Privacy Policy and Complaints

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how and when I collect, use, and share information when you attend an appointment at my clinic, purchase a product from me, contact me, or otherwise use my services. This is to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018.

Information I Collect

To aid your treatment you will normally provide me with certain information e.g. your name, address, medical information etc. I store this information on an electronic patient record and diary system which is fully password protected.

Why I Need Your Information and How I Use It

I rely on several legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:

where it is necessary for the purposes of the provision of health care as needed to provide my services;
when you have provided your consent, which you may revoke at any time;
if necessary to comply with a legal obligation or court order or in connection with a legal claim.

Marketing

From time to time I may wish to send you direct marketing material. If you are happy for me to do this, please indicate on your initial consultation or by talking to a member of staff.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

I may share your personal information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:

Medical professionals. With your consent I will share information with medical professionals such as your GP.
Service providers. I engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide services to my business. I will share your personal information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these services.
Business transfers. If I sell or merge my business, I may disclose your information as part of that transaction, only to the extent permitted by law and with your consent.
Compliance with laws. I may collect, use, retain, and share your information if I am legally required to.

Data Retention

I retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with my services. However, I am also required to retain this information to comply with my legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce my agreements. The retention of podiatry records is normally a minimum of 8 years, after the last appointment. For customers who are not patients but may have bought products from my business I will keep any data you may have provided for a minimum of 6 years in line with tax legislation.

Transfers of Personal Information Outside the EU

I store your data via Practice Pal who use dedicated hosting servers in London keeping EU data in the EU as required.

Your Rights

You have several rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. I describe these rights below:

Access. You have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you.
Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict my use of, or delete your personal information. In the case of health records these are normally exempt from change and deletion requests.
Object. You can object to my processing of some of your information based on my legitimate interests and receiving marketing messages from me after providing your consent to receive them. In such cases, I will delete your personal information unless I have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.
Complain. If you wish to raise a concern about my use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with the Information Commissioner www.ico.org.uk

How to Contact Me

For purposes of the GDPR, I, Janet McGroggan, am the data controller of your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me on janet@strideclinic.com. Alternately, you may mail me at: Stride Clinic, 12 Welles Street, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 1GT

Complaint Procedure

1. The practice exists to provide the highest quality of patient care that it can to its patients. It is therefore important that every complaint is discussed within the team, with the client’s details suitably anonymised so as to protect their identify. This way, as a team, we can learn from the experience and offer support, if necessary.

2. The fact that a patient has made a complaint should not prejudice the treatment and care they receive from the practice. The practice exists to look after all its patients.

3. In the event of a complaint being received concerning treatment provided by the practice, the complaint must be passed to the podiatrist concerned and dealt with the next working day.

4. If the podiatrist concerned is an Associate, he/she will be responsible for dealing with the complaint.

5. As a matter of professional courtesy, and to protect the goodwill of the practice, if an Associate receives a complaint, or has a complaint made against him/her, they should notify the Practice Owner at the earliest opportunity.

6. In any correspondence with the complainant the Associate may use the practice’s stationery only with the consent of the Practice Owner.

7. If it becomes necessary to copy clinical notes, this should only be done with the consent of the Practice Owner and the patient.

8. Associates and employees of the practice are reminded of the legal and ethical obligations of confidentiality and should not discuss the matter with anyone not associated with the clinic. This does not include solicitors, The Royal College of Podiatrists, or the Health & Carers Professions Council should they become involved in the complaint.

9. If a claim of malpractice or negligence is made against a practitioner (either an Associate, Practice Owner, Assistant, or employee) The Royal College of Podiatrists must be informed immediately and the College procedures, thereafter, must be followed. This is for reason of the professional indemnity scheme.