Introduction

Menopause Health Matters is committed to ensure your privacy is protected and any personal data will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. We comply fully with the Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR) and with all applicable clinical confidentiality guidelines as required by Health Improvement Scotland.

This policy explains when and why we collect personal information, how we uses it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how it is kept secure.

By providing your personal data or by using our services, website or other online or digital platform(s) you are accepting or consenting to the practices as described or referred to in this Privacy Policy.

Protection of Personal Data

Your personal data is protected in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations 2018. Please let the clinic know if any of your personal details change.

Your medical notes including consultation information is stored within a hosted practice management system which is called Semble.

Semble is UK-based and GDPR compliant with:

• 256 bit encryption and servers based in London
• 2 factor authentication for users login with SSL encryption (the same level of security as used for online banking)

Collecting your Data

• We may collect personal data about you if you:
• visit our website
• interact with the clinic through the website, by phone, e-mail, social media or in person
• carry out a transaction on our website, or order a prescription, book blood tests or other investigations
• participate in feedback or interaction on our website or social media

We collect information that may include the following:

• name, address, email address, telephone number(s)
• details of referrals, and other contact and correspondence details
• details of services and/or treatment you have received from us
• recordings of calls we receive or make
• notes and reports about your health and any treatment and care you have received and/or need, including about clinic and hospital visits and medicines administered
• patient feedback and treatment outcome information you provide
• information about complaints and incidents
• information you give us when you make a payment to us, such as financial or credit card information
• Where you have named someone as your next of kin/emergency contact and provided us with personal data about that individual it is your responsibility to ensure that the individual is aware of and accepts the terms of this Privacy Policy.

The data that we request from you may include sensitive personal data. This includes information that relates to your mental or physical health or racial or ethnic origin.

By providing us with sensitive personal data, you give us your explicit consent to process this sensitive personal data for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

How this information is used

• To ensure you receive the best possible care and to review the care provided
• To investigate adverse incidents and complaints
• To perform clinical audit to monitor and improve the quality of care and services provided

Information sharing

Any sharing of your information will only be done with your consent and we maintain our duty of confidentiality to you at all times.

There are certain situations where information may need to be passed on to others, including

• where others involved in the patient care have a genuine need for the information
• in exceptional circumstances when the health and safety of others is at risk or where the law requires information to be passed on
• where information is required for national registries
• when required by law to report certain information to the appropriate authorities

Local information sharing

You will be asked whether you consent to documentation about your contacts in the service being shared with your NHS GP or any secondary care health professionals involved in your care. In all cases, your information is only accessed and used by authorised staff who are involved in providing or supporting your direct care.

Storage of your data 

The time period that we will keep information for will vary depending on what the information is used for. Unless there is a specific legal requirement to the contrary, we will keep information in a form which permits identification of Data Subjects only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which we process it.  Once the requirement to hold the data is complete, appropriate measures will be taken to delete the data in line with the terms of the GDPR. Data maybe processed for audit purposes , but in such cases it will be anonymised.

Your rights to your personal data 

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 everybody has the right to see, or have a copy, of data we hold that can identify you.  You do not need to give a reason to see your data.

If you are not happy with any aspect of how we use and collect your data or if you wish to request a copy of the information we hold about you, please contact: clinic@menopausehealthmatters.co.uk

Your request should contain adequate information such as your full name, address, date of birth, reference number and details of your request so that your identity can be verified and your records located. You will receive a response within 30 days.

Notification 

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires organisations to register a notification with the Information Commissioner to describe the purposes for which they process personal and sensitive information.

This information is publicly available on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk. This practice is registered with the Information Commissioners Office.

Cookie Policy

When you visit our website, our server will record your computers IP address and the time and duration of your visit.

 How do we use Cookies?

• We use cookies to track your use of our website.
• Information supplied by cookies can help us to analyse the profile of our visitors and help us to provide you with a better user experience

A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

We will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by this site, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.