PRIVACY POLICY
Helen Hollingdale Therapy customer privacy notice
This privacy notice tells you what to expect me to do with your personal information.
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Contact details
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What information I collect, use, and why
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Lawful bases and data protection rights
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Where I get personal information from
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How long I keep information
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How to complain
Contact details
Telephone
07484644775
What information I collect, use, and why
For the purposes of GDPR, I am the data controller.
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I collect or use the following information to provide counselling and psychotherapy in my role as a Family and Systemic Psychotherapist:
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Name, address and contact details
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Date of birth
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Next of Kin details including any support networks, including school information.
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Emergency contact details
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Health information (including medical conditions, allergies, medical requirements and medical history)
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Records of meetings and decisions
I also collect the following information to provide you with a counselling and psychotherapy service:
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Health information
Lawful bases and data protection rights
Under UK data protection law, I must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.
Which lawful basis I rely on may affect your data protection rights which are in brief set out below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:
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Your right of access - You have the right to ask me for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where I get personal information from and who I share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask me to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask me to delete your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask me to limit how I can use your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that I transfer the personal information you gave me to another organisation, or to you. You can read more about this right here.
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Your right to withdraw consent – When I use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can read more about this right here.
If you make a request, I must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.
To make a data protection rights request, please contact me using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.
My lawful bases for the collection and use of your data
My lawful bases for collecting or using personal information to provide counselling and psychotherapy are:
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Consent - I have permission from you after I gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
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Vital interests – collecting or using the information is needed when someone’s physical or mental health or wellbeing is at urgent or serious risk. This includes an urgent need for life sustaining food, water, clothing or shelter. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object and the right to portability.
Where I get personal information from
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Directly from you
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Family members or carers
How long I keep information
I keep handwritten notes of our sessions, with a short summary of themes discussed and any action points. According to my insurance regulations I keep your records in a locked filing cabinet for 7 years after the end of therapy after which time they will be shredded. I will delete emails and text messages when they are no longer relevant to our work together. For children and young people records have to be kept until 7 years after their 18th birthday.
Duty of confidentiality
I am subject to a common law duty of confidentiality and I work within UKCP guidelines and AFT Code of Ethics. However, there are circumstances where I will share relevant health and care information. These are where:
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you’ve provided me with your consent (I have taken it as implied to provide you with care, or you have given it explicitly for other uses);
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You were to tell me something which made me think you were at risk of harming yourself or others, including causing significant risk of harm to a child or young person. I would have to notify the relevant authorities and if you were at threat of harming yourself, I would notify your GP to help keep you safe. If a young person under the age of 18 years disclosed that they were thinking of significantly harming themselves, I would inform their parent or carer.
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I have a legal requirement (including court orders) to collect, share or use the data;
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on a case-by-case basis, the public interest to collect, share and use the data overrides the public interest served by protecting the duty of confidentiality (for example sharing information with the police to support the detection or prevention of serious crime);
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If in England or Wales – the requirements of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002 are satisfied.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to me using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.
If you remain unhappy with how I’ve used your data after raising a complaint with me, you can also complain to the ICO.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Last updated
11 September 2024
