Confidentiality
Over and above any legal requirement or concern about your wellbeing or the wellbeing of another where I may need to contact your doctor, or nominated emergency contact or relevant authorities (safeguarding);
- I will never disclose your identity to anyone
- I will never circulate or share your name or contact details with anyone
- I will only record information pertinent to our work together
- In all communications with my supervisor who supports me in my work, I will keep any identifying characteristics or information to a minimum to prevent any accidental disclosure or identification
- Any paper-based documents will be scanned into or transferred by typing into electronic files and stored on a laptop. All paper-based notes and documents will then be shredded. If there is a delay in getting documents scanned into electronic storage, these are kept in locked storage.
- Electronic information will be stored in a password-protected folder on a password-protected laptop and encrypted in the cloud. I am the only person with access to your records.
- If we meet in public, I will take my cue from how you acknowledge me. Otherwise, I may make eye contact, smile or nod, but not go beyond that. However, it is absolutely your choice how or whether you identify me to others which may include the way that we work together. And I will still not talk about what we have or are working on together
- Should I not be available for a prolonged period of time due to accident or serious or extended illness, I have an appointed agent who will contact you to arrange postponement or refunds for any appointments or monies due. My agent has access only to the bare essential contact information which they will access only under a very specific or extraordinary set of circumstances. My agent does not have access to your client notes and is fully bound by GDPR and the rules of confidentiality and data protection.
- And in the same way as I am bound to protect you, your data and your confidentiality at all times, I request that you also maintain confidentiality for me in terms of my contact details, home address or any other personal information you discover during the course of our work together.
Data protection
I am registered with the ICO – Registration number: A8568668
In the course of my sessions with clients I may record information about the clients and what takes place in the session either in writing or electronically. This is information includes, but is not limited to:
- Name and contact information
- Notes of any sessions
- Information that clients disclose during sessions
Any paper-based documents will be scanned into or transferred by typing into electronic files and stored on a laptop. All paper-based notes and documents will then be shredded. If there is a delay in getting documents scanned into electronic storage, these are stored in locked storage.
Any information stored electronically is stored in a password-protected folder on a password-protected laptop and encrypted in the cloud. I am the only person with access to your records.
Your name and contact information is not used for any marketing activities unless you have explicitly consented to that. I do not pass on personal information to others.
I am, for insurance purposes, required to keep your records for a minimum of 10 years after which they will be deleted.
You may have access to your records on receipt of a written request with signature. Access will be given within 7 working days. This may be longer if I am absent from my workplace; on holiday for example when I would endeavour to get the records to you as soon as reasonably possible on my return.
My mailing list
I use Mailchimp for my mailing list. Mailchimp is a data secure service that meets all required data protection regulations. If you subscribe to my mailing list your email address and any other information stored by Mailchimp will only be used for sending mailings.