Privacy Policy

Our policy for dealing with any personal information that you might disclose to us while visiting this website is explained below.

Aim

This policy aims to explain how Osteopathic & Healthcare Clinic and independent associates deal with personal information and how your health is managed and recorded.

Personal information

Your consulting practitioner requires information about your past and present health in order to determine it if is safe to treat you and provide a high quality service to yourself. We will ensure that you are able to discuss this in a private manner.

Medical records

Your consulting practitioner will attempt to make sure that your medical records:

  • Are accurate, comprehensive, organised and legible,
  • Up to date,
  • Have detailed information to allow another practitioner to continue your care, and
  • Are objective i.e. do not contain offensive or irrelevant comments.

Information collected will only be used to assess your health and suitability for assessment and treatment. If you are unsure why a question is being asked or information is being collected please do not hesitate to ask.

Sharing information between practitioners

We respect your right to decide how the information we collect is used or disclosed. Your personal health details that identify yourself, except in exceptional circumstances, will be shared between practitioners only with your consent. If you do not wish this to occur, please ensure that you notify either reception or your treating osteopath.

At this clinic, all practitioners will have access to your full medical file. If you have concerns in regards to this, please discuss this with your normal consulting practitioner.

It is, however, important that other practitioners are aware of your medical history to ensure the best possible care.

Sharing information with others

Information regarding your health or treatment will not be disclosed to a third party unless:

  • We have gained your written consent,
  • Disclosure is necessary because you are at risk of harm without treatment and you are unable to give consent e.g. if you are unconscious,
  • Your consulting practitioner is legally obliged to disclose information e.g. child abuse, court subpoena / court order, or
  • There is an over-riding public health and safety interest in the release of the information.

Security of your medical records

We will ensure that your records are kept as securely as possible on our computer system to ensure unauthorised access.

Access to your health records

You have the right to obtain access to your health records and may at any time ask your consulting practitioner any questions in regards to your records.

If you require a copy of your treatment records (e.g. moving away to another city), we can provide a copy of your treatment notes or a summary. Do not hesitate to ask. We will, however, need to assess the risk of any physical or mental harm to you or any other person which may result from disclosure of your treatment records. We may remove any information that may impact on the privacy of others.  An explanation will be provided in this instance. Depending on the detail required there may be a small cost involved.

Website information

The types of personal information that we collect from you will depend on how you use our website. You can be certain that the information we receive about you will be treated as strictly confidential.

We do not collect or use any personal information on visitors to our website, through the use of “cookies” or other software or hardware techniques. We look at the number of hits the website receives and keep track of the domains from which this website is accessed. To determine what our users are interested in, we may also look at the frequency of search words used in connecting you to this website.

If you log onto the website and read or download information our Internet Service Provider/Hosting Provider, will record your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our website, the pages viewed and the information downloaded. This information is used for statistical and website development purposes only.

It is our policy not to sell or pass on any personal information that you may have provided to us unless we have your express consent to do so. An exception to this is where we may be required by law to disclose certain information. 

Concerns with your privacy

If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact reception or your consulting practitioner. If you believe information is incorrect please advise us and your concerns will be noted. Original notes will be kept for legal reasons.