Privacy & Data Policy

Privacy Notice

The practice aims to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s website as well as our professional guidelines and requirements.

The data controller is Ian Davies The information governance lead is Ian Davies who is also the Data Protection Officer.

This Privacy Notice is available [on the practice website at www.suffolkorthodontics.co.uk at reception/ by email if you contact / by calling 01473 636991.

You will be asked to provide personal information when joining the practice. The purpose of processing your personal data is to provide you with optimum dental health care and prevention.

The categories and examples of data we process are:

• Personal data for the provision of dental health care
• Personal data for the purposes of providing treatment plans, recall appointments, reminders or estimates
• Personal data such as details of family members for the provision of health care to children or for emergency contact details
• Personal data for the purposes of employed and self-employed team members employment and engagement respectively
• Personal data for the purposes of [direct mail/email/text/other] to inform you of important announcements or about new treatments or services
• Personal data – IP addresses so that we can understand our patients better and inform our marketing approach as well as improve the web site experience
• Special category data including health records for the purposes of the delivery of health care and meeting our legal obligations
• Special category data including health records
• Special category data to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010
• Special category data details of criminal record checks for employees and contracted team members

We minimise the data that we keep, and do not keep it for longer than necessary.

We never pass your personal details to a third party unless we have a contract for them to process data on our behalf and will otherwise keep it confidential. If we intend to refer a patient to another practitioner or to secondary care such as a hospital we will gain the individual’s permission before the referral is made and the personal data is shared. Your data will be shared with the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales or the HSC in Northern Ireland if you are having NHS or HSC treatment.

• [Personal data is stored in the [EU] whether in digital or hard copy format]
• [Personal data is stored in the US in digital format when suitable safeguards have been put in place to allow personal data to be transferred out of the EU]
• Personal data is obtained when a patient joins the practice, when a patient is referred to the practice and [when a patient subscribes to an email list / other]

For full details or where your data is stored, please ask to see Information Governance Procedures
(M 217C).

We have established the following lawful bases for processing your data:

Our lawful bases for processing personal data:

• [The legitimate interests of the dental practice
• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract
• Consent of the data subject
• To comply with our legal obligations
• Other]

Our lawful bases for processing special category data:

• [Processing is necessary for health care purposes
• Processing necessary for identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with the view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained
• We obtain consent of the data subject to process criminal record checks
• Other]

The reasons we process the data include:

• To maintain your contemporaneous clinical records
• To provide you with dental treatment, prevention and oral health advice
• To carry out financial transactions with you
• [To manage your NHS or HSC dental care treatment]
• To send your personal data to the General Dental Council or other authority as required by law
• To communicate with you as and when required including appointment reminders, treatment plans, estimates and other communications about your treatment or the practice
• To communicate with your next of kin in an emergency
• If a parent or carer to communicate with you about the person you parent or care for
• To refer you to other dentists or doctors and health professionals as required
• To obtain criminal record disclosures for team members
• For debt recovery
• To continually improve the care and service you receive from us

The personal data we process includes:

Your name, address, gender, date of birth, NHS number, medical history, dental history, family medical history, family contact details, marital status financial details for processing payment, your doctor’s details and details of treatment at the practice. We may process more sensitive special category data including ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation so that we can meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010, or for example to modify treatment to suit your religion and to meet NHS or HSC obligations. 

The retention period for special data in patient records is a minimum of 10 years and may be longer for complex records or to meet our legal requirements. The retention periods for other personal data is 2 years after it was last processed. Details of retention periods are available in the Record Retention (M 215) procedure available from the practice.

We obtain your personal details when you enquire about our care and service, when you join the practice, when you subscribe to our newsletter or register online, when you complete a registration or medical history form and when another practitioner refers you for treatment at our practice. Occasionally patients are referred to us from other official sources such as NHS clinics or hospitals.

You have the following personal data rights:

• The right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data
• The right of access – to have a copy of the data we hold about you. Generally, we will not charge for this service
• The right to rectification  – to correct the data we have if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• The right to deletion of your personal data (clinical records must be retained for a certain time period)
• The right to restrict processing of your personal data
• The right to data portability – to have your data transferred to someone else
• The right to object to the processing of your personal data
• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling

Further details of these rights can be seen in our Information Governance Procedures (M 217C) or at the Information Commissioner’s website. Here are some practical examples of your rights:

• If you are a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for important notifications, newsletters, surveys or marketing. You can inform us to correct errors in your personal details or withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text. You have the right to obtain a free copy of your patient records within one month
• If you are not a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for processing personal data, to have a free copy of it within one month, to correct errors in it or to ask us to delete it. You can also withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text

We have carried out a Privacy Impact Assessment in Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment (M 217Q) and you can request a copy from the details below. The details of how we ensure security of personal data is in our Security Risk Assessment (M 217M) and Information Governance Procedures (M 217C).

Comments, suggestions and complaints 
Please contact the IG Lead at the practice for a comment, suggestion or a complaint about your data processing at info@suffolkorthodontics.co.uk or 01473636991 or by writing to or visiting the practice at 182, Bell Lane, Kesgrave, Suffolk IP5 1NB. We take complaints very seriously.

If you are unhappy with our response or if you need any advice you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Their telephone number is 0303 123 1113, you can also chat online with an advisor. The ICO can investigate your claim and take action against anyone who’s misused personal data. You can also visit their website for information on how to make a data protection complaint.

Related practice procedures
You can also use these contact details to request copies of the following practice policies or procedures:

• Data Protection and Information Security Policy (M 233-CNS)
• Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment (M 217Q), Information Governance Procedures (M 217C), Record Retention (M 215)

If you have an enquiry or a request please contact the Information Governance Lead

Ian Davies

Suffolk Orthodontics 182, Bell Lane Kesgrave Ip5 1NB

Email: info@suffolkorthodontics.co.uk

Phone 01473 636991

Thank you.

Data Opt-Out Policy
(England)

How the NHS and care services use your information

Suffolk Orthodontics is one of many organisations working in the health and care system to improve care for patients and the public. Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment. The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:

• Improving the quality and standards of care provided
• Research into the development of new treatments
• Preventing illness and diseases
• Monitoring safety
• Planning services

This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.

Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.

You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care. To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters. On this web page you will:

• See what is meant by confidential patient information
• Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
• Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
• Understand more about who uses the data
• Find out how your data is protected
• Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
• Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
• See the situations where the opt-out will not apply

You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:
https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and
https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)

You can change your mind about your choice at any time.

Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.

Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care.

Our practice only uses your personal health data to provide individualised care to you and does not disclose your data for any other purposes. The national data opt-out does not apply to our usage of your data and we are compliant with the policy.

Privacy Notice for Children

The practice keeps records of your name, address, date of birth and details of any health problems as well as details of your dental treatment and details about your family. We keep this information so that we can provide you with the best dental care. Your personal information is kept very confidentially and securely.

We only use your personal information so we can give you the best dental care and for sending reminders to you.

We only pass your personal information to another dentist, doctor or hospital if you have a problem that needs their special skills and you need to go and see them. We will not give your information to anyone else unless the law allows us to or we have to provide it for legal reasons.

If you leave the practice, we will stop using your information, but will keep it confidentially and securely until you are 25 years old, when we will review if and when we can delete it. You can always ask for a copy of the information we hold for you, we can transfer it to another dentist or doctor at your request and you can ask us to stop using your personal information to send letters or contact you in other ways if you are no longer a patient at the practice.

When you reach 18 years of age the Privacy Notice about how we process your personal information will change to the adult version. This can be found on our website.

If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you or if you have any other enquiries it about such as to change an error in your information or to provide a copy of your information to somebody else please contact:

The Information Governance Lead is Ian Davies
Suffolk Orthodontics,
182, Bell Lane, Kesgrave, Suffolk IP5 1NB.
Email: info@suffolkorthodontics.co.uk
Phone: 01473 636991.

Freedom of Information Publication Scheme
(England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 aims to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst public authorities (in this case dentists who provide NHS treatment) by providing people with rights of access to information held by them.

• Every dentist working under the NHS must make certain information available through a publication scheme to anyone who asks for it
• The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance which is provided unedited in pages 2-4 of this document
• The ICO provides a model template on which the template below is based
• The user remains responsible to ensure that their final version complies with the legislation
• The information contained in the publication scheme must be published, or made public. The manner or format in which that information will be made available should be specified within each class (e.g. by hard copy, via memory stick, via a website or via CD Rom)
• Much of the information covered by the scheme will be available at no charge as it will already be available on the practice website. However, where a practice will charge for information the cost must be reasonable and included in the scheme
• Dentists should also consider appropriate ways of publishing their schemes other than on the internet and take into account the needs of disabled people. If you have a website, the model scheme should be available online and easy to find. Otherwise, make sure it is publicised in another way, for example by announcing the new scheme in a newsletter or on a public notice board
• Changes to the Freedom of Information Act have added a requirement for practices to publish ‘data-sets’, upon request, in an electronic format that can be re-used, unless it would not be appropriate to do so. For more information see the ICO guidance on page 3 of this document
• It would not be appropriate for a practice to publish a ‘data-set’ if publication would breach data protection requirements or patient confidentiality
• A practice must publish information in accordance with its publication scheme
• A practice must perform periodic review of its publication scheme

Guidelines
Having read through this module you will need to elect a publication scheme leader who could be the practice manager. This person is the point of contact for information enquiries and is responsible for keeping the scheme up to date. Once the publication scheme leader has modified and completed the template to suit the practice situation, s/he should produce several copies of the document and keep them at reception for easy access by the members of the public. A few copies in a large print should be made available for visually impaired people. You can also upload the completed version to your website for download.

Further information
Publication scheme guidance – ICO website
Telephone the ICO: 0303 123 1113

Freedom of Information Act 2000
Guide to information provided by NHS dentists under the model publication scheme (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

Introduction

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) requires all public authorities to adopt and maintain a publication scheme. In 2008 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) introduced a single generic model publication scheme, for adoption by all public authorities that are subject to FOIA.

 The model publication scheme commits a public authority to ‘produce and publish the method by which the specific information will be available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public’. This is a very general scheme based on the principle that all public authorities need to recognise the public interest in the transparency of the services provided for and paid for by the general public. It is a commitment to make information easily available to the public.

Dentists providing dental services under contracts with the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are public authorities in respect of information relating to those services.

Note: The publication scheme is only for information held as a public authority. 

The Model publication scheme is available on the ICO website. Further details are available in ICO guidance: Using the definition documents.

The model scheme must be adopted in full, unedited and promoted alongside the guide to information. Public authorities are not required to inform the ICO that they have adopted the scheme; we will assume they have done so unless we hear otherwise.

A public authority is in breach of FOIA if it has not adopted the model scheme or is not publishing in accordance with it.

To assist dentists, we have produced this template guide to information. The template will help them to draw up their guide to information, indicating what information they will provide, how it will be provided and whether any charge will be made for its provision. They should consider expanding elements of it to provide greater explanation and additional information, where this can be done. For example, if there are specific plans for the provision of NHS services these could be detailed. It is not necessary to submit the guide completed by the practice to the ICO for approval.  

This and the model scheme document itself form the basis of the publication scheme commitment by NHS dentists.

Information included in the guide to information

The template lists the information we think that dentists should hold and make available within each class. When completed, this will provide a list of all the information the dentist will make routinely available, explain how it can be accessed and whether or not a charge will be made for it. Dentists must:

• state how the specific information can be obtained and if there is a cost involved;
• complete the relevant columns in the template guide; and
• ensure the public can access the completed guide and the information listed in it.
   

The guide, like the model scheme document itself, does not need further approval by the Information Commissioner. 

 Dentists should note that they are not expected to routinely publish all information; for example, where they do not hold it or where it is publicly available elsewhere or is exempt. We list such circumstances below.

We would expect dentists to make the information in the guide available unless:

• they do not hold the information;
• the information is exempt under one of the FOIA exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) exceptions, or its release is prohibited under another statute;
• the information is readily and publicly available from an external website; such information may have been provided either by the dentist or on their behalf. The dentist must provide a direct link to that information;
• the information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible; or
• it would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release.
   

If the information is only held by another public authority, the dentist should provide details of where to obtain it.

For guidance on responding to requests for personal data, please refer to the Subject Access code of practice.

Datasets: publishing datasets for re-use 

The law requires public authorities, including dentists, to publish under their publication scheme any dataset they hold that has been requested, together with any updated versions, unless they are satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so. So far as reasonably practicable, they must publish it in an electronic form that is capable of re-use. 

FOIA requires public authorities, including dentists, to publish under their publication scheme any dataset they hold that has been requested, together with any updated versions, unless they are satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so. 
For the purpose of this guide to information, a dataset is a collection of factual raw data held electronically that has been obtained or recorded in connection with providing NHS dentistry. The dataset provisions are about making information that is released under FOIA available for re-use. Dentists do not have to publish in their publication schemes any information that would be exempt from disclosure in response to a FOIA request eg patient records.  

If dentists are making a dataset routinely available under their publication scheme, then so far as reasonably practicable, they must publish it in an electronic form that is capable of re-use.  If the dataset or any part of it is a relevant copyright work and the dentist is the only owner of the copyright, they must make it available for re-use under the terms of a specified licence. The Datasets Code of Practice recommends that public authorities make datasets available for re-use under the Open Government Licence.   

The term ‘dataset’ is defined in section 11(5) of FOIA. The terms ‘relevant copyright work’ and ‘specified licence’ are defined in section 19(8) of FOIA. The ICO has published guidance on the dataset provisions in FOIA. This explains what is meant by “not appropriate” and “capable of re-use”. 

Fees and charging

Information available through a dentist’s publication scheme should be readily available at a low cost or at no cost to the public. If a dentist does charge for this information, we expect the charges to be justifiable, clear and kept to a minimum. 

Charges may be made for activities such as printing, photocopying and postage as well as information that the dentist is legally authorised to charge for. Anyone requesting information must be informed of any charge before the information is provided. Dentists may ask for payment before providing the information. Guidance on our website: Charging for information in a publication scheme provides more details.

If the dentist charges a fee for licensing the re-use of datasets, they should state in the guide to information how this is calculated and whether the charge is made under the Re-use Fees Regulations or under other legislation. The dentist cannot charge a re-use fee if they make the datasets available for re-use under the Open Government Licence.

FOI requests and the publication scheme

It is important to note that a publication scheme simply sets out the information that is routinely available. Information that is not listed in the guide to information can still be requested and should be made available unless it can be legitimately withheld.  

Information to be published	How the information can be obtained (e.g. hard copy, website)	Cost
Class 1 – Who we are and what we do   (Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts) This will be current information only	website
Who’s who in the practice	Team member information is available on the practice website at [ https://www.suffolkorthodontics.co.uk ] .	No charge
Contact details for the practice (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used))	Contact details are available [on the practice website at [ https://www.suffolkorthodontics.co.uk ] ][in the practice information leaflet].	No charge
Opening hours	Our current opening hours are available at [ https://www.suffolkorthodontics.co.uk ]	No charge
Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it (Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) Current and previous financial year as a minimum
Details on NHS funding received by the practice and the cost of operating the NHS contract.	The value of our GDS/PDS contract with the NHS and targets are available from NHS England
Total annual expenditure on the provision of our contracted services (since most practices also provide care to patients on a private basis, the costs have been apportioned)	The practice provides both NHS and private treatment to patients. If you wish details of the annual costs of providing the NHS service please contact the practice owner.
Audit of NHS income, if held	The practice is not audited and no information is held.
Class 3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing (Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews)  Current and previous year as a minimum	Priorities of the practice at present is keeping all staff and patients safe during this Covid 19 pandemic. While keeping patients and staff safe, attempting to deliver the NHSE targets for the current year orthodontic PDS contract.
Plans for the development and provision of NHS services	Awaiting decisions rearing the future of NHS orthodontic services from NHSE Plans to develop this aspect of the practice are impossible to determine until we know for NHSE what the framework will be like..
Performance data including performance against targets	All previous year NHSE targets have been met.
Practice inspection. Inspection reports by regulators [for England: the Care Quality Commission (CQC); Wales: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales; or Northern Ireland: the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)]	[Our latest CQC/RQIA/HIW inspection report is available on the CQC/RQIA/HIW website.	No Charge
Class 4 – How we make decisions (Decision making processes and records of decisions)  Current and previous year as a minimum
Records of decisions made in the practice/firm affecting the provision of NHS services.	[The practice carries out monthly management reviews. Requests for  Information regarding decisions made as a result of the review, which affect the provision of NHS services, should be sent to the practice owner.
Class 5 – Our policies and procedures (Current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities)  Current information only. Here we have listed the policies we would expect practices to have. Any additional policies should also be listed.  Mark “not held” against any policies that are not actually held.
Policies and procedures about customer service	Our Patient experience policy (M 233-PEX) is available from the practice manager	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Policies and procedures about employment of staff	Information available from the practice manager includes, but is not limited to: Recruitment and selection policy and procedure (M 222H) Employment and induction policy (M 233-EIN) Disciplinary (M 227B), Grievance (M 227A) and Capability (M 227D) procedures	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Equality and diversity policy	Our Equality, dignity and human right policy (M 233-EQD) is available from the practice manager	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Health and safety policy	Our Health and safety policy (M 250C) is available from the practice manager.	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Infection control policy	Our Infection control policy (M 257A) and procedures (M 257B) are available from the practice manager	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Radiation protection checklist	Information from our Radiation protection folder is available from the practice manager.	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme)	Our complaints procedure poster is displayed in reception and information is available from the practice manager	No charge
Records management policies (records retention, destruction and archive)	Our Record management policy (M 233-REM) is available from the practice manager	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Confidentiality and data protection policies	Our Confidentiality (M 233-CON) and Data protection (M 233-DPT) policies are available from the practice manager.	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Policies and procedures for handling requests for information	Requests for information are covered in our Data protection policy (M 233-DPT), which is available from the practice manager	10p per photocopy £4 per CD £4 per memory stick
Practice information leaflet	Our practice information leaflet is available from the practice manager.	No charge
Class 6 – Lists and Registers Currently maintained lists and registers only We recognise that it is unlikely that dentists are going to have registers available for public inspection and while this remains the case “none held” can be entered in this section.
Any publicly available register or list (if any are held this should be publicised; in most circumstances existing access provisions will suffice).	None held
Class 7 – The services we offer (Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public)  Current information only	Our practice information leaflet is available from the practice manager.
The services provided under contract to the NHS	Information about the services we offer is outlined in in our practice information leaflet and on the practice website	No charge
Charges for any of these services	Information regarding charges for NHS services is displayed on posters in reception, in our practice information leaflet and on the practice website	No charge
Information leaflets	We have a range of leaflets, free of charge and available from the website.	No charge
Out of hours arrangements	Information about out-of-hours emergency care is available  on the practice website.	No charge