Privacy Statement
This Practice wants to ensure the highest standard of medical care for our patients. We understand that a Physiotherapy Practice is a trusted community governed by an ethic of privacy and confidentiality. Our practices are consistent with the ISCP guidelines and the privacy principles of the Data Protection Acts. We see our patients’ consent as being the key factor in dealing with their health information.
Introduction
We at Ratoath Physiotherapy respect your right to privacy and comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1988, 2002 and 2018. The purpose of this Web Site Privacy Policy is to outline how we deal with any personal data you provide to us while visiting this web site. By visiting this web site, you are accepting the terms of this Web Site Privacy Policy. Any external links to other web sites are clearly identifiable as such, and we are not responsible for the content or the privacy policies of these other web sites.
Types of Information Collected
We retain two types of information: Personal Data This is data that identifies you or can be used to identify, contact you or process applications on your behalf and may include your name, address, email address, user IP addresses in circumstances where they have not been deleted, clipped or anonymised and telephone number. Such information is only collected from you if you voluntarily submit it to us or have authorised us to obtain it. Non-Personal Data Like most web sites, we gather statistical and other analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to our web site. This Non-Personal Data comprises information that cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information regarding, for example, user IP addresses where they have been clipped or anonymised, browser types and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of our web site.
Purposes for which we hold your Information
Personal Data We will process any Personal Data you provide to us for the following purposes: to provide you with the services you have ordered; to contact you if required in connection with your service order or to respond to any communications you might send to us and to send you the Ratoath Physiotherapy Newsletter.
Non-Personal Data: We use the Non-Personal Data gathered from visitors to our web site in an aggregate form to get a better understanding of where our visitors come from and to help us better design and organise our web site.
Cookies:This web site uses “cookie” technology. A cookie is a little piece of text stored by the browser on your computer, at the request of our server. We may use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and to save your personal preferences so you do not have to re-enter them each time you connect to our web site – our cookies are not available to other web sites. Cookies may be required on our website to allow users to access the a Member’s Extranet. No personal information is recorded, and the cookie is automatically deleted when you log out or close your browser. You are always free to decline our cookies, if your browser permits, or to ask your browser to indicate when a cookie is being sent. You can also delete cookie files from your computer at your discretion. Note that if you decline our cookies or ask for notification each time a cookie is being sent, this may affect your ease of use of this web site.
Disclosure of Information to Third Parties
We do not disclose your non personal information to any third parties for marketing purposes.
We may need to pass some of your personal/health information to other healthcare professionals in order to provide you with the treatment and services you need. Only the relevant part of your record will be released. These other professionals are also legally bound to treat your information with the same duty of care and confidence that we do.
In the case of disclosures to insurance companies or requests made by solicitors for your records we will only release the information with your signed consent.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Security
Your Personal Data is held on secured servers hosted by our Patient Management Software and on secured servers at our premises. The nature of the Internet is such that we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us via the Internet. No data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. However, we will take all reasonable steps (including appropriate technical and organisational measures) to protect your Personal Data.
Managing Your Information
In order to provide for your care here we need to collect and keep information about you and your health on our records. We retain your information securely.
We will only ask for and keep information that is necessary. We will attempt to keep it as accurate and up to-date as possible. We will explain the need for any information we ask for if you are not sure why it is needed. We ask you to inform us about any relevant changes that we should know about. Please also inform us of change of address and phone numbers.
Access to patient records is regulated to ensure that they are used only to the extent necessary to enable the secretary to perform their tasks for the proper functioning of the practice. In this regard, patients should understand that practice staff may have access to their records for:
» Typing referral letters to GP’s, hospital consultants or allied health professionals.
» Opening letters from hospitals and consultants. The letters are scanned into their electronic patient record.
» Scanning clinical letters, radiology reports and any other documents not available in electronic format.
» Photocopying or printing documents for referral to consultants.
» Handling, printing, photocopying and postage of medico legal and life assurance reports, and of associated documents.
Updating, Verifying and Deleting Personal Data
You may inform us of any changes in your Personal Data, and in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003, Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data, and any implementing and/or amending legislation as may be adopted in Ireland from time to time, we will update or delete your Personal Data accordingly. To find out what Personal Data we hold on you or to have your Personal Data updated, amended or removed from our database, please contact Ratoath Physiotherapy.
Data Protection
Under the Data Protection Act, the Clinic has a responsibility to hold personal information relating to clients in a responsible manner. We are guided by the Regulations of the Act in ensuring that the information we hold on computer is accurate, is up-to-date, may not be given to someone not entitled to see it, is kept safe and secure and personal privacy is maintained at all times.
