This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect personal information from you and how the personal information you provide will be processed by us. By visiting the website at www.thewestgate.co.uk (the “Website”) you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent, please do not submit any personal data to us.
Last updated: 6 August 2026
This privacy notice explains how Bedstone Limited, trading as The West Gate, collects and uses personal information through our website, online forms, email communications and related website services.
It applies to:
visitors to our website;
people making enquiries about our care services;
relatives, representatives and advocates contacting us on behalf of another person;
people requesting information or arranging a visit;
job applicants; and
anyone contacting us about the website or our services.
Separate privacy information may apply to residents, employees, contractors, CCTV recordings and other activities that are not primarily connected with the website.
Bedstone Limited, trading as The West Gate, is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this privacy notice.
Company name: Bedstone Limited
Company number: 04073394
Registered office: 29 Hoades Wood Road, Sturry, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 0LY
Care home and correspondence address:
The West Gate
2-4 Canterbury Road
Westgate-on-Sea
Kent
CT8 8JJ
Email: info@the-westgate.co.uk
Telephone: 01843 831585
References in this notice to “The West Gate”, “we”, “us” or “our” mean Bedstone Limited.
We process personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection and privacy legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, in each case as amended, including by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
Information submitted through our website
When you complete a contact or enquiry form, we may collect:
your first and last name;
your email address;
your telephone number;
the content of your message;
your relationship to a prospective or existing resident;
your communication preferences; and
any other information you choose to include in your enquiry.
Please only provide information that is relevant to your enquiry.
Information about care requirements
Enquiries about care services may include information about a person’s:
physical or mental health;
disability;
medication;
care requirements;
living arrangements; or
other health and social care needs.
This information may be special category personal information and receives additional protection under data protection law.
Where you provide information about another person, you should make sure you are authorised to provide it and that the person has been given access to this privacy notice where reasonably possible.
Recruitment information
If you apply for a position or send us a CV and covering letter, we may collect:
your name and contact information;
employment history;
education, skills and qualifications;
professional registrations;
references;
right-to-work information;
information about reasonable adjustments;
information contained in your CV or covering letter; and
other information relevant to your application.
Recruitment information may include special category information or information relating to criminal convictions where this is relevant and lawful.
Information collected automatically
When you use our website, we or our service providers may collect:
your IP address;
browser type and version;
device type and operating system;
screen size and device settings;
approximate geographical location;
referring website or marketing source;
pages viewed;
links and buttons selected;
the date, time and duration of visits;
website errors and performance information;
cookie or similar online identifiers; and
your cookie and privacy preferences.
Some of this information is collected only where you have enabled analytics cookies.
Correspondence
We collect information when you contact us by telephone, email, post or another communication method. This includes the content of your communication and any information needed to respond.
We only use personal information when we have a lawful basis for doing so.
Responding to enquiries
We use your information to:
respond to questions;
provide information about our services;
arrange visits or assessments;
discuss availability, fees and admission arrangements; and
take steps requested by you before entering into a contract.
Our lawful bases are taking steps before entering into a contract and our legitimate interests in responding to enquiries and operating our care services.
Assessing care requirements
Where an enquiry includes health or care information, we may use it to understand whether we can provide suitable care, arrange an assessment or respond appropriately to the enquiry.
Our lawful basis is normally taking steps before entering into a contract or our legitimate interests in managing care enquiries.
Where special category information is involved, we process it only where an additional legal condition applies. This may include processing necessary for the provision or management of health or social care, or explicit consent where that is the appropriate condition.
Managing our relationship with you
We may use your information to:
keep records of communications;
follow up on an enquiry;
provide requested documents;
manage complaints;
maintain accurate records; and
provide important information about our services.
Our lawful bases are performance of a contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in administering our services.
Recruitment
We use recruitment information to:
assess applications;
communicate with applicants;
arrange interviews;
verify qualifications and professional registrations;
obtain references;
complete right-to-work and background checks;
make recruitment decisions; and
comply with employment and regulatory obligations.
Our lawful bases are taking steps before entering into an employment contract, compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in recruiting suitable employees.
Where recruitment involves special category or criminal offence information, we will also identify an appropriate additional legal condition.
Website security and administration
We use technical information to:
maintain and secure the website;
prevent spam, misuse, fraud and cyberattacks;
diagnose technical problems;
maintain backups;
manage hosting and website infrastructure; and
investigate security incidents.
Our lawful bases are our legitimate interests in operating a secure website and compliance with legal obligations.
Website analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website and to improve its content, performance, navigation and accessibility.
Where analytics cookies or similar technologies require consent, our lawful basis is your consent. You can withdraw that consent at any time using the website’s cookie settings.
Legal and regulatory purposes
We may use personal information to:
comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
respond to requests from courts, regulators or public authorities;
protect residents, visitors, staff and other individuals;
establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and
investigate suspected wrongdoing.
Our lawful bases are compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests in protecting our organisation and others.
We use Google Analytics, a website measurement service provided by Google, to understand how visitors interact with our website.
Google Analytics may collect information such as:
pages visited;
visit duration;
website interactions;
approximate location;
browser and device information;
referring websites;
traffic sources; and
online identifiers stored in Analytics cookies.
We do not intentionally send names, email addresses, telephone numbers, form messages or care information to Google Analytics.
For visitors in the UK, Google states that Google Analytics uses IP address information to determine approximate geographical information and routing before discarding the IP address. Google does not make the individual IP address available to us through Google Analytics.
Unless an applicable legal exception has been properly implemented, Google Analytics will not be activated until you consent to analytics cookies through our cookie controls.
You can withdraw your consent at any time by reopening the website’s cookie settings and disabling analytics.
Google may process Analytics information using facilities located outside the UK. Where personal information is transferred internationally, appropriate legal safeguards are used, which may include UK adequacy regulations, recognised data-transfer frameworks and approved contractual protections.
Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies include scripts, tags, pixels and browser storage.
We use the following categories.
Strictly necessary technologies
These are required for the website to function or to provide a service requested by you. They may be used for:
website security;
spam prevention;
network management;
remembering cookie choices;
form functionality; and
maintaining essential website features.
Strictly necessary technologies do not require consent, but we still provide information about them.
Analytics technologies
Analytics technologies help us understand how visitors use the website. They may record page views, website interactions, traffic sources, device information and similar statistical information.
Where consent is required, these technologies remain disabled unless you accept analytics through our cookie controls.
Google Analytics commonly uses cookies beginning with _ga, including _ga and property-specific cookies beginning with _ga_. Their precise duration depends on our Analytics configuration and is displayed in the website’s cookie settings.
Managing cookies
You can manage your preferences through the cookie controls available on our website.
You can also configure your browser to block or delete cookies. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the website from functioning correctly.
Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.
We may share personal information with carefully selected organisations where necessary, including:
website hosting and maintenance providers;
website developers and technical support providers;
email, communications and IT service providers;
Google, in connection with Google Analytics;
professional advisers, including lawyers, accountants and insurers;
recruitment service providers and referees;
organisations within the Associated Care Centres group where they provide administrative or operational support;
healthcare and social care professionals where relevant and lawful;
safeguarding bodies;
local authorities, the Care Quality Commission and other regulators;
law enforcement agencies, courts and public authorities; and
a purchaser, investor or adviser involved in a proposed sale or restructuring of our business.
Service providers acting on our behalf are required to protect personal information and may use it only for authorised purposes.
We do not sell personal information.
We do not disclose information to third parties for their own direct marketing without an appropriate lawful basis.
Some service providers, including Google, may process information outside the UK.
Where we transfer personal information to a country that is not covered by UK adequacy regulations, we use an appropriate safeguard where required. This may include:
the UK International Data Transfer Agreement;
the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses;
an applicable data-transfer framework; or
another safeguard permitted by UK data protection law.
Further information about relevant safeguards can be requested using the contact details in this notice.
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet legal, regulatory, safeguarding, insurance and operational requirements.
Our normal retention periods are:
General website enquiries: up to 24 months after the enquiry has been closed or our last meaningful communication.
Care enquiries that result in an assessment or service: retained in accordance with our care-record and service-user retention requirements.
Unsuccessful job applications: normally six months after the recruitment process ends, unless the applicant agrees to a longer period.
Successful job applications: transferred to the employee record and retained under our employee retention arrangements.
Google Analytics user and event information: normally up to 14 months, subject to the settings applied to our Analytics property.
Analytics cookies: potentially up to two years, depending on configuration and any earlier withdrawal of consent or deletion by the user.
Cookie preference and consent records: for as long as reasonably necessary to remember and demonstrate the user’s choices.
Complaints and legal claims: for as long as required to investigate the matter and protect the legal rights of the parties involved.
We may retain information for longer where required by law, regulation, safeguarding requirements or an actual or anticipated legal claim.
When information is no longer required, it is securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised.
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, misuse, loss, alteration or disclosure.
These measures may include:
access controls;
staff confidentiality requirements;
secure systems and passwords;
software maintenance and security updates;
encrypted website connections;
backup and recovery measures;
supplier due diligence; and
procedures for managing personal data breaches.
No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should avoid including unnecessary sensitive information in a general website enquiry.
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
request access to your personal information;
request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
request deletion of your information;
request restriction of processing;
object to processing based on legitimate interests;
receive certain information in a portable format;
withdraw consent at any time;
object to direct marketing; and
ask for human intervention where a significant decision has been made solely by automated means.
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exceptions.
We do not currently use information collected through this website to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means.
To exercise a right, contact us at info@the-westgate.co.uk. We may request information needed to verify your identity.
We normally respond to valid data protection requests within one month. Where permitted by law, this period may be extended for complex or numerous requests.
You may make a complaint about our use of your personal information by emailing info@the-westgate.co.uk or writing to:
Data Protection Complaints
The West Gate
2-4 Canterbury Road
Westgate-on-Sea
Kent
CT8 8JJ
Please include enough information for us to understand the issue and investigate it.
We will:
acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 30 days;
make appropriate enquiries without undue delay;
keep you informed where appropriate; and
communicate the outcome without undue delay.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk
We encourage you to contact us first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve your concern.
Our website is intended primarily for adults seeking information about care services, employment or our organisation.
We do not knowingly use the website to collect personal information directly from children. A parent, guardian or authorised professional should contact us where an enquiry relates to a child.
Our website may include links to websites operated by other organisations, such as Google, the Care Quality Commission, Indeed and social media platforms.
Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. This privacy notice does not apply to personal information collected independently through third-party websites.
You should review the privacy information provided by the relevant third party before submitting personal information.
We may update this privacy notice to reflect changes to our services, technology, suppliers or legal obligations.
The date at the top of this notice shows when it was last updated. Material changes will be brought to users’ attention where appropriate.
Questions, requests and complaints concerning this privacy notice or our use of personal information should be sent to:
Email: info@the-westgate.co.uk
Telephone: 01843 831585
Postal address:
The West Gate
2-4 Canterbury Road
Westgate-on-Sea
Kent
CT8 8JJ
