DATA PRIVACY

There are various pieces of personal information you have given us such as your name, date of birth, address, etc that we keep on digital and paper records. Our legal basis for using this information is for legitimate interest and for the purpose of health care.

Along with personal information, we will also keep clinical information like your optical correction for spectacles and/or contact lenses, your eye and general health conditions for example. Letters either sent to or received from other professionals will be only done with your permission, will be confident and kept on your personal records.

Any information you provide us is used to provide the best eye care and appropriate products for your individual needs. We will also use your data to contact you about information of our services, like to remind you of your appointment, and when your next appointment is due for example.

All information is considered to be confidential, and is not shared with any third parties without your permission, such as other medical practitioners. This confidential information may also be shared with third parties if we have a legal obligation to do so.

There will be certain elements of your personal information which we are required to provide to the NHS for services we provide. Any information provided to the NHS will be required to be stored under the same duty of confidentiality. This information is normally required to confirm any NHS services you have received from The Opticians. The NHS occasionally use this information to quality check the services we provide, and may contact you to evaluate these services you have received, such as the NHS sight test.

In certain circumstances, you information may also be shared with other parties under legal obligations, such as with the Police to detect or prevent fraud or criminal activity.

All staff are aware of the measures that are taken to keep your personal information confidential. Any digital records are password
protected, and have suitable back up procedures in place.

As advised by our governing bodies, all records are:

• kept until the child turns 25 years old and its been 10 years since they last visited the practice for any services.
• kept for at least 10 years since the last time an adult patient visited the practice for any services.
• kept for 10 years since the patient has deceased.
• telephone conversations are not recorded

You are legally entitled to access the personal information we keep. Any request for the information need to be sent to us in writing to our address. If you find any of the data we hold is incorrect, we will correct it swiftly on notification. There are administration charges for any copies of records held by us. Any requests for data to be removed from our database will need to be sent to us in writing, and before any requests can be performed. We will need to have confirmation from our legal governing bodies that this action will be possible for you to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

Should a situation arise where the business is transferred to another company, these personal records are classed as an asset and
transferable to another company, which will follow the strict privacy rules as advised by the governing bodies.

Any payment information like debit card or credit card transactions will be stored safely and securely for tax purposes and any future claims or information only. This will not be past onto third parties.

Information such as bank account details, used for standing order contact lens schemes are stored for these services, but will not be passed onto any third parties. If in the event the contact lens scheme is cancelled, this type of information will be removed from your records.

You data is processed in stored by Optinet Limited. They are registered in England and Wales under the registration number 02103829.

Please note: We reserve the right to edit and update our data privacy policy without providing any prior notice, as and when we are
required to. Any changes to our policy will be available through our website.