Health and Social Care Professionals Council (known as Coru) (Register of Users)

Does Council use the PPS Number at present?

Yes

For what purpose(s)?

CORU uses the PPS number during the process of registration in order to determine that a health and social care professional is not already registered by CORU, thereby preventing duplicate records. The Council also uses a combination of surname and date of birth to ensure that a person is not recorded twice on the register. CORU’s primary identifier will be the Registration Number. This number is required when persons are availing of services provided by CORU including the renewal of registration.

CORU records the PPS number on the Professionals' specific Register of Health and Social Care Professions Council during the process of registration and will use it occasionally as one of several possible fields of information (including date of birth, employee number, address etc.) to verify the identity of a health and social care professional when he or she contacts CORU.

Does the Health and Social Care Professionals Council exchange the PPS Number with any external body? If so, please name the relevant bodies and state the purpose(s) of the exchange.

What future plans has the Council for the use of the PPS Number?

CORU has no extended or additional plans for the use of the PPS number beyond what it is stated above.

There are Eight Rules of Data Protection which govern the processing of personal data set out as follows:

obtain and process the information fairly
keep it only for one or more specified, explicit and lawful purposes
process it only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given to you initially
keep it safe and secure
keep it accurate, complete and up-to-date
ensure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessive
retain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposes
give a copy of his/her personal data to an individual, on request

Have you measures in place to ensure that the Public Service Identity data you hold /collect, whether held in electronic or written format is secure and that it is accessible and processed, only in connection with the purpose for which it has been provided?

Yes, CORU is aware of the eight principles of data protection and has physical and electronic measures in place to ensure that all data that is collected is secure and is not accessed inappropriately.