Data Protection Privacy Notice

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In providing your dental care and treatment, we will ask for information about you and your health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in providing your care. This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it and what we do with it.

About us

We ensure the practice complies with data protection requirements to ensure that we collect, use, store and dispose of your information responsibly. Those at the practice who have access to your information include dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment, and reception staff responsible for management and administration. Carrie Preston is responsible for keeping secure the held information.

Information that we hold

We can only keep and use information, including health information, for specific reasons set out in the law.  Below we describe the information we hold and why, and the lawful basis for collecting and using it.

Contact details

We hold personal information about you including your name, date of birth, NHS number, address, telephone number and email address.  This information allows us to fulfil our contract with you to provide appointments.  We will also use the information to send you reminders and recall appointments as we have a legitimate interest to ensure your continuing care and to make you aware of our services.

Dental records

We hold information about your dental and general health, including

  • Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
  • X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
  • Medical and dental histories including correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
  • Treatment plans and consent
  • Notes of conversations with you about your care
  • Dates of your appointments
  • Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with

We collect and use this information to allow us to fulfil our contract with you to discuss your treatment options and provide dental care that meets your needs.  We also use this information for the legitimate interest of ensuring the quality of the treatment we provide.

Financial information

We hold information about the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details.  This information forms part of our contractual obligation to you to provide dental care and allows us to meet legal financial requirements.

How we use your information

To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you. We may contact you to conduct patient surveys or for feedback about your treatment for quality control purposes

We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are telephone, text, email or letter.  If you give your consent we may use your contact details to inform you of products and services available at our Practice.

Sharing information

Your information is normally used only by those working at the practice but there may be instances where we need to share it – for example, with:

  • Your doctor, hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you
  • Specialist dental or medical services to which we may refer you
  • Dental laboratories
  • Private dental schemes eg Practice Plan, Denplan of which you are a member.
  • Debt collection agencies

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary. We will let you know in advance if we send your medical information to another provider and we will give you the details of that provider at that time. In certain circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies.

Keeping your information safe

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system and in a manual filing system. Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice; they understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.

We take precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers.  We use specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information routinely.

We keep your paper records for 11 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longer.  At your request we will delete non-essential information (eg some contact details) before the end of this period.

Access to your information and other rights

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You should submit your request to the practice in writing or by email to Carrie Preston. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons.

You can also request us to:

  • Correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have disclosed that information to a third party, we will let them know about the change
  • Erase information we hold although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). We can delete some contact details and other non-clinical information
  • Stop using your information – for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service. You may withdraw consent from marketing material at any time
  • Stop using information if you believe the information is inaccurate or you believe we are using your information illegally
  • Supply your information electronically to another dentist.
  • Supply copies of our Data Protection policies in hard copy or electronic format: Records Management and Data Quality Policy, Data Security Policy, Access to Information held and Confidentiality Policy.

If you do not agree

To withdraw your consent to use your personal information for a particular purpose, at any time, please contact the Practice to discuss and we will stop using your information for that purpose. If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should the Practice to discuss. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, it might affect the way we are able to continue to provide your dental care.

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745).

 

Date:  February 2020                                                   Review date:  February 2022