Summerland Health Ltd – Taunton Chiropractic Clinic Ltd, Chard Chiropractic Clinic Ltd, Wellington Chiropractic Clinic Ltd Privacy Policy

Summerlands Health Ltd trading as Taunton Chiropractic Clinic, Chard Chiropractic Clinic Ltd and Wellington Chiropractic Clinic Ltd is aware of its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This privacy notice describes, in line with GDPR, how we collect and use personal data about you during and after your time as a patient of our clinic. It also sets out how we use that information, how long we keep it for and other relevant information about your data.

This notice applies to current and former patients.

The type of personal information we collect

We currently collect and process the following information:

  • Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details)
  • next of kin and their contact numbers
  • personal medical or health information, including past medical history
  • information concerning examination and treatment at your first and subsequent visits
  • letters of referral to or from the clinic regarding your treatment with us.

How we get the personal information and how we store it.

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you. We collect data about you in a variety of ways and this will usually start when you make an enquiry to the clinic and continue when you attend your first and subsequent appointments. At our clinic, we keep paper and electronic records.

We may receive information about you from your GP or other health care provider regarding your referral or, with your permission, additional information that will help us continue with your treatment. We may also hold the results of tests that you have undertaken and that are relevant to your treatment with the clinic.

Personal data is kept in the clinic in a variety of forms. We store your data in the following ways:
Paper notes: These are stored onsite in locked filing cabinets and are only accessible to approved staff and practitioners. At times these records may be scanned onto our electronic system for storage. When the time comes to dispose of your paper notes, in-line with our statutory regulation, these notes are destroyed using a cross shredder and professional paper disposal company.

Electronic notes: We use a clinic management software package to manage your personal data, treatment records and any letters/communications. This software is firewall protected and all back-ups encrypted. A second back-up is performed to a cloud-based server off-site which is also encrypted. Access to this system is by individualised password login only. Access is limited to staff, practitioners and third-party practitioners who need access to the system in order to complete their role as a practitioner. The software management company also have access. Our software management company and third-party practitioners are all GDPR compliant and data processor contracts are in place.

The premises where your data is held is alarmed, has keyholders for our area of the building limited to those who need access and is under CCTV surveillance. The site is also monitored by an outsourced security company who do not have access to your data but protect the environment where it is stored. All our computer systems are username and password protected. We have multi-level firewall security in place.

How long we keep your data for

In line with data protection principles, we retain your data for the duration necessary which includes the length of being a patient with us and the legal requirements set by the Chiropractic regulator, typically we keep this data for eight years after your time as a patient has ended or until the age 25, if this is longer.

All our team members have agreed to confidentiality agreements which prevents them from discussing any patient information beyond our clinic. Occasionally we may require your written consent to refer procedures outside or our clinics like MRI scans.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how we handle your information, please contact the Clinic’s Data Protection Manager and Director Philip Jones. Who can be contacted on 01823 333 973, via email admin@tauntonchiropractic.co.uk or in writing to Summerlands Health Ltd, Taunton Chiropractic Clinic, Crown Medical Centre, Venture Way, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 8QY.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the supervisory authority in the UK for data protection matters, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

This policy was last updated on 5th April 2024.