Policy Background

The Heriot Clinic is an Independent General Practice clinic provided by Dr Colin Johnston. It is registered with Health Improvement Scotland as an Independent provider of General Practice needs.

 

Policy Aim

To communicate the responsibilities of The Heriot Clinic Limited in handling personal information.
To ensure best practice with regards to handling of data as per GDPR.

Policy Scope

For the reference and use of all clinicians and staff of The Heriot Clinic Limited. For the reference of members of the public and patients of The Heriot Clinic.

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About the personal information we use

We use personal information on different groups of individuals including:

 

• Patients

• Contractors

• Suppliers

• Complainants

• Enquiries

• Survey respondents

• Professional experts

• Consultants

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The personal information we use includes information that identifies you like your name,
address, date of birth and postcode.

We also use more sensitive types of personal information, including information about racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious or philosophical beliefs; trade union membership; genetic and biometric data, health; sexuality or sexual orientation.

The information we use can relate to personal and family details; education, training and employment details; financial details; lifestyle and social circumstances; goods and services; visual images; details held in the patient record; responses to surveys.

Our purposes for using personal information

We use personal information to enable us to provide healthcare services for patients
(including reminding you of appointments), maintaining our accounts and records.

Our legal basis for using personal information

Dr Colin Johnston, as data controller ( Ref number:ZB484439 ) is required to have a legal basis when using
personal information. The Heriot Clinic considers that performance of our tasks and functions are in the public/patient interest. When using personal information, our legal basis is usually that it's use is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official
authority vested in us.

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In some situations, we may rely on a different legal basis; for example, when we are using personal information to pay a supplier, our legal basis is that it’s use is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests as a buyer of goods and services. Another example would be for compliance with a legal obligation to which health care professionals are subject to, for example under the Public Health (Scotland) Act 2008 we are required to notify Health Protection Scotland when someone contracts a specific disease.

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On rare occasions,  we may rely on your explicit consent as our legal basis for using your personal information. When we do this, we will explain what it means.

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Who provides the personal information

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When you do not provide information directly to us, we may receive it from other individuals and organisations involved in the delivery of health and care services in Scotland. These include NHS Boards and other primary care contractors such as GPs, dentists, pharmacists and opticians; other public bodies e.g. Local Authorities and suppliers of goods and services.

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Sharing personal information with others

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Depending on the situation, where necessary, we will share appropriate, relevant, and proportionate personal information in compliance with the law, with the following:

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• Our patients and their chosen representatives or carers

• Staff

• Current, past and potential employers

• Healthcare, social care and welfare organisations

• Suppliers, service providers, legal representatives

• Auditors and audit bodies

• Educators and examining bodies

• Research organisations

• People making an enquiry or complaint

• Financial organisations

• Professional bodies

• Trade Unions

• Business associates

• Police Forces

• Security Organisations

• Central and Local Government

• Voluntary and charitable organisations

 

Transferring personal information abroad

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It is sometimes necessary to transfer personal health information overseas, for example if you require urgent medical treatment abroad. When this is needed, information may be transferred to countries or territories around the world. Any transfers made will be in full compliance with NHS Scotland Information Security Policy.

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Retention periods of the information we hold

The Heriot Clinic will hold your records indefinitely unless instructed otherwise by a patient.

In the event of The Heriot Clinic no longer operating, medical records will be erased permanently. Patients will be offered an opportunity at this time to receive a full copy of their medical notes to date.

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How we protect personal information

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We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people.
The Heriot clinic has a legal duty to keep personal health information secure and confidential.  All information is recorded electronically on a clinical operating system and is only accessible to qualified individuals.

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Your rights

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You have the right to access your own personal information

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This right includes making you aware of what information we hold along with the opportunity to satisfy you that we are using your information fairly and legally.

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You have the right to obtain:

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• Confirmation that your personal information is being held or used by us

• Access to your personal information

• Additional information about how we use your personal information

 

Although we must provide this information free of charge, if your request is considered unfounded or excessive, or if you request the same information more than once, we may charge a reasonable fee.

If you would like to access your personal information, you can do this by submitting a written request.
Please note that email from your private address may not be secure.

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Once we have received your request and you have provided us with enough information for us to locate your personal information, we will respond to your request without delay, within one month (30 days). However, if your request is complex, we may take longer, by up to two months, to respond. If this is the case, we will tell you and explain the reason for the delay.

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The right to rectification

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If the personal information that we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to have this corrected.

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If it is agreed that your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will aim to amend your records accordingly, normally within one month, or within two months where the request is complex. We will contact you as quickly as possible to explain this further if the need to extend our timescales applies to your request. Unless there is a risk to patient safety, we can restrict access to your records to ensure that the inaccurate or incomplete information is not used until amended.

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If for any reason we have shared your information with anyone else, perhaps during a referral to another service for example, we will notify them of the changes required so that we can ensure that their records are accurate.

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If on consideration of your request The Heriot Clinic does not consider the personal information to be inaccurate, then we may add a comment to your record stating your concerns about the information. If this is case, we will contact you within one month to explain our reasons for this.

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If you are unhappy about how The Heriot Clinic has responded to your request for rectification, we will provide you with information on how you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, or how to take legal action.

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The right to object

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When The Heriot Clinic is processing your personal information, you have the right to object to the processing, and also to seek that further processing of your personal information is restricted. Provided The Heriot Clinic can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing your personal information, for instance; patient safety or for evidence to support legal claims, your right will not be upheld.

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The right to complain

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If you are unhappy with the way in which we use your personal information, please notify our Data Protection Officer using the contact details below.

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Dr Colin Johnston
admin@theheriotclinic.com