Privacy Notice

Version: 20-05-22

Introduction

Park Counselling needs to collate and use personal information about you in order to provide effective and ethical counselling and psychotherapy. We will only do this with your consent, therefore, this document explains how we collect and use your information.

How does Park Counselling collect information about you?

We receive information from you via your enquiry and store your contact details.
We receive information from you through an initial phone call and then through one to one counselling sessions.
We may send you a feedback form at the end of counselling.

What type of information is collected from you?

Your contact details
Your GP / specialist details
Emergency contact details
Medication and relevant medical history
Your date of birth
Historical / diagnostic / assessment information
Your employer and job role
Your feedback about the service
If you are receiving treatment under your medical insurance or company assistance programme, then we will also need prior authorisation from the company and details about your policy. This includes the policyholder’s name and contact details if it is not you, policy number and details of what treatment you are entitled to and any excess payments due from you or the company.
If a third party is paying for your treatment, then we will also need their full name and contact details.

How is your information used?

We use your contact details to respond to your enquiry and for any administrative purposes.
We may use your GP/specialist information, date of birth and medication details if we are concerned for your safety or the safety of others and need to make a referral.
We may use your GP/specialist information and/or emergency contact details if you are unwell in a session, or there is a period of unplanned lack of contact to check that you are safe.
We may use information about your employer and job role to be aware of and appropriately manage any potential conflicts of interest, for example where we receive referrals for a number of employees from the same organisation.
We use notes taken from counselling sessions to inform treatment planning and to comply with the BACP Ethical Framework.
We discuss your anonymised counselling treatment plan with our clinical supervisor for guidance and to ensure we are working ethically.
Park Counselling has a Practice Executor; in the event of sudden death or illness/incapacitation/ change in circumstances such that your therapist will be absent from work for a period of time, or that your sessions could no longer continue, they would use your contact details to inform you of this. Where applicable, the Practice Executor would also arrange for the secure destruction of all your information held by Park Counselling.
We use your feedback to inform how we work. If you consent to providing a quote about your experience this may be placed on our website or other promotional materials and would be anonymised.
If you are receiving treatment under your medical insurance or company assistance programme, your information will be used for the purposes of arranging treatment and invoicing. In some instances, they may also request information about your condition and treatment for the purposes of authorising further treatment. For details of what this includes, please refer to your provider’s policy documentation.
If a third party is paying for your treatment, then we will contact them for the purposes of arranging payment of treatment fees due or outstanding. Information about attendance at sessions may be shared. No information about your condition and treatment will be shared with them without your prior consent.
We may be required to disclose your name and contact details for reasons of public interest in the area of public health. For example, if your therapist contracted a contagious disease, e.g. coronavirus, and there was a need to alert anyone they had been in contact with for health and safety reasons via a “track and trace” programme. In this instance the minimum possible information would be shared and wherever possible we would not share the context in which you know the therapist, so you would not be identified as a client, just a recent contact. As a result of sharing your information, you may then subsequently be contacted by the NHS who would advise you of any action you then need to take to protect yourself and others.

Who can access this information about you?

Park Counselling does not share information about you with third parties without your consent.
If you are receiving treatment under your medical insurance or company assistance programme, your provider may require limited information about your condition and treatment for the purposes of authorising further treatment. If they require this information they will normally contact you first but may want to ask the therapist for further information. For details of what this includes, please refer to your provider’s policy documentation or helpline.
The Practice Executor would access contact information only in the circumstances previously described.

How Park Counselling Stores Your Details and Security

Initial enquiry details are stored in Park Counselling’s email account and/or mobile phone.
Park Counselling’s computer, email account and mobile phone are password protected.
Paper files are stored in a locked cabinet in the counselling room or in a locked cabinet in the therapist’s home office and destroyed securely through shredding.
An up to date client list with your contact details is password protected and stored on a computer.
Only secure email accounts are used for sharing sensitive information (if consent has already been gained).

How long does Park Counselling store your details?

Park Counselling stores paper case files for 7 years following a case being closed.
Email and phone messages are deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for an enquiry.
Once your therapy sessions have ended, your contact details are removed from the client list.

Your Rights

Your rights in respect of personal information you provide:

To ask us if we hold personal information about you and to be provided with that information.
To request that inaccurate personal information about you be corrected.
To restrict or suppress the use of your personal information.
To withdraw consent.
To have your personal information erased (in certain circumstances.)
To request we share your information with another data controller.

How you can access and update your information?

You can update your information by sharing this with Ann Biddle in your counselling sessions, by email or letter.

An individual has the right to request access to personal/sensitive personal data which Park Counselling holds about them. There are several ways you can ask for this.

Email the request.
Complete a Personal Data Request Form.
Send a letter to Park Counselling.

Letters and Personal Data Request Forms should be addressed to: Data Controller, Park Counselling, Strelley Hall, Main Street, Strelley Village, Nottingham NG8 6PE

Emails should be sent to: ann@parkcounsellingnottingham.co.uk

When submitting your request, you must include: Your full name, your current address, details of the information you are requesting.

We will provide you with this information within one month of your request.