This Privacy Policy describes how and when we collect, use, and share information when you attend an appointment at our clinic, purchase a product from us, contact us, or otherwise use our services. This is to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018.
Information We Collect
To aid your treatment or as part of purchasing something from our business you will normally provide us with certain information, such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone number(s), medical information and payment information. We will store your information on an electronic patient record system for Podiatry clients and paper records, which are secured in a locked filing cabinet, for Physiotherapy clients. Our electronic system is fully password protected.
Why We Need Your Information and How We Use It
We rely on a number of legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:
- where it is necessary for the purposes of the provision of health care as needed to provide
our services, such as when we use your information to fulfil your podiatry/physiotherapy
assessment and treatment, or to provide customer support; - when you have provided your affirmative consent, which you may revoke at any time, such as
by signing up for any mailing list we may offer; - if necessary to comply with a legal obligation or court order or in connection with a legal claim,
such as retaining information about your purchases if required by tax law;
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Information about our patients/customers is important to our business. We share your personal
information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:
- Medical professionals. With your consent we will share information with medical
professionals such as your GP or consultant to allow continuity of care. If you have been
referred to us by a medical professional a discharge letter is often sent on completion of
treatment. - Service providers. We engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide
services to our business, such as external reception services, manufacturers of orthotic
devices and private medical insurers. We will share your personal information with these third
parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these services. - Business transfers. If we sell or merge our business, we may disclose your information as
part of that transaction, only to the extent permitted by law and with your consent. - Compliance with laws. We may collect, use, retain, and share your information if we are
legally required to.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with our services
and as described in this Privacy Policy. However, we may also be required to retain this information to comply with the legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. The retention of podiatry/physiotherapy records is normally a minimum of 8 years, after the last appointment. For children it is necessary to retain records for a longer period of time. For customers who are not patients but may have bought products from our business we will keep any data you may have provided for a minimum of 6 years in line with tax legislation.
Your Rights
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. We describe these rights below:
- Access. You have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information we hold
about you by contacting us using the contact information below. - Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict our use of, or delete
your personal information. In the case of health records these are normally exempt from
change and deletion requests. - Object. You can object to (i) our processing of some of your information based on our
legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from us after providing your
express consent to receive them. In such cases, we will delete your personal information
unless we have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons. - Complain. If you wish to raise a concern about our use of your information (and without
prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with the Information
Commissioner www.ico.org.uk
How to Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about GDPR at Petts Wood Practice Ltd, you may contact the Data Controller at info@pettswoodpractice.co.uk. Alternately, you may write to us at: 1a West Way, Petts Wood, Kent. BR5 1LN.