NO 1 THE ORTHODONTIC SPECIALISTS

Data Protection Code of Practice for Patients

In order to provide you with a high standard of dental care and attention, we need to hold personal information about you. This practice complies with the Data Protection Act 1998 and this policy describes the type of personal information we hold, why we need it and what we do with it.

1. 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, email address and your general medical practitioner.
• Information about your general and dental health.
• Radiographs, clinical photographs and study models.
• Information about the treatment that we have provided or propose to provide and its cost.
• Notes of conversations with you about your care.
• Records of consent to treatment.
• Any correspondence relating to you with other health care professionals, for example in the hospital or community services.
• Details of the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details.

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

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We need to keep comprehensive and accurate personal data about our patients in order to provide them with safe and appropriate dental care. We also need to process personal data about you in order to provide care under NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.

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

3. PATIENT INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH OR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES

If we wish to use your information for dental education, we will discuss this with you and seek your consent. Depending on the purpose and if possible, we will anonymise your information. If this is not possible we will inform you and discuss options open to you. Should you not want us to use your information then we will not.

4. SHARING YOUR 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.

Where possible you will be informed of these requests for disclosure.

5. 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 keep your records for 11 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longer.

6. 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.

7. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE

If you do not wish personal data that we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way that is described in this Code of Practice, please discuss the matter with your dentist. You have the right to object, but this may affect our ability to provide you with 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).

Date 02 June 2021
We review this policy annually – if there are any changes we will ensure you are made aware of this via our website.