Privacy Policy

Newyearfield Dental Centre processes personal identifiable information that relates to patients and is therefore required by law to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which protect your privacy and ensure that your personal information is processed fairly and lawfully. Our Data Protection Officer is Dr Keith D. Love (Principle Dental Surgeon). Newyearfield Dental Centre is committed to ensuring that it complies with GDPR and applies ethical principles to all aspects of its work to protect the interests of the patients and maintain the confidentially and security of any personal information held in practice.

Why does the practice hold personal information about me?

We keep information about you to:

• Ensure Newyearfield Dental Centre can contact you when necessary
• To provide you with the best possible care
• To provide care for you under the NHS and enable administration

Our legal basis for holding this information is in compliance with Data Protection Act 1998 and ensures personal information about patients is protected fairly and lawfully.

How does the practice collect personal information?

We collect personal information either directly from you or are provided with it by third parties, such as other dental or medical providers. It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed of any changes to your personal information.

What personal information is kept?

Personal information includes facts (e.g. treatment you have had) and opinions (e.g. any concerns you or your dentist might have had about your dental health). To provide the best possible care for you, accurate and comprehensive personal information is required. The following records are kept and updated regularly:

• Personal information and contact details, including your name, address and date of birth
• Dental, social and medical histories (e.g. past or current medical conditions, current medication, the name of your GP)
• Results of the examination of your mouth and oral health, including x-rays and clinical photographs
• Information about appointments
• Any treatments and their cost
• Any proposed care, including advice we give to you and referrals you might need
• Any concerns you or your dental team might have
• Details of your consent for specific procedures
• Correspondence with other healthcare workers that relate to your care.

How is my personal information processed?

To provide you with the appropriate care, we process your personal data for the following purposes:

Your care – we keep patients records to allow us to provide appropriate dental treatment and care;

Practice administration – we will use your contact information to let you know when your next appointment is due and we will also send reminders about any appointments that you have booked. We may also contact you as a courtesy to remind you of upcoming appointments.

Sharing relevant information

To provide you with the appropriate care, we might need to share your personal data with:

• Another dentist or health care professional who is caring for you
• Your GP
• A laboratory
• NHS payment authorities
• The inland revenue
• The benefit Agency, if your claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges

A private dental scheme, if you are a member.

In these cases, only the minimum information required will be shared. Rarely, the law requires us to pass on information to prevent serious crime or injury. Where possible, we will inform you of requests to share personal information. We adhere to the Patient Confidentiality standards set out by the GDC. You can review the Principles of Patient Confidentiality on www.gdc-uk.org.

Storage and retention of personal information

We keep patients records for adult patients for a minimum of 11 years and for child patients for either 11 years or until the child is 25 years of age, whichever is longer. We will not keep records for longer than necessary and after they are no longer required, records will be incinerated or shredded. Personal information is stored on a secure password protected practice computer system and a manual filing system; only authorised Newyearfield staff have access to these systems. Back-ups of these data are made regularly.

Your right to access your personal information

You have the right, under GDPR, to request a copy of the information held on you by Newyearfield Dental Centre. If you would like to make a request. Please ask at reception or send your request in writing to the practice address below:

Newyearfield Dental centre
Hawk Brae
Ladywell West
Livingston
EH54 6TW

We do not charge a fee for this information, unless we deem the request to be excessive, and we ourselves incur a fee for photocopying, radiographs etc. We will respond to your request within one month of it receipts. If we refuse your request, we will tell you reasons for this. You have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioners Office in this situation (see below for contact details). You have the right to request correction of your information where there is an inaccuracy, request that we erase your information, object to the processing of your information or ask for the processing to be restricted. You also have the rights to request the transfer of your personal information to another party, such as a dental practice. If you have concerns about the way we handle your personal information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office (see below for contact details).If you have a query or would like more information, please contact our receptionist on 01506 417780 or write to the practice owner at the address above.

Information Commissioner Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Email: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Website: www.ico.gov.uk

How we use cookies

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