Privacy Notice

As a registered organisation providing NHS and Private dental care related treatments , this privacy notice applies to all personal information processing activities carried out by this practice. Balham Gateway Dental Practice is the data controller in respect of personal information that we process in connection with our organisation.

1. What information we collect

  1. We may collect the following kinds of information about you:
  2. Personal details such as your name, date of birth, gender, national insurance number, NHS number, address, telephone number, email address, occupation
  3. Information about your dental and general health, including clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
  4. X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
  5. Medical and dental histories
  6. Treatment plans and consent
  7. Notes of conversations with you about your care
  8. Correspondence from other health professionals or institutions involved in your care
  9. Details of the fees we have charged, payments exemptions (NHS), the amounts you have paid and some payment details
  10. Feedback and complaints

2. How we obtain information

You may give us information about you through the following:

  1. Filling in forms at our practices or on our websites.
  2. Corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise.
  3. Through the technology you use to access our services

Information we receive from third parties – This includes information you provide when you visit our websites, for the purpose of making enquiries.

Cookies

Our website, like many others, uses third party cookies, helping us improve the performance of our website 

What are ‘cookies’?

‘Cookies’ are small text files that are stored by the website browser (for example, Internet Explorer or Safari) on your computer or mobile device. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work in a better, more efficient way. They can do this because websites use them to recognise you and remember important information that will make your use of a website more convenient.

You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above websites tell you how to remove cookies from your browser.
Find out more about our Cookie Policy.

3. The purpose

We may use this information to:

  1. To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you.
  2. We may contact you to conduct patient surveys or to find out if you are happy with the treatment you received for quality control purposes.
  3. We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are SMS, telephone, email or letter.

If we wish to use your information for dental research or dental education, we will discuss this with you and seek your consent. Depending on the purpose and if possible, we will anonymise your information. If this is not possible we will inform you and discuss your options.

We may use your contact details to inform you of products and services available at our practices. .

4. Sharing your information

Your information is normally used only by those working at the practice but there may be instances where we need to share it – for example, with:

  1. Your doctor
  2. The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you
  3. Dental laboratories
  4. NHS payment authorities
  5. The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
  6. Private dental schemes of which you are a member
  7. Debt collection companies

We do not share your personal data with third parties without your consent

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary. We also have third party agreements in place to protect your information.

In certain circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies.

5. How we will keep your information safe

We employ administrative, electronic and physical security measures to ensure that the information that we collect about you is protected from access by unauthorised persons  and protected against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage.

This includes:

  1. Password protection
  2. Locked cabinets/rooms
  3. Practice security systems
  4. Virus protection
  5. Secure servers
  6. Back-up facilities
  7. Secure cloud-based storage

How long will we keep your information?

We keep your dental records for 11 years after the date of your last visit.

There are a number of other documents that we may collect that have a variety of retention dates, for example the NHS PR form – used to declare payment exemptions – which needs to be kept for 2 years. We have a retention schedule listing all documents and the timeframes for disposal. Retention periods may be changed from time to time based on business or legal and regulatory requirements

6. Your rights

Access

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. You can make a request by contacting your practice or by e-mailing info@balhamgatewaydental.com.

Rectify

You have a right to correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact your practice to request a change in information.

Erase

You have a right to request that we delete your personal information, although you should be aware that, for legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). Please contact your practice to make this request.

Restrict

You have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service. Please speak to the someone at reception to make this request..

Concerns

If you have any concerns about how Balham Gateway Dental  uses  your information and you do not feel able to discuss this with anyone at the practice, you can contact our Data Protection Officer via email at info@balhamgatewaydental.com

You can also seek advice from The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, or call the helpline on 0303 123 1113.