Privacy Policy
Your personal information – General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
This tells you what personal information I hold and why, and what your rights are.
Contact details
Pete Bemmer at Higher Health Acupuncture petebemmer@hotmail.com
This policy is effective as of January 2023.
Data Controller
As above
The Purpose of processing Client Data
I hold and use client data in order to provide you with the best possible treatment, support and advice. I will only use this information to provide you with the best possible service options, support, and advice. Such data is stored in a locked filing cabinet.
Lawful Basis for holding and using Client Information
The lawful basis under which I hold and use your information is my legitimate requirement to retain the information in order to provide you with the best possible treatments, treatment support and advice.
My requirement is to hold your information for the following legal reason:
Claims occurring for insurance purposes (records to be kept for 7 years). In addition, I hold this information for me to fulfil my role and services as a Acupuncturist and in accordance with the Codes or Practice and Ethics as outlined by the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ATCM).
What Information I hold and what I do with it
In order to provide professional treatments and services, advice and support, I will need to ask for and keep information of a personal nature, i.e. contact details and medical history. I will only use this for both your assessment and treatment and any advice or support I give as a result of the treatment you have engaged upon with this practice.
The Information to be held is:
Patient Health Records
Personal contact details
Treatment details and related notes which I will take after each consultation (Acupuncture and Naturopathy)
Some patients and prospective patients tell me about their medical conditions and medication by email or online enquiry forms to my email address petebemmer@hotmail.com. I am unable to send or receive encrypted emails, so you should be aware that any emails I send or receive may not be protected in transit. I will monitor emails sent to me for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure any emails sent to me are within the bounds of the law.
I will not share your information with anyone else unless it is required for any legal process.
How long I retain your information for is in accordance with:
I keep your information for the following reasons:
Claims occurring for insurance purposes (Records to be kept for 7 years) and in accordance with the membership body that I am registered with (ATCM).
Protecting your Personal Data
I am committed to ensuring that your personal data is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, all data protection compliance procedures and processes are complied with in order to safeguard and secure the information I have collected from you for the treatment you have requested. Records will be shredded and deleted in accordance with regulatory GDPR compliance and insurance purposes.
GDPR gives you the following rights:
• The right to be informed (to know how your information will be held and used)
• The right of access (to see your records of your personal information, so you know what is held about you and you can verify it)
• The right to rectification (To tell Pete Bemmer to make changes to your personal information if it is incorrect or incomplete)
• The right to erasure (also called “the right to be forgotten”) (For you to request Pete Bemmer to erase any information held about you)
• The right to restrict processing of personal data. (You have the right to request limits on how Pete Bemmer uses your personal information)
• The right to data portability: under certain circumstances you can request a copy of personal information held electronically so you can reuse it in other systems
• The right to object. (To be able to tell Pete Bemmer you don’t want them to use certain parts of your information, or only to used it for certain purposes)
• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
• The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. (To be able to complain to the ICO if you feel your details are not correct, if they are not being used in a way that you have given permission for, or if they are being stored when they don’t have to be)
Full details of your rights can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/
If you are dissatisfied with the response you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, their contact details are at: www.ico.org.uk
Higher Health Acupuncture Rights
If you don’t agree to Pete Bemmer at Higher Health Acupuncture keeping records of information about you in regard to services provided, he may not be able to provide treatments for you. Pete Bemmer must keep records of treatment for a certain period as described above, which may mean that even if you ask for them to be erased, he may have to keep these details until after that period has passed.