We are a Data Controller under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2017 and the requirements of The General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).

The Privacy Notice explains what Personal Data the practice holds, why we hold and process it, who we might share it with and your rights and freedoms under the Law.

Saintfield Dental Care asks patients to supply some personal data when requesting an appointment – such as name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. We use this data only for the purposes of our records, providing healthcare treatment and for communicating with the patient regarding the booking of an appointment.

We treat this information as private and confidential, and we will not disclose your data to third parties without your express permission, as required by law. We will not distribute your information to be used in relation to mailing lists, surveys, or for any purpose other than what is required to perform your services.

We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of patients’ personal data.  We have in place a Data Protection Privacy policy below, which describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it and what we do with it.  If you have any concerns about how your information is being used, or questions about Saintfield Dental Care’s Privacy Policy, please contact us.

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, NHS healthcare 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 you have been charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details

The practice also holds personal data regarding the staff employed by the Practice and data regarding contractors we deal with.

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

How we use your personal data

To provide you with the best quality dental care and treatment that you need and to run the practice, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you.  We hold patients’ data because it is in our legitimate interest to do so. Without holding the data, we cannot work effectively. Also we must hold data on the NHS care & treatment provided as it is in the public interest.

Your dentist will share your information with the NHS or when they need to refer you to other dental professionals (e.g. for orthodontic treatment, dental laboratories or for surgical extractions etc) in connection with your dental treatment.

If we use your patient information for direct marketing (other than for routine recalls) to inform you of products and services available at the Practice we will ask you in advance to opt in to receive such communications.

We hold staff employment data because it is a legal obligation for us to do so.  We hold contractors’ data because it is needed to fulfil a contract with us.

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 healthcare professionals caring for you
• NHS payment authorities
• The BSO, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
• Private dental schemes if you are a member.

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that is shared 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.

We can only share data if it is done securely & is necessary to do so.

Employment data is shared with government agencies such as HMRC.

Keeping your information safe

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer 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 specialist dental software for Carestream R4 to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information daily.

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

We store employment records for 6 years after an employee has left.

We store contractors’ data for 7 years after the contract has ended.

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.

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 the way that 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 you can speak in the first instance with the Data Protection Officer at the practice.  If this does not provide satisfactory answers you can contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or www.ico.org.uk).

COOKIES POLICY

What is a cookie

The business may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie file which is stored on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service.

Cookies enable the business: to estimate our audience size and usage pattern; to store information about your preferences, and so allow us to customise our site according to your individual interests; to speed up your searches; to recognise you when you return to our site; enable you to shop online, storing items as you add them to your virtual shopping basket.

Types of cookie

Cookies can be either temporary (session cookie) or permanent (persistent cookie).

Session cookies are stored in your device’s temporary memory – not on your hard drive – while you’re browsing a website. Usually these cookies are deleted when you close the browser. If you were to reopen the browser and revisit the website, the site would not ‘remember’ that you had visited previously. Session cookies remain active only until you leave a site.

Persistent cookies remain stored on your hard drive, persisting from session to session until you delete them or they reach a set expiration date. Persistent cookies can store information such as log-in details, bookmarks, credit card details and preferred settings and themes – resulting in a faster and smoother web journey.

How to control cookies

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details on how to do this, see aboutcookies.org  You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.

How we use cookies

The cookies we use on our website can be grouped into four different categories.

Strictly necessary cookies: are essential in order to enable you to navigate around our website and use its features. Without these cookies, we would be unable to provide you with the products you have asked for.

Functionality cookies: allows our website to remember choices you make and help to provide an enhanced, more personal experience on our website.

Performance cookies: helps us improve our website and our online services. These cookies gather information about how our site is used, including which pages are visited most often. This helps us to provide a better user experience. These cookies are anonymous – which means that they won’t collect information to identify you.

Targeting & Advertising cookies: are used to help us better understand our advertising campaigns and how we can make these more relevant to you. These cookies are also anonymous, they won’t collect information to identify you.