S L Psychology Ltd
Privacy Policy
Thank you for coming to S L Psychology Ltd. Your privacy and the way that we collect information from you, what we do with that information and how it is stored is important to us. This Privacy Policy is written to ensure that we are working in line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), effective from 25th May 2018.
What information do we collect about you?
The lawful basis under which we collect information about you is that of Legitimate Interests.
We collect information about you when you contact us with regard to providing services to you.
We collect information that we need in order to meet the contract for service provision agreed between us, or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract.
Once you have entered into a contract with us to provide a service, we also collect information when you voluntarily complete measures, questionnaires or provide feedback to ensure that we are providing optimal service delivery and for occasional anonymised audit/research purposes where appropriate. We also seek to collect the information needed in order to provide the service that you have requested; this is information that you choose to share with us.
How will we use the information about you?
We collect information about you in order to provide the service that you have requested and that we have agreed to provide. We use the information provided in order to contact you with regard to appointments that we have agreed or to send you information that you have either requested or agreed to receive. We use the information you have provided in order to process the payment for the agreed services.
Your information is not shared with others unless this forms part of the contracted service and you have given explicit signed consent.
We will not disclose any information to others except under the conditions stated in our contract with you (section 15).
Section 15.5 states that:
“We reserve the right to break confidentiality if it is deemed that you are at significant risk of causing harm to yourself or others or if we have any Safeguarding concerns about a child or vulnerable adult. In such circumstances, We reserve the right to inform those persons whom we deem to be most appropriate in all the circumstances. Examples include: your General Practitioner, the Police or Customer First (the first point of contact for social services in Suffolk; part of Suffolk County Council).”
Where do we keep your information?
When you enter a contract with us then you are assigned a unique code. This code is used on your paperwork (paper and electronic), on a personal folder created for you, and in diaries.
The code and your contact details are stored separately from your paper notes in a locked filing cabinet and on a password protected electronic database.
The paper notes are stored within your personal folder, which when not actively used is kept in a locked filing cabinet.
Who has access to your information?
Your personal folder is only accessed by your therapist.
In event of an emergency, the electronic database may be accessed by an individual acting on behalf of your therapist to contact you to cancel or rearrange appointments. This will only happen if your therapist is unable to do so.
How long do we keep your information?
If after an initial enquiry you do not enter into a contract with us, no personal information is retained. Your details are not entered into the electronic database.
If you choose to enter into a contract with S L Psychology Ltd then all the information collected from you is retained as detailed above whilst we are still providing a service to you. This includes regular meetings, or occasional follow up meetings.
On completion of the contract between us, then we work in line with the Professional Guidelines from the British Psychological Society (BPS) and Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP), who advise the use of guidelines produced by the Department of Health (DoH).
These guidelines state that process notes, handwritten by the therapist, are shredded on completion of the contract.
All formal records, including therapy record sheets, therapy documents, reports and personal information will be retained for a period of time according to classification:
- Mental health records
20 years after the date of the last contact, or eight years after the death of the service user.
- Adult health records
8 years after the date of the last contact.
- Child health records
After 25th birthday, or 26th birthday if aged 17 years at the conclusion of treatment.
For the purposes of making this distinction, you will be treated under a) (Mental health records) if at any point during the time of your treatment, or within the 12 months prior to commencing treatment with S L Psychology Ltd you received treatment from NHS secondary or tertiary care mental health services or were admitted to an inpatient unit (NHS or non-NHS) for treatment in relation to your mental health.
All other situations, including those of mild forms of mental health treated in a community setting, will be treated under b) for adults, and under c) for children (aged below 18 years at conclusion of treatment).
The database of client codes, with name only, is kept indefinitely to prevent codes being reused.
Financial documents are kept for the time periods as advised by HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) for accounting and audit purposes.
There is an exception to the above situations. Where medical records have been provided to S L Psychology Ltd for the sole purpose of commissioned reports, these are shredded / deleted on completion of the contracted piece of work.
Access to your information and correction
You are routinely given copies of session records and are routinely offered copies of all other documentation that we hold in relation to you. However, you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you at any time. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email: Sarah@SLPsychology.co.uk or use the other contact details provided below. We may make a small charge for this service.
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.
Website
Our website may contain links to other websites. This privacy policy only applies to the S L Psychology Ltd website; therefore, if you follow links to other websites you will need to read their own privacy policies.
Marketing
We will not use your data for any marketing purposes, either of our own services, or those of others.
Your information is only used for the purpose of providing the agreed service, as requested by you or on your behalf.
Your information is not shared with others for the purposes of marketing.
Changes to our privacy policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review and you will be given copies of any updates that occur whilst you are still receiving a service from us. This privacy policy was last updated September 2018.
How to contact us
Email: Sarah@SLPsychology.co.uk
Tel: 01449 706007
Tel on the day at Encore Wellness: 01449 721747
Writing: S L Psychology Ltd, Cardinal House, 46 St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom, IP1 1TT
How to complain to the ICO if you have a problem with the way we have handled your data
If you wish to raise any concerns or issues about the way that your data has been handled then you can do this with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Email: registration@ico.org.uk
Tel: 0303123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Writing: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
S L Psychology Ltd
Privacy Policy Acknowledgement
Date: Client Name:
Therapist Name: Client Reference:
Privacy Policy Acknowledgement
I acknowledge that I have received, and had the opportunity to discuss, the S L Psychology Ltd Privacy Policy.
I understand that if I have any concerns that I can discuss these with my therapist / S L Psychology Ltd at any time. This could be in person or by the methods below:
Email: Sarah@SLPsychology.co.uk
Tel: 01449 706007
Writing: S L Psychology Ltd, Cardinal House, 46 St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom, IP1 1TT
I understand that if I wish to raise any concerns or issues about the way that my data has been handled then I can do this with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Email: registration@ico.org.uk
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate)
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Writing: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Agreement
I acknowledge the above information and am signing this to indicate that I have received the
Information outlined above. I have taken/been offered a copy of this for my use.
Client Signature: Therapist Signature: