Child Psychiatry UK Ltd Privacy Policy

What is a Privacy Policy?
A Privacy Policy is a statement by Child Psychiatry to patients, patient’s families, our Associates, other stakeholders, and the public about how we collect, use, retain and disclose the personal information which we hold. It is sometimes also referred to as a Privacy Statement, Fair Processing Statement or Privacy Notice. This Privacy Policy is part of our commitment to ensure that we process your personal information/data fairly and lawfully.

Why have a Privacy Policy?
Child Psychiatry UK recognises the importance of protecting personal and confidential information in all that we do and we take care to meet our legal and regulatory duties. This policy is one of the ways in which we can demonstrate our commitment to being transparent and open. This policy also explains what rights you have to control how we use your information.

Why and how we collect information
We may ask for or hold personal confidential information about you which will be used to support delivery of appropriate care and treatment. This is to support the provision of high quality care.

How we use information

• To help inform decisions that we make about your care.
• To ensure that your treatment is safe and effective.
• To work effectively with other organisations who may be involved in your care.
• To ensure our services can meet future needs.
• To review care provided to ensure it is of the highest standard possible. For research and audit.
• To prepare statistics on performance.

The information can be used to help:

• Improve individual care.
• Improve diagnosis.
• Plan services and communicate between services to provide the best quality care.

It helps you because:

• Accurate and up-to-date information assists us in providing you with the best possible care.
• If you see another healthcare professional or specialist they can readily access the information they need to provide you with the best possible care.

How is information retained and kept safe?
Information is retained in secure electronic and paper records and access is restricted to only those who need to know.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (GDPR 2018) regulates the processing of personal information. Strict principles govern our use of information and our duty to ensure it is kept safe and secure.

Child Psychiatry UK Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

Technology allows us to protect information in a number of ways, in the main by restricting access. Our guiding principle is that we are holding your information in strict confidence and for your benefit.

How do we keep information confidential?
Information provided in confidence will only be used for the purposes to which you consent, unless there are other circumstances covered by the law.  Staff are required to protect information, inform you of how your information will be used and allow you to decide if and how your information can be shared. This will be noted in your records.

With whom will the information be shared?
To provide best care possible, sometimes we will need to share information about you with others. We may share your information with a range of Health and Social Care organisations and, very rarely, regulatory bodies. You may be contacted by any one of these organisations for a specific reason; they will have a duty to tell you why they have contacted you. Information sharing is governed by specific rules and law. We will always inform you when we are sharing information, unless it is dangerous to do so, or against the law, or clinical guidelines.

For your benefit, we may need to share information from your records with both NHS and non-NHS organisations, from whom you are also receiving care or support, such as social services, private healthcare organisations or our Associates.  However, we will not disclose any health information to third parties without your explicit consent, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as when the health or safety of others is at risk or where the law requires the disclosure of information. We may also be asked to share basic information about you, such as your name and parts of your address, which does not include sensitive information from your health records.

Child Psychiatry UK will not sell, rent or exchange personal information with any third party for commercial reasons.

Where patient information is shared with other organisations or individuals, it is shared in a way that complies with all relevant legislation.

Organisations may include, but are not restricted to: social services, education services, local authorities, the police, voluntary sector providers, insurance companies for the purposes of seeking payment or other private sector providers.

You have the right to refuse/withdraw consent to information sharing at any time. We will explain the possible consequences to you, which could include delays in you receiving care.

International transfers
Some of our third party providers are businesses outside of the EEA in countries which do not always offer the same levels of protection for your personal data. We do our best to ensure a similar degree of security by ensuring that contracts, code of conduct or certification are in place which give your personal data the same protection it has within Europe. If we are not able to do so, we will request your explicit consent to the transfer and you can withdraw this consent at any time. 

Contacting us about your information
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information we hold on you, the use of your information or would like to discuss further, please contact us as follows:

By post: The Practice Manager, Child Psychiatry UK, PO Box 111, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 9AA

By email: admin@childpsychiatryuk.com

Can I access my information?
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 (GDPR 2018) a person may request access to information (with some exemptions) that is held about them by an organisation. For more information on how to access the information we hold about you, please contact us in writing using any of the above-mentioned contact methods. Requests for rectification or erasure of a record or restricting of processing, should also be in writing and sent using any of the above-mentioned contact methods.

Your request will be discussed, and consideration given to the reasons for requesting rectification or erasure of the record.

How long we keep your information for 
Your information is kept for the time necessary to provide the therapy service requested. However, outside of this we will hold your details and patient notes for a period of 20 years following the end of treatment to comply with legal obligations that are placed upon us by The Private and Voluntary Health Care (England) Regulations 2001. After this date, all data will be securely deleted.

Information this website collects and why we collect it
This website collects and uses personal information for the following reasons:

1. Site Visitors Tracking

Third Party Processor: Google Analytics

Data Collected: Usage data & cookies

Data Processed in: USA

Privacy Policy:  https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

This site uses Google Analytics to monitor how users interact when they visit the website. Google Analytics provides us with impersonal data such as the number of people using the site, which pages they have visited, their journey through the site and how long they spent on the site.

Google Analytics is a third-party data processor and none of the data collected can be used to personally identify you. Google Analytics does however record your computer’s IP address which could be used to personally identify you, however this information is never shared with us or made public.

Google Analytics does use cookies and you can find more about their cookie policy here: Google’s developer guides. You can disable cookies on your internet browser at any time to prevent GA from tracking your visit to this website.

2.  Contact Forms & E-mails
If you contact us by completing one of the forms on our website, none of the data that you enter on the form will be stored on this website or processed by a third-party data processor. The data will be sent via e-mail and sent to us via SMTP which is protected by SSL meaning that the form/e-mail contents are encrypted. It is important to note that not all mail servers are secure, and you should not include personal, confidential or sensitive information within a contact form or e-mail.

Information about how you use our website is collected using cookies. If you want to know how we use cookies, please refer to our Cookies Policy.

Making a complaint
We are committed to protecting your personal data but if for some reason you are not happy with any aspect of how we collect and use your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). 

We would be grateful if you would contact us first so we can try and resolve it for you. You can contact us:

By post: The Practice Manager, Child Psychiatry UK, PO Box 111, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 9AA 

By email: admin@childpsychiatryuk.com

For more information about your rights under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018, contact:  The National Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF Tel: 0303 123 1113  email: www.ico.org.uk

Child Psychiatry UK Ltd – November 2020