Who we are
The OsteoHub
Principal: Hannah Del Ponte BA, BSc
The practice address is: The OsteoHub, Harebreaks Community Hub, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD24 6NJ
The telephone number is: 07757 770186.
Introduction
The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) (the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR from May 2018) protects the rights of individuals by setting out certain rules as to what organisations can and cannot do with information about people. A key element to this is the principle to process individuals’ data lawfully and fairly. In order to meet the fairness part of this we need to provide information on how we process personal data.
The College takes its obligations under the Data Protection Act very seriously and will always ensure personal data is collected, handled, stored and shared in a secure manner.
We invite you to read this privacy policy which explains our privacy practices and how we treat your information. It describes the type of information collected and created in connection with you, how and why we use such information, who we share it with and your legal rights. Unless indicated otherwise, this privacy policy applies to all our teaching clinic, administration and digital sites (all our website and social media sites). Nothing has changed with how your information is held or processed. However, we have taken the opportunity to improve the way we describe our practices and how we explain the options you have to update, manage and delete your data.
For residents of the EU, please note that this Policy has been updated in accordance with the requirements of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For residents outside the EU, by visiting our digital sites you consent to and authorise our using your personal information as described in this policy.
Your data controller is Hannah Del Ponte.
Your Data Protection Officer is: Hannah Del Ponte.
Your Data Protection Rights
You have the following main rights:
- To be informed about how and why we gather your personal information, how we keep it and what we do with it.
- To access the personal data we hold about you.
- To have the information rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
- To have your information removed from our records if there is no longer any justification for us to keep it.
- To prevent direct marketing without your consent.
- To request that your data be copied or transferred to another organisation in certain circumstances.
- To complain to us and/or to the Information Commissioner’s Office if your information is being used unlawfully
Patient Information
The OsteoHub practitioners gather and use personal data about you when you come to us for treatment.
This Privacy Statement tells you what personal data we collect about you, how we use the data and who might see it. Please note that we may have to amend this Statement from time to time to reflect changes in how we use personal data or to keep up with best practice, but we will only do this in line with the underlying principle on which this Statement is based – respect for your personal data.
Our legal bases for collecting, using, sharing and otherwise processing your information are outlined below.
The types of personal data we hold
The information we hold includes the details provided by you during your appointments with us. This can include sensitive personal data. We are likely to hold the following information about you:
- Your name, address and contact details, including your telephone number and email address
- Your date of birth
- Your nationality and any other information about your ethnicity
- Details relating to your medical history, treatment plans and outcomes.
The information we collect about you is used to:
- Create your treatment plan
- Contact you regarding your current treatment
- Contact you regarding future treatment
- Contact you regarding special offers and news
- Form part of ongoing learning through CPD case study discussions and patient outcomes. Information used in this way will always be anonymised.
How long does The OsteoHub keep personal data?
As a patient, we are legally obliged to keep all of your medical records for a minimum of eight years after the conclusion of treatment.
Children’s notes are kept until their 25th birthday.
Medical records are kept securely using encryption and passwords known only to the practitioners treating you and the practice principal.
Consent
When you visit us you will be asked for 3 types of consent:
- Consent to treatment
- Consent for specific techniques will be explained and requested during treatment. This ensures that you have understood risks and benefits of treatment being offered to you (this may be written and/or verbal).
- Consent to contact you by email, text or post regarding future treatment, special offers and news (verbal).
Sharing your personal data
We are committed to respecting and protecting your personal data. Data is not normally shared with anyone outside the practice. This includes your spouse, parents, other family members or medical professionals unless you give us your permission to share it or because, in exceptional circumstances, we have reason to believe that your health or safety or the health and safety of a third party is at risk.
The purposes for which we may process your personal data (including sensitive personal data) include:
- the provision of treatment;
- data used in relation to research. That data is anonymised so that it cannot be traced back to an original patient but the key characteristics can be used to formulate, prove and disprove hypotheses or used as examples of interesting cases for the purpose of learning;
- referring your to other health professionals or services;
- to fulfill legal obligations;
- in the event of a complaint;
Cookies
A cookie is a small text file sent by a web server and stored on your hard drive. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences and to help us analyse data about webpage traffic. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes. Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
Our website uses cookies to help our site provide a better user experience. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others but this may stop our website from functioning properly. To disable cookies in your browser we suggest consulting the Help section of your browser which offers guidance on how to do this. For more information about cookies, go to www.aboutcookies.org
Further Information
If you
- require further information about how we manage personal data or have any questions relating to this Privacy Statement,
- wish to access the personal data held about you
- wish to up-date your information, including your address and preferred contact details, or if you wish to change your preferences relating to any consents you have given
please contact Hannah Del Ponte.
If you wish to complain with regards to how your data is kept and handled you may contact the Information Commissioner at the following address:
Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
caswork@ico.org.uk
