Privacy Policy

Queensferry Podiatry is committed to protecting your personal information.  This Privacy Policy describes how and when I collect, use, and share information when you attend an appointment at my clinic, purchase a product from me, contact me, or otherwise use my services.  This is to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018. We collect and process data because we have a legal obligation to do so and it is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.

What information we collect and when

We collect and process information when you telephone the clinic to make an enquiry or appointment, when you email us, when you access us via our website or if you visit the clinic in person.

We may also receive your information from a third party, such as a medical insurance company, an intermediary company or referral from a GP/consultant/other health professional.

At the point of enquiry or booking we may ask you for:

• your name

• your date of birth

• your address

• your telephone number, either landline or mobile or both

• your e-mail address

• your General Practitioner

At your appointment at the clinic, we will ask for information regarding your general health, your previous health and information regarding the condition you are seeing help about.
We will also ask for information regarding any activities you undertake, your employment and any medication you take.
We will also record the findings of a physical examination.

We also use analytical and statistical tools that monitor details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data and other communication data (but this data will not identify you personally).

How we use this information

We use paper records for our patient information forms, assessment & treatment notes.  These records are stored in locked filing cabinets.

We use an electronic booking and financial system that is hosted by a third party (Cliniko).

We use this information;

1. To provide a legal record of any treatment or advice we provide.
2. To ensure continuity of care.
3. To contact you regarding your ongoing treatment including sending exercises by e-mail
4. To contact you if new information or treatments become available that may be of benefit to you.
5. We may pass information with your permission to other medical professionals who may be involved in your care; this may include GPs, consultants, occupational health departments, other Health and Care Professions, medical insurance companies or intermediary companies.
6. We may use your information for quality feedback purposes.
7. We may use your information for audit purposes.

We do not pass on your information for commercial purposes.
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that our information is kept up to date and rectified if necessary. It is also your responsibility to inform us if any personal information changes.

How long do we keep personal information

We have a legal obligation to retain records for 8 years after the conclusion of treatment.
If the record relates to a child or young person, the records must be kept until the person’s 25th birthday or 8 years after death.
We may retain electronic information indefinitely for use should you return for another episode of care and for analytical purposes.

How do we protect your information

We take organisational and technical security measures to protect the information against unauthorised disclosure or unlawful processing.

Your Rights

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. I describe these rights below:

• Access. You have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you by contacting me using the contact information below.

• Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict my use of, or delete your personal information. In the case of health records these are normally exempt from change and deletion requests. 

• Object. You can object to (i) my processing of some of your information based on my legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from me after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, I will delete your personal information unless I have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.

• Complain. If you wish to raise a concern about my use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with the Information Commissioner www.ico.org.uk

Disclosure of your information

We may pass information with your permission to other medical professionals who may be involved in your care; this may include GPs, consultants, occupational health departments, other Health and Care Professions, medical insurance companies or intermediary companies.
This information may be passed on in the form of a written letter, which is given to you - if this is the case, the letter becomes your responsibility and the protection of its contents is your responsibility.
If the information is passed electronically by email, it will be password protected and we will take all reasonable precautions to transmit the information securely.

Business transfers. If I sell or merge my business, I may disclose your information as part of that transaction, only to the extent permitted by law and with your consent.

Security

The transmission of information via the Internet or email is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of data while you are transmitting it to our site; any such transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your personal data, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Third party links

You might find links to third party websites on our website. These websites should have their own privacy policies, which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.

Use of Cookies

Our Website uses cookies. We use cookies to gather information about your computer for our services and to provide statistical information regarding the use of our Website. Such information will not identify you personally - it is statistical data about our visitors and their use of our Website. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever. We may also gather information about your general Internet use by using a cookie file. Where used, these cookies are downloaded to your computer automatically. This cookie file is stored on the hard drive of your computer, as cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. They help us to improve our Website and the service that we provide to you. All computers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies. Please note that should you choose to decline cookies, you may be unable to access particular parts of our Website.

Changes to our privacy policy

All changes will be notified on our website

Contact details

For purposes of GDPR, I (Kirsty McWhirter) am the data controller of your personal information. We welcome any queries, comments or requests you may have regarding this privacy policy. Please do not hesitate to contact us at:

Queensferry Podiatry

Forth Physio

27 High Street

South Queensferry

EH30 9PP        

0131-331-1296

queensferrypodiatry@gmail.com