Data protection privacy notice for patients
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.
Information that we collect
We may collect the following information about you:
- Personal details such as your name, date of birth, national insurance number, NHS number, address, telephone number and email address
- 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
– 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
– Correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
- Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details
Dr Nathan Welch (practice owner) is responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold.
Our data protection officer, Dr Lara Welch, ensures that 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, hygienists, nurses (i.e. those involved with your care and treatment) and the reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice.
Phone calls are recorded at the practice for training and monitoring purposes. We keep these recordings for 3 months on a cloud based software. They are then disposed off.
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.
For NHS patients, we share your information with the NHS in connection with your dental treatment.
For both NHS and private patients having treatment such as crowns, bridges, veneers, dentures, mouthguards/nightguards or orthodontic appliances (i.e. anything which requires construction in a dental laboratory) we share certain information about you with laboratory technicians.
We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are telephone, email or letter.
Occasionally, information about your dental condition and/or treatment may be useful for teaching and educational purposes. If we wish to use your information for this, we will discuss this with you and seek your consent. Depending on the purpose and if possible, we will anonymise your information. If this is not possible we will inform you and discuss your options.
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
- The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you
- NHS payment authorities
- The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
- Private dental schemes of which you are a member
- Dental laboratory technicians
We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary.
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. Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice; only those working at the practice have access to your information. 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 high-quality 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 may use cloud computing facilities for storing some of your information. The practice has a rigorous agreement with our provider to ensure that we meet the obligations described in this policy and that we keep your information securely.
We keep your records for 10 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longest.
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. 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
- Stop using your information – for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service
- Supply your information electronically to another dentist.
Privacy policy of information gathered from users of this website
This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Y Bont Faen Dental Practice collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a “User”) of the …… (“Site”).
Personal identification information
We may collect personal identification information from Users in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, when Users visit our site, fill out a form, and in connection with other activities, services, features or resources we make available on our Site. Users may be asked for, as appropriate, name, email address, phone number. We will collect personal identification information from Users only if they voluntarily submit such information to us. Users can always refuse to supply personally identification information, except that it may prevent them from engaging in certain Site related activities.
Non-personal identification information
We may collect non-personal identification information about Users whenever they interact with our Site. Non-personal identification information may include the browser name, the type of computer and technical information about Users means of connection to our Site, such as the operating system and the Internet service providers utilised and other similar information.
Web browser cookies
Our Site may use “cookies” to enhance User experience. User’s web browser places cookies on their hard drive for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track information about them. User may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If they do so, note that some parts of the Site may not function properly.
How we use collected information
We may collect and use Users personal information for the following purposes:
- To run and operate our Site
We may need your information display content on the Site correctly. - To improve customer service
Information you provide helps us respond to your customer service requests and support needs more efficiently. - To personalise user experience
We may use information in the aggregate to understand how our Users as a group use the services and resources provided on our Site. - To send periodic emails
We may use the email address to send User information and updates pertaining to their order. It may also be used to respond to their inquiries, questions, and/or other requests.
How we protect your information
We adopt appropriate data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction of your personal information, username, password, transaction information and data stored on our Site.
Sharing your personal information
We do not sell, trade, or rent Users personal identification information to others. We may share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal identification information regarding visitors and users with our business partners, trusted affiliates and advertisers for the purposes outlined above. We may use third party service providers to help us operate our business and the Site or administer activities on our behalf, such as sending out newsletters or surveys. We may share your information with these third parties for those limited purposes provided that you have given us your permission.
Electronic newsletters
If User decides to opt-in to our mailing list, they will receive emails that may include company news, updates, related product or service information, etc. We may use third party service providers to help us operate our business and the Site or administer activities on our behalf, such as sending out newsletters or surveys. We may share your information with these third parties for those limited purposes provided that you have given us your permission.
Third party websites
Users may find advertising or other content on our Site that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our Site. In addition, these sites or services, including their content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies. Browsing and interaction on any other website, including websites which have a link to our Site, is subject to that website’s own terms and policies.
Your acceptance of these terms
By using this Site, you signify your acceptance of this policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to this policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes.
If you do not agree
If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be 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: 14/10/2020
Review date: 14/10/2021
