PERSONAL INFORMATION
At various times during your interaction with osteopaths at The Hearne Osteopathic Practice, you will be asked to provide personal information. This document tells you what information we request and why we need it, what information is stored, and how we process it.
Your Initial Consultation
We require your full name, address and date of birth so that we can identify your medical records correctly (as these are legal documents) and also to identify you correctly in any necessary correspondence with 3rd parties that you authorise. Should your name (eg. marriage) or address change, it is important that you let us know so that we can ensure your records are updated.
We request your email address and telephone number(s) in order to contact you regarding your appointments, or with appointment reminders, or relating to your treatment at The Hearne Osteopathic Practice. Should these details change, it is important that you let us know so that we can ensure your records are updated. We do NOT share or pass on these personal details to any 3rd party. You are not obliged to provide your email address or telephone contact details. And if, subsequently, you would like us to remove your email address and telephone number(s) from our database, let us know, and we shall do so within 5 working days. Please note that, without this information, we would be unable to contact you should we need to inform you of a change to your appointment in the event that your osteopath is unavailable to see you.
We may also use your personal details to contact you (by post, email or text) with information, such as newsletters, that you may find of interest regarding our services or of a general healthcare matter, or with requests for feedback, or with greetings cards. We would seek your consent prior to doing so, and you may subsequently withdraw your consent if you wish – simply let us know, and we shall stop doing so within 5 working days.
Your Medical Records
We are legally required to record essential clinical information that we take from you during your initial consultation and each subsequent appointment to enable us to make an accurate diagnosis of your problem(s) and to formulate an appropriate treatment and management plan. These records are held on paper, not in electronic form, and you may request a copy at any time. We aim to provide you with a copy within 5 working days of your request, and will always comply with the statutory maximum of 30 days. There is no charge for a copy of these records.
Your medical records, and any correspondence such as referral letters and reports based on their contents, are not shared with or passed on to any 3rd party, with the exception of: other healthcare professionals such as your GP or consultant; another osteopath in the event you relocate; if ownership of this practice passes to another osteopath; your insurance company or legal representatives in the case of a medico-legal investigation. We would not do so without your consent. We store copies of any medical correspondence in paper form within your medical file and/or on a secure server(*), accessible only to osteopaths at The Hearne Osteopathic Practice. Statutory minimum storage times for medical records and associated correspondence are 8 years after the date of the last appointment or 25 years of age if under 18 at the time of the last treatment.
* Implemented using Dropbox ( https://www.dropbox.com/security/GDPR )
Data Processing
We store your name, address, date of birth, and (when provided) your email address and contact telephone numbers in a clinical audit database, along with information regarding your presenting complaint including diagnosis, duration and severity of symptoms, and response to treatment. The database is password protected and held on a secure server, accessible only to osteopaths at The Hearne Osteopathic Practice.
The clinical audit information is used to measure the effectiveness of our treatment and for research purposes. The database is NOT shared with or passed on to any 3rd party and the data processing does NOT make use of any identifying data (name, address, email or phone numbers). Therefore, it is NOT possible to identify any patients from audit results or research outcomes that are made public via our website. We would seek your consent prior to including your information in the clinical audit database, and you may subsequently withdraw your consent if you wish – simply let us know, and we shall remove your details within 5 working days.
We store information in the clinical database for same duration as your medical records.
Therapies other than Osteopathy
All other therapists at The Hearne Osteopathic Practice (acupuncture, counselling, remedial massage, homeopathy and medical herbalism) are responsible for their own medical records and management of patients’ personal information as per the General Data Protection Regulation. Please refer to your specific therapist for a privacy statement and for details of how they manage your information.
For further information regarding the storage and processing of your personal data, or if you feel that there is an error in the data we hold, or if you would like us to remove your contact details from our database, please contact the practice manager, Julian Hearne(**) on 07973 619908 or via julian@hearneosteo.co.uk. The Hearne Osteopathic Practice is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, registration number ZA329470.
If you feel that The Hearne Osteopathic Practice has not managed your personal information correctly, please contact us, and we shall endeavour to address your concern immediately. You also have the right to object to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or by phone on 0303 123 1113.
Julian Hearne
Practice Manager
The Hearne Osteopathic Practice
** The Practice Data Cointroller
Last updated: 22/05/2018