The privacy and security of my clients’ information is important to me. This statement explains the types of information I hold, how I use it, who I share it with and how long I keep it for.
It also informs you of your rights regarding your personal information under current legislation. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you have any questions about privacy and data protection, please contact me.
Why Process your Data?
In order to provide you with therapy services, I need to hold and use information about you, some of it of a sensitive nature. In legal terms, this makes me a data controller. I only process information that is provided to me by you: this includes your name and contact details, GP details, details of your health history, lifestyle and self-care, and where relevant to our work, details about your family situation, relationship history, sexuality, ethnicity and cultural background, and any life concerns that are affecting your mental health or wellbeing.
Your data is collected and used to provide the service you have contracted me for, and to communicate with you about that service. The legal basis for processing your data in this way is:
• Your consent
• The contract between us for the provision of my services
• To comply with the law
• To protect vital interests i.e. to safeguard your or someone else’s safety
How Your Data is Processed
I take the security of your data seriously. I have policies in place for the protection of information and the maintenance of data protection, confidentiality and security, and regularly review these measures to ensure that the data I hold is secure. I store paper information in a locked filing cabinet in a private office and electronic data is kept on a password protected section of a private computer. Identifiable information (name, contact details) is stored separately from notes relating to our sessions. I review the data I hold from time to time to make sure it is accurate and up to date. If there is a change to your personal information (e.g. your contact details), please let me know so I can update accordingly.
Limits to Confidentiality
Your data is held confidentiality and will not be disclosed to anyone with the following exceptions:
• If there is a risk to you
• If someone else is at risk
• If I am legally required to make a disclosure (e.g. you are involved in a court case or police investigation)
• If you give written consent for me to contact a third party (e.g. to make a referral to another therapist or your GP)
Data Retention
I am subject to legal, regulatory and professional obligations. I need to keep certain records to demonstrate that my services are provided in compliance with those obligations and those records may contain personal data. Personal data is kept for as long as is considered necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. My retention policy period for records and other documentary evidence is 5 years. All records are securely destroyed or deleted five years after the end of our work together.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
• Be informed about the personal data I hold about you.
• Access your personal data. You need to make your request in writing, and I will provide your records, free of charge, within one month of your request.
• Ask for rectifications to your data if you believe there are errors.
• Ask me to transfer your data to another provider. If you choose to move to another therapist I will, at your written request, provide a copy of your notes to your new therapist, free of charge.
• Ask me to erase your data by contacting me in writing. There may be circumstances where I will still need to hold some of your data for legal or official reasons – I will inform you if this is the case. Where this is the case, I will restrict the data to only what is necessary for the purpose of meeting those specific reasons.
• Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has not been processed lawfully.
You can contact me if you want to access your personal data or to exercise any of the other rights listed above.
Further information
Further information about your rights can be found on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk. You have the right to raise concerns with the ICO on 0303 123 1113 if you believe that your data protection rights have not been adhered to.
Concerns or Complaints
If you have any concerns during therapy that you do not feel comfortable raising with me or if you wish to make a complaint, you can do so through the BABCP’s Complaints System at complaints@babcp.com.
Dr Amy Beddows 