Privacy Policy | Judy Shipway

Privacy Notice for “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist”

Purpose of this Privacy Notice

The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the GDPR). This legislation came into effect from 25 May 2018 and gives more rights to you as an individual and more obligations to organisations holding your personal data to use, store and share that information appropriately.

One of the rights is a right to be informed, which means we have to give you even more information than we used to about the way in which we use, share and store your personal information.

Who are we?

Judy Shipway is the data controller of “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist”. She decides how your personal data is processed and for what purposes.

Whose information does this privacy notice apply to?

Clients
Prospective clients
Former clients
Visitors to the “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist” 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 we may hold about you include your contact and appointment details.

Special Category data is a sub-category of personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation. Examples of Special Category data we may hold about you include the health and lifestyle information contained in your client notes.

How do we process your personal data?

We 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.We use your personal data for the purposes set out below.

The information below applies to our clients, prospective clients, former clients and visitors to our website.

Once provided by you, we use your contact details (name, address, telephone number(s) and email address) for the following purposes:

a) To respond to enquiries

b) To make and rearrange appointments

c) To send appointment reminders (via text message)

We store this information on a password-protected mobile phone, and a password-protected database, all of which are regularly backed-up. Where information has been provided via email, these details will also remain stored on a secure email server. In the case of registered clients, this information is also stored on the registration form your completed which is stored with your client notes.

2. We use your name, address, telephone number(s) and email address, only if we have your explicit consent, to send you requests to participate in research or to inform you of news, events and activities relating to “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist”. This consent is notified on the subscription box on the website and requested on the consent section of the registration form completed by new clients. This form is stored with your client notes.

3. Some clients and prospective clients provide information about their medical conditions and medication by email or online enquiry forms. Where such information is provided via email, this correspondence will remain stored on a secure email server. In the case of registered clients, this information is also submitted in the registration form completed before/during the first consultation. This registration form is stored in your client notes.

Please note that in relation to section 1-3 we are unable to send or receive encrypted emails so you should be aware that any emails we send or receive may not be protected in transit. We 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.

4. We keep a permanent attendance register which records all appointments for clients having consultations &/or treatment with Judy Shipway at her office location or anywhere else she may work from on occasion. This record of when you were treated is required 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. This register is a password-protected document stored on a password-protected laptop and backed up monthly on a password-protected hard drive.

5. We ask for your date of birth on the registration form completed by new clients. This information is transferred onto the password-protected practice database, and the original registration form stored in your client notes. We may use your date of birth to help identify clients with the same name to avoid mistakes being made as to safe and appropriate treatment, for identification purposes if referring a client to another health practitioner, and for identification purposes if writing to a registered medical practitioner so that they correctly identify the client.

6. During the course of consultations and treatment you will tell us about your presenting complaint and symptoms. We use this information for the purposes of making a full traditional diagnosis, formulating treatment strategy and treatment planning. Some of this information may be given to us in the registration form completed by all new clients. Hand-written notes will also be taken of conversations during the course of consultations and treatment. These notes will form part of your client notes.

7. During the course of consultations and treatment you will also tell us about relevant medical history, family history and other aspects of your lifestyle. We use any such information that you have told us for making a full traditional diagnosis, formulating treatment strategy and treatment planning and ensuring safe practice. Some of this information may be given to us in the registration form completed by all new clients. Hand-written notes will also be taken of these conversations during the course of consultations and treatment.

8. We use your GP’s name and address in the event that we need to contact your GP including in an emergency and because it is a mandatory requirement in the British Acupuncture Code of Professional Conduct. We collect this information in the registration form completed by all new clients. This form is stored with your client notes. The GP name and practice name are also transferred into the password-protected practice database for ease of reference.

9. We use our clinical findings about your health and wellbeing for making a full traditional diagnosis and formulating treatment strategy and planning. Clinical findings are recorded in the hand-written client notes.

10. We keep a record, and refer to that record, of any treatment given and details of progress in 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. These records form part of, and are stored with, your client notes.

11. We record and use any information and advice that we have given, especially when referring clients 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. This information will be recorded in the hand-written notes that form part of, and are stored with, your client notes.

12. We 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. This information will be recorded in the hand-written notes that form part of, and are stored with, your client notes.

13. We keep accident records for any clients, visitors or staff who are involved in accidents at office premises used by “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist”. This information is collected 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. If an accident were to occur, this information would be recorded in your client notes held by “Judy Shipway – Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist” and in the appropriate accident book or records belonging to the premises where the accident occurred.

14. In the event of an adverse incident occurring to any of our clients we report the matter to the British Acupuncture Council and, where appropriate, to our insurance company to enable the insurance company to deal with any potential claims and to help the British Acupuncture Council to develop its safe practice guidelines, as well as providing research data and information for the British Acupuncture Council’s insurers and other interested parties. Details of any adverse event would also be stored in your client notes.

15. We maintain records of the client’s consent to treatment, or the consent of their next-of-kin in order to be able to prove that the client (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. This consent is recorded by Judy Shipway in each treatment form once you have given your verbal consent to each stage of treatment. This treatment form is stored in your client notes.

Please note that in relation to sections 1-15, where reference is made to “client notes”, notes are hand-written at the time of treatment and then scanned into your electronic record file. These electronic notes are password-protected and backed up on a daily basis. Your full set of notes will then be present and in use, in electronic format, during each consultation and treatment. Any other notes held on file are stored in a locked storage unit for which Judy Shipway is the sole key-holder.

Complaints about our services

16. If we receive a complaint from a person we make up a file containing the details of the complaint. This would usually contain the identity of the complainant and any other individuals involved in the complaint.

We will only use the personal information we collect to process the complaint and to check on the level of service we provide. We usually have to disclose the complainant’s identity to whoever the complaint is about. If a complainant does not want information identifying him or her to be disclosed, we will try to respect that. However, it may not be possible to handle a complaint on an anonymous basis. We may need to provide personal information collected and processed in relation to complaints to the British Acupuncture Council or our insurance company.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained for two years from closure. It will be retained in a secure environment and access to it will be restricted according to the ‘need to know’ principle.

Similarly, where enquiries are submitted to us, we will only use the information supplied to us to deal with the enquiry and any subsequent issues and to check on the level of service we provide.

Our website users

17. When someone visits our website we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website.

18. We use website cookies to improve user experience of our website by enabling our website to ‘remember’ users either for the duration of their visit – using a ‘session’ cooking or for repeat visits – using a ‘persistent’ cookie.

19. We use a third party service, Wix.Com Ltd, to host our website. We collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it.

Sharing Your Personal Data

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential. It will only be shared in the following circumstances:

With named third parties only with your explicit consent. For example, if Judy Shipway were to be unexpectedly absent from work or on holiday and you needed to receive treatment from another professional during that time.
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 children or vulnerable adults.
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.
With my solicitor in the event of any investigation or legal proceedings being brought against me.

How long do we keep your personal data?

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

The retention period for patient records (also known as “your notes”, comprising correspondence, contact details, registration form, consultation and treatment notes) under section 8 of the British Acupuncture Council Code of Professional Conduct is a minimum of seven years after cessation of treatment. In the case of patients under 18 years of age, records must be kept until the patient reaches the age of 25 (seven years after reaching eighteen).

(This Code of Professional Conduct is available at https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/public-content/effective-practice/bacc-professional-codes.html).

We will retain your patient records for a maximum of 10 years after cessation of treatment unless there are extenuating circumstances which make it necessary to retain the records for longer.

Any other personal data – for example, contact details from enquiries or prospective patients – is retained for a period of two years, so that it can be referred back to if necessary, and then deleted.

At any time you may request that changes are made to your contact details.

When hard copy data (paper files) are deleted, they will be either burned or shredded in line with British Acupuncture Council guidelines. Electronic data will be deleted from source and also from any “deleted items” boxes.

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 we hold about you. A request can be made verbally or in writing to Judy Shipway. There will be a £10 administration fee charged. Data will be provided within one calendar month of the request being made.
The right to request that we correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date. Requests can be made verbally or in writing. We will respond without delay and make any corrections within one month of receipt.
The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for us to retain such data.
The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time. This right does not apply where we are processing information using a lawful purpose other than “consent”.
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 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 and, where necessary, any other third parties such as the Police, Insurers or regulatory body The British Acupuncture Council.
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 we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Notice, then we 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, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Compliance reviews and verification of data accuracy

We monitor our compliance with data protection policies including the GDPR and annually review the effectiveness of our Privacy Notice, data handling processes and security controls.

Contact details

To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints, please in the first instance contact us at either address below:

Judy Shipway

Fertility, Pregnancy & Gynaecology Acupuncturist

The Cleve

Mantle Street

Wellington

Somerset

TA21 8SN

Or by telephone on 07985 765 612 or email judy@judyshipway.co.uk

You can contact the Information Commissioner’s 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.