Privacy notice: Kate McDougall Acupuncture

Purpose of privacy notice:

Kate McDougall is the data controller (Kate McDougall Acupuncture 3-6 Bagleys Court, Norwich NR2 1TW ). This means I decide how your personal data is processed and for what purposes.

This privacy notice applies to information I collect from:

patients; prospective patients; former patients; visitors to our website;

What is personal data?

Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession. Examples of personal data I may hold about you include your contact and appointment details.

Special category data is a sub-category of personal data. Examples of special category data I may hold about you include your patient notes.

How do I process your personal data?

I comply with our obligations under the GDPR by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data. I use your personal data for the purposes set out below.

Patient notes are kept on paper only. They are kept in a locked cabinet on clinic premises. I may also take these paper files home with me if I need to refer to them when writing referral letters or to review a case. They are kept in a locked cabinet at my home also.

Details of appointments are recorded on an online diary (Acuity), which holds your name, email address and phone number only. Reception staff are able to view this data.

Sections 1 – 15 apply to my patients, prospective patients, former patients and visitors to my clinic.

1. I use your name, address, telephone number and email address to make and rearrange appointments. My email address is encrypted but unless yours is you should be aware that any emails I send or receive may not be protected in transit. I will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send us is within the bounds of the law.

    

2. I do not contact patients with marketing materials.

    

3. Some patients and prospective patients tell me about their medical conditions and medication by email. I use a encrypted email server, but unless you do, you should be aware that any emails I send or receive may not be protected in transit. I will also monitor any emails sent to me, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send us is within the bounds of the law.

    

4. I keep a permanent attendance register which records all appointments for patients attending our clinic to keep a record of when you were treated for tax purposes and to secure potential evidence in the event of a criminal prosecution, civil litigation, insurance claim or complaint to my regulatory body, the British Acupuncture Council.

    

5. I may use your date of birth to help identify patients with the same name to avoid mistakes being made as to safe and appropriate treatment, for identification purposes if referring a patient to another health practitioner, and for identification purposes if writing to a registered medical practitioner so that they correctly identify the patient.

6. I use your presenting complaint and symptoms reported by you for the purposes of making a full traditional diagnosis, formulating treatment strategy and treatment planning.

7. I use any relevant medical and family history you have told me for making a full traditional diagnosis, formulating treatment strategy and treatment planning.

    

8. I use your GP’s name and address in the event that I need to contact your GP including in an emergency and because it is a mandatory requirement in the British Acupuncture Code of Professional Conduct.

    

9. I use our clinical findings about your health and wellbeing for making a full traditional diagnosis, and formulating treatment strategy and treatment planning.

10. I keep a record of and refer to that record of any treatment given and details of progress of your case, including reviews of treatment planning to enable us to: review the full traditional diagnosis, treatment strategy and planning; and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, an insurance claim or complaint.

11. I record and use any information and advice that we have given, especially when referring patients to any other health professional, to help you to receive the most appropriate treatment and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, an insurance claim or complaint.

12. I record any decisions made in conjunction with you to help you to receive the most appropriate treatment and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, an insurance claim or complaint.

13. I keep accident records for any patients, visitors or staff who are involved in accidents at our clinic in accordance with UK Health and Safety legislation including the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) to comply with the law and to secure evidence in the event of criminal proceedings, civil litigation, an insurance claim or complaint.

14.In the event of an adverse incident occurring to any of my patients I report the matter to the British Acupuncture Council and the our insurance company to enable the insurance company to deal with any potential claims and to

15.Where relevant I maintain records of the patient’s consent to treatment, or the consent of their next-of-kin in order to be able to prove that the patient (and/or parent/guardian/next of kin) has given informed consent to treatment to secure evidence in the event of a civil claim, criminal prosecution, insurance claim or complaint. help the British Acupuncture Council to develop its safe practice guidelines, as well as providing research data and information for the BAcC’s insurers and other interested parties.

Section 16 applies to those who complain about our services.

Sections 19 – 23 apply to our website users

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Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential, and will be shared:

· with named third parties with your explicit consent; I use an online diary for booking appointments. Your name, phone number and email address is used. No other patient details are recorded. The online diary system I use is Acuity. People working on reception will be able to view this information.

· with the relevant authority such as the police or a court, if necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject e.g. a court order;

• ·  with your doctor or the police if necessary to protect yours or another person’s life;

• ·  with the police or a local authority for the purpose of safeguarding a children or

  vulnerable adults; or

· with my regulatory body, the British Acupuncture Council, or my insurance company in the event of a complaint or insurance claim being brought against me; or

· my solicitor in the event of any investigation or legal proceedings being brought against me.

For further details about the situations when information about you might be shared please see the Information Commissioner’s website at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal- information/sharing-my-info/

How long do I keep your personal data?

I keep your personal data for no longer than reasonably necessary.

I keep patient records for a period of 7 years in accordance with the British Acupuncture Code of Professional Conduct https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/public-content/effective- practice/bacc-professional-codes.html

n the event of illness or death my patient notes are transferred to another BacC acupuncturist for safe keeping.

Your rights and your personal data

Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have certain rights with respect to your personal data as set out below.

• ·  The right to request a copy of your personal data which I hold about you.

• ·  The right to request that I correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out

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of date.

The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for me to retain such data.

The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time. This right does not apply where I am processing information using a lawful purpose other than consent.

The right to request that I provide you with your personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability), (where applicable) [This right only applies where the processing is based on consent or is necessary for the performance of a contract with you and in either case the I am processing the data by automated means].

The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing.

The right to object to the processing of personal data, (where applicable) [This right only applies where processing is based on legitimate interests (or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority); direct marketing and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics].

The right to be informed if your data is lost. We shall also inform the Information Commissioner’s Office in accordance with the time limits in the GDPR.

The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
For further details about these rights please see the Information Commissioner’s website at

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/is-my-information-being-handled-correctly/

Further processing

If I wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Notice, then I will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, I will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Contact Details

To exercise all relevant rights, queries of complaints please in the first instance contact me at Kate McDougall Acupuncture, Soma Wellbeing Centre, 3-6 Bagleys Court, Norwich NR2 1TW.

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.