Dane Bank House Surgery complies with GDPR and this policy describes our procedures for ensuring that personal information about patients is processed fairly and lawfully.
Stuart Hopkins is the practice DPO, Data Protection Officer.
What Personal Data Do We Hold?
In order to provide you with a high standard of dental care and attention, we need to hold personal information about you. This personal data comprises:
- Your past and present medical and dental condition
- Personal details such as your age, national insurance number, NHS number, address, telephone number, email address and address of your medical practitioner.
- Your bank details, if you are a member of Denplan.
- Radiographs, clinical photographs and study models.
- Information about the treatment that we have provided or propose to provide and its cost.
- Notes of conversations/incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept.
- Records of consent to treatment
- Any correspondence relating to you with other healthcare professionals, i.e.; hospital, community services or other private service providers.
Why do we hold information about you?
We need to keep comprehensive and accurate personal data about our patients to provide them with safe and appropriate dental care. We also need to process personal data about patients to provide care under the NHS arrangements and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.
How do we process the data?
We will process personal data that we hold about you in the following ways:
- Retaining information
We will retain your detailed records whilst you are a practice patient, and after you cease to be a patient, for at least 11 years or, for children, until age 25, whichever is the longer.
- Security of information
Personal data about you is held on the practice computer system and /or in our manual filing system. The information is not accessible to the public and only authorised members of staff have access to it. Our computer system is password protected, has secure audit trails and we take back-ups at the end of every working day. Our processes are audited regularly to ensure compliance with this policy.
- Disclosure of information
In order to provide proper and safe dental care, we may need to disclose personal information about you to:
- Your general medical practitioner
- The hospital or community services
- Other health professionals caring for you
- NHS payment authorities
- Inland Revenue
- The Benefits Agency, if you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
- Denplan if you are a member
- Third party private service providers i.e.; Root canal Specialist
- As part of a criminal investigation.
- In very limited circumstances or when required by law or a court order, personal data may have to be disclosed to a third party not connect with your healthcare. In all other situations, disclosure that is not covered by this policy will only occur when we have your specific consent.
Disclosure will take place on a “need to know” basis, so that only those individuals/organisations who need to know in order to provide care to you and for the proper administration of Government (whose personnel are covered by strict confidentiality rules) will be given the information. Only that information that recipient needs to know will be disclosed.
Where possible we will inform you of these requests for disclosure.
- Access
You have the right of access to the data that we hold about you and to receive a copy. Access may be obtained by making a request in writing, email, in person, or by telephone. You will not be required to pay for access to computer records. We may require evidence of your identity before being able to comply with the request. We will provide a copy of the record, and an explanation of the record required, within 30 days of the request.
Your wishes
If you do not wish personal data that we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way described in this policy, please discuss the matter with your dentist. You have the right to object but this may affect our ability to provide you with dental care.
