PRIVACY NOTICE
Personal Information
From May 25 2018 there will be a new set of regulations that ensure that all of our personal information will be protected. The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) will replace the existing Data Protection Act of 1998 and will bring the regulations up to date and help protect our personal information from our ever expanding digital footprint. At various times during your interaction with Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic, you will be asked to provide personal information. This document tells you what information we request and why we need it, what information is stored, and how we process it. By using this website or sending us an email you consent to the collection and use of information by Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic.
Your Initial Consultation
We require your full name, address and date of birth so that we can identify your medical records correctly (as these are legal documents) and also to identify you correctly in any necessary correspondence with third parties that you authorise. Should your name (example by marriage) or address change, it is important that you let us know so that we can ensure your records are updated.
We request your email address and telephone number(s) in order to contact you regarding
your appointments, or with appointment reminders, or relating to your treatment at Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine clinic. Should these details change, it is important that you let us know so that we can ensure your records are updated.
We do NOT share or pass on these personal details to any third party. You are not obliged to provide your email address or telephone contact details. And if, subsequently, you would like us to remove your email address and telephone number(s) from our database, let us know, and we shall do so within 5 working days. Please note that, without this information, we would be unable to contact you should we need to inform you of a change to your appointment in the event that your therapist is unavailable to see you. If you choose not to receive an appointment email reminder, and you miss your appointment, you will be charged the full fee, for the missed appointment.
We may also use your personal details to contact you (by post, email or text) with
information, such as newsletters, that you may find of interest regarding our services or of a general healthcare matter, or with requests for feedback. We would seek your consent prior to doing so, and you may subsequently withdraw your consent if you wish – simply let us know, and we shall stop doing so within 5 working days.
Your Medical Records
We are legally required to record essential clinical information that we take from you during your initial consultation and each subsequent appointment to enable us to make an accurate diagnosis of your problem(s) and to formulate an appropriate treatment and management plan.
You have the right to see what personal data of yours we hold and you can also ask us to correct any factual errors. We are legally required to respond to any request from a patient to see their personal data within a timescale of 30 days.
Your medical records, and any correspondence such as referral letters and reports based on their contents, are not shared with or passed on to any third party, with the exception of: other healthcare professionals such as your GP or consultant; if ownership of this practice passes to another therapist; your insurance company or legal representatives in the case of a medical or legal investigation. We would not do so without your consent.
We store copies of any medical correspondence in paper form not electronic form and they
are stored in a secure locked filing cabinet, accessible only to Gloria Else at Gloria Else
Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic. Statutory minimum storage times for
medical records and associated correspondence are seven years after the date of the last
appointment. In the case of minors records must be kept until the patient reaches the age of twenty-five (seven years after reaching eighteen).
Data Processing
We store your name, address, date of birth, and (when provided) your email address and
contact telephone numbers in a practice management system called Cliniko. The provider
has given us their assurances that they are fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations. Access to this data is password protected and held on a secure server, accessible only to Gloria Else at Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic. We store this information in the clinical database for the same duration as your medical records. Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZA380386.
We reserve the right to make changes to this privacy policy without notice. Any changes that are made to this privacy policy will be reflected on this page.
If you feel that Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Clinic have not
managed your personal information correctly, please contact Gloria Else, and we shall
endeavour to address your concern immediately.
Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.
(“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer,
to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
Any messages you send via email are held by Gmail which is password protected, as are the devices upon which the emails are accessed. These are only accessed by Gloria Else. Where necessary these will be printed and added to the paper notes or otherwise deleted in a rolling program of deletion.
Any messages you send via the Facebook page Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal
Medicine: these are within the messages section of the Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese
Herbal Medicine page and are only accessed by Gloria Else. This page is password protected as are the devices upon which Facebook is accessed. Facebook has reassured us that it will be compliant with GDPR however given historic issues with Facebook and privacy, you many wish to consider which information you type within a message.
Any messages you send via Facebook Messenger are password protected as are the devices
upon which Facebook Messenger is accessed. These messages are only accessed by Gloria
Else at Gloria Else Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine. For further information regarding the storage and processing of your personal data, or if you feel that there is an error in the data we hold, or if you would like us to remove your contact details from our database, please contact Gloria Else on 07968 282 142 or via email gloria@heavenearthman.com.
We want you to be absolutely confident that we are treating your personal data responsibly, and that we are doing everything we can to make sure that the only people who can access that data have a genuine need to do so. Of course, 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 what is referred to in the jargon as the “Data Controller”.
If you are not satisfied with the response, then you have the right to raise the matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
