PRIVACY NOTICE – WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Here at Warrington and Moreton Osteopaths we take your privacy seriously.
Personal Data:
For the purposes of providing treatment, osteopaths require detailed medical information. We will only collect what is relevant and necessary for your treatment. During your consultation and at subsequent appointments, we will make notes which may include details concerning your medication, treatment and other issues affecting your health.
Your data is always held securely, and is not shared with anyone not involved with your treatment, although for data storage purposes it may be handled by pre-vetted staff who have all signed a confidentiality agreement.
Contact details provided by you will be used to remind you of future appointments and to provide email receipts and information concerning your treatment.
Legal basis for processing any personal data
We need to collect personal information about your health in order to provide you with the best possible treatment. We have to process your information for health and social care purposes and have a legitimate interest to record a medical history and treatment. This is our duty of care and allows us to meet our legal and professional requirements whilst also providing evidence that the service we are providing is appropriate and safe, and provides evidence to support treatment.
Your requesting treatment and our agreement to provide that care constitutes a contract. You can refuse to provide the information, however without this information we wouldn’t be able to do our job effectively and safely.
We think that it is important that we contact you in order to confirm appointments with us or to update you on matters related to your medical care, which is a legitimate interest.
Data retention:
We have a legal obligation to retain your notes for the statutory minimum time. Your data will be stored securely in accordance with retention guidance for osteopaths/health records, and will be securely destroyed 8 years after your most recent appointment, or following your 25th birthday, whichever is longer.
Disclosure:
Your details will not be shared with anyone else/made available to any third party (anyone outside Warrington and Moreton Osteopaths) unless required to do so by law. If we need to contact or share your information with another health care professional, or for insurance purposes, we will require written consent for this before any details are shared/released.
The only people with access to your data are:
-
- Your practitioner in order that they can provide you with treatment
- The principal osteopath
- Our reception staff because they organise our practitioners’ diaries, and coordinate appointments and reminders (they will not access your medical history or any sensitive personal information)
We may use anonymised information for audit purposes which is a requirement of the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC).
Your rights:
You have the right to request a copy of any personal information we hold about you. Requests for disclosure should be made in writing to the appropriate clinic. We will ask for confirmation of identity before we provide any personal information.
We want you to be absolutely confident that we are treating your personal data responsibly and that we are doing everything we can to ensure that the only people who can access data have a genuine need to do so.
Complaints:
If you feel that we are mishandling your personal data in some way, you have the right to complain. Complaints need to be sent to:
Sarah Dodenhoff
Warrington Osteopaths
69C Sankey Street
Warrington
WA1 1SL
or
Sarah@warringtonosteopaths.co.uk
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to raise the matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
