an individual.

You can find the code of practice for data sharing here. http://www.ico.org.uk/fo..._protection/topic_guides

Click on the topic guides at left hand side and then select 'data sharing'.

p48

Just to add my twopenneth worth.....

If you are contracting your first aid out to SJA or BRC then they are working on your behalf and I don't see why they can't provide you with the information, as long as it related to an accident or incident on your property/venue and not say about a health condition. This would be similar to if you did this function in house, your first aider would complete an accident form and this would be subject to your internal policies and procedures on accident investigation, I trust that your internal first aiders wouldn't refuse to 'share' the information?

I don't think you can have the same priveledge with the Ambulance service.

I would suggest a conversation with your first aid provider and ask why they can't share, if they say because of the DPA then get them to specify in detail why and how the DPA applies.

Next time, make sure the 3rd party First Aid providers use YOUR accident books (you can cover all that at the pre-start) and return them at the end of the Gig.
Jobs a good 'un!
In other respects, if you have a complaint of alleged assault, the victim should have reported it to the police. I would have expected the police to be doing a wee follow up with you thereafter. What about CCTV?

Does anyone know of a helpline where you can get definitive advice on this kind of thing?

Getting similar issues in the workplace and it all seems a total nightmare !

Somehow "data controller" has now been filed under the H&S dept......