Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Data protection privacy notice for patients

In providing your dental care and treatment, we will ask for information about you and your  health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in  providing your care. This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why  we hold it and what we do with it.

Information that we collect 

We may collect the following information about you:

  • Personal details such as your name, date of birth, national insurance number, NHS number,  address, telephone number and email address
  • Information about your dental and general health, including:
    • Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care  and treatment
    • X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models – Medical and dental histories
    • Treatment plans and consent
    • Notes of conversations with you about your care
    • Dates of your appointments
    • Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with – Correspondence with other health professionals or institutions
  • Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details
  • Images captured on CCTV required for the prevention and detection of crime and for  protecting the safety of patients

The practice owner is responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold.

Our data protection officer, Mujeeb Samadi, ensures that the practice complies with data  protection requirements to ensure that we collect, use, store and dispose of your information  responsibly

Those at the practice who have access to your information include dentists and other dental  professionals involved with your care and treatment, and the reception staff responsible for the  management and administration of the practice.

How we use your information  

To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and  accurate information about you.

We will share your information with the NHS in connection with your dental treatment.

We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods  are telephone, sms text, email or letter.

We may use your contact details to inform you of products and services available at our Practice.

Sharing information 

Your information is normally used only by those working at the practice but there may be  instances where we need to share it – for example, with:

  • Your doctor
  • The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you • NHS payment authorities
  • The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption  or remission from NHS charges
  • Private dental schemes of which you are a member.

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that  we share to the minimum necessary.

In certain circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third  party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or  government agencies.

Keeping your information safe 

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system and in a manual  filing system. Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice;  only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal  responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.

We take precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and  computers

We use high-quality specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely  and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information  routinely.

We use cloud computing facilities for storing some of your information. The practice has a  rigorous agreement with our provider to ensure that we meet the obligations described in this  policy and that we keep your information securely.

We keep your records for 10 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you  reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longer.

Access to your information and other rights 

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You  should submit your request to the practice in writing or by email. We do not usually charge you  for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons.

You can also request us to

  • Correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have disclosed  that information to a third party, we will let them know about the change
  • Erase information we hold although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be  unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment
  • Stop using your information – for example, sending you reminders for appointments or  information about our service
  • Supply your information electronically to another dentist.

 

Data Opt-Out Policy 

How the NHS and care services use your information 

130 dental centre is one of many organisations working in the health and care system to improve  care for patients and the public. Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending  Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is  collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get  the best possible care and treatment. The information collected about you when you use these  services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your  individual care, for instance to help with:

▪ Improving the quality and standards of care provided

▪ Research into the development of new treatments

▪ Preventing illness and diseases

▪ Monitoring safety

▪ Planning services

This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses  help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential  patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be  identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in  this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do  choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual  care. To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters. On this web page you will:

▪ See what is meant by confidential patient information

▪ Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and  examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care

▪ Find out more about the benefits of sharing data

▪ Understand more about who uses the data

▪ Find out how your data is protected

▪ Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting

▪ Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your  opt-out by phone

▪ See the situations where the opt-out will not apply

You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:

https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient  information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being  shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used  in this way with your specific agreement.

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can  be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient  information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care.

Our practice only uses your personal health data to provide individualised care to you and does  not disclose your data for any other purposes. The national data opt-out does not apply to our  usage of your data and we are compliant with the policy.

If you do not agree 

If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to how we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s  Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or  01625 545745).

Altmore Dental Practice is operated by Altmore Practice Limited, Company Registration Number 09745757, address is 140 Salmon Street Kingsbury, London, United Kingdom, NW9 8NT.

Date: May 2021

 

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