Data Protection

Data Protection & Privacy Policy

Dr Caroline Howe, Chartered Clinical Psychologist, at West Berkshire Child Psychology (WBCP) is a qualified clinical psychologist offering psychological assessment and interventions to children, young people and their families. This policy described how she will handle and protect the information you provide.

WBCP collects and uses personal information about clients and prospective clients, as detailed in Terms and Conditions, in line with laws concerning the protection (collection, handling and storage) of personal data (i.e. the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as it applies in the UK).

WBCP is the data controller; please direct any queries to Dr Caroline Howe, Data Controller. For additional queries contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk/.

Information collected

WBCP may ask you to provide personal information about your child and yourself, to enable communication with you, deliver a service and process payment. Examples of the date collected include:

Personal data & contact information - name, address, date of birth, contact number, GP, address, health insurer details if relevant. Information collected when you complete the contact form (i.e. name, contact details and reason for enquiry) are needed and enable us to respond to your query or request. If you email or contact us on the telephone a record will be kept of that correspondence.
Clinical information - your child's presenting difficulties, clinical observation, relevant information collected at assessment (e.g. background information, school and developmental history) and record of therapy sessions.
Occasionally we will contact you to request feedback in order to improved the service offered. We may contact you via post, phone or email.

Sharing information

WBCP will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties. We will only share information you provide us with with professionals, for example, your GP with you permission, unless we are required to do so by law. Any personal information we request from you will be safeguarded under GDPR. If you are claiming therapy through a health insurance provider WBCP will share appointment schedules with the provider for the purpose of billing, and with your consent share treatment updates as required.

All reports that are sent electronically are sent as attachments that are password protected.

Security

WBCP is committed to keeping your information safe and secure.

In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures have been put in place to safeguard and secure the information collected.

All paper copies of notes, clinical reports, referral letters, contracts will be kept in a locked filing cabinet.
Sensitive personal information will be sent to clients in an email attachment which is password protected.

How long we retain your data

Personal information is kept for 7 years following the child's 18th birthday, in line with Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social care, 2016, based on current legal requirements and professional best practice published 2016 by Information Governance Alliance (ICA).

Information gained through email enquiries is kept for six months from initial contact., if you do not become a client all personal information will be deleted.

What rights you have over your data

All individuals whose personal data is held by WBCP can request to know what information is held about them and why, how to gain access to it, know how to keep it up to date and be informed how WBCP is meeting its data protection obligation.

You can make a subject access request (SAR) by contacting the Data Controller, Dr Caroline Howe. Additional information may be required to verify this request and we will withhold information, as permitted by law, if there are concerns that sharing the information will not be in the best interest of the child in question.

Additional information

Data Accuracy

We hope that clients will keep WBCP informed of changes of address, GP and other relevant contact details during their contact with us.

If your information is incorrect or you wish to be removed from the WBCP system please contact the Data Controller.

If you want to have your data removed we must determine if we need to keep the data, for example in case HMRC wish to inspect our financial records. If we decide that we are able to delete the data, we will do so without undue delay.

Record of Information Breaches

The information we hold is confidential and often sensitive in nature. It is important that our clients and their families are able to trust us to keep information confidential. We therefore record any breaches in confidentiality and work towards ensuring a process which continually reduces and minimises these risks. We will inform the ICO of any breaches where appropriate and take any action to change policies, procedures and practise as appropriate. Individuals whose data may have been accessed will be alerted of the breach and any potential risks.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites which may be of interest to you. We are not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information you provide while visiting such sites and this privacy policy does not govern such sites, Please read the individual privacy notices for websites you visit.