Privacy Policy

Registered Independent Speech and Language Therapists: Victoria Allanson and Sophia Riozzi

Email: Victoria.allanson.slt@gmail.com and Sophiariozzislt@hotmail.com

Telephone number: 07904670884

Speech Matters Speech Therapy delivers independent speech and language therapy to primarily adults in the home, community setting or clinic. It is owned and directed by Victoria Allanson who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and the Association of Independent Speech and Language Therapists (ASLTIP).

Speech Matters Speech Therapy is committed to protecting the privacy of information provided by clients.

COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Information about you / your child / your family member may be collected via spoken or written information from you / parents / carers. With your / parental / Guardian consent, information may also be collected from other professionals working with you / your child / your family member (such as teachers, nursery staff, Medical professionals, NHS Speech and Language Therapists, ENT Consultants). I may also collect information about family members where this relates to you / your child / your family member e.g. contact details for parents and relevant medical or medical history.

You may use the Speech Matters Speech Therapy website without providing any personal information. However, if you wish to make an enquiry via the website, you are requested to provide relevant contact details, such as your name, e-mail and telephone number to enable us to respond to your enquiry. You may add comments or queries which might contain personal information. If you enquiry does not result in you / your child / your family member being seen by Speech Matters Speech Therapy then this personal information will be deleted once your enquiry has been dealt with.

If you / your child / your family member is subsequently seen by Speech Matters Speech Therapy these details may be added to their personal record. The website contains links to other internet sites which are outside our control and are not covered by this privacy policy. I are not responsible for data which you provide through any such linked websites.

USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal information collected by us via the Speech Matters Speech Therapy website, email, telephone or face to face, is stored and used for the purpose of delivering you / your child’s / your family member’s therapy. Any sensitive personal details are stored in a secure and confidential system and processed in confidence by Speech Matters Speech Therapy and shall only be used for the purpose of delivering appropriate therapy services to you / your child / your family member.

With your consent, information about you / your child / your family member’s needs will be shared with other professionals involved in your / your child’s / your family member’s care, when it is in you / your child’s / your family member’s best interests. A record of your consent is kept with your / your child’s / your family member’s case notes.

Unless I are required to do so by law, I will not disclose any personal information collected to any person other than as set out above.

I do not employ agents to process personal data, for example specialist mailing companies send out communications. I do not give or sell client details to any third party.

HOW PERSONAL INFORMATION IS USED

I use this information:

To prepare, plan and provide therapy services appropriate for you / your child / your family member
To communicate with you via post, email, telephone, mobile messages and SMS in relation to:
– Confirming and preparing for appointments
– General communication between appointments
– Sending you reports and programmes for you / your child / your family member (always password protected)
– Copying you in to communications with other professionals involved in your / your child / your family member (initials rather than full name will be used in emails)

– Sending you resources
– Sending you invoices and receipts

For clinical audit to assess and improve our service. Results of audits are always presented with all client identities removed
For management and administration, for example, names are included in our password protected accounting database

Wherever personal identifiers are not needed for these tasks, if possible I remove them from the information I use.

HOW PERSONAL INFORMATION IS STORED

All information about you, your child, your family member and their therapy is stored securely in our systems to ensure that I have a complete record of our service to them. I use a secure electronic cloud-based system which is compliant with general data protection regulations (GDPR). Prior to being uploaded to this system documents may be temporarily stored on a cloud-based system which is only accessible via a password. Documents which contain confidential information such as reports and programmes are also individually password protected from the outset. Any paper based confidential information such as assessments are stored securely in accordance with Data Protection Regulations.

The minimum amount of confidential information will be taken out of the Health Professional’s office base. When you / your child’s / your family member’s information is taken out of the office base it will be kept with the Health Professional or will be locked in the boot of the Health Professional’s car (whichever is deemed to be the most secure at the time).

In accordance with law, all records will be kept securely for 7 years or in the case of your child until they are 25 years old. After this time all records relating to your child will be destroyed.

MEETING PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS

It is a legal requirement for all SLT’s and Health professionals to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC has clear standards of conduct, performance and ethics that all registrants must adhere to.

These standards affect the way in which I process and share information. Specifically:

Standard 2: Communicate appropriately and effectively

“You must share relevant information, where appropriate, with colleagues involved in the care, treatment or other services provided to a service user.”

Standard 10: Keep records of your work

“You must keep full, clear and accurate records for everyone you care for, treat or provide other services to. You must complete all records promptly and as soon as possible after providing care, treatment or other services. You must keep records secure by protecting them from loss, damage or inappropriate access.”

For further information the full document can be found at: http://www.hcpc-uk.org/assets/documents/10004EDFStandardsofconduct.performanceandethics.pdf

UK DATA PROTECTION LAW AND EU GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATIONS

Data Protection law lays down wide-ranging rules, backed up by criminal sanctions, for the processing of information about identifiable, living individuals. It also gives individuals certain rights in relation to personal data held about them by others.

Victoria Allanson is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Data Controller.

LAWFUL BASIS FOR PROCESSING PERSONAL INFORMATION

Our lawful basis for processing and storing personal information is one of ‘legitimate interest’ (under article 6 of GDPR). I cannot adequately deliver a service to you / your child / your family member without processing your / their personal information. As it is both a necessity for our service delivery and of benefit to you / your child / your family member, I have a legitimate interest to process and store your / their data.

Data relating to an individual’s health is classified as ‘Special Category Data’ under section 9 of the GDPR. The regulations specify that health professionals who are “legally bound to professional secrecy” may have a lawful basis for processing data. Health Professionals are legally bound to keep client information confidential and it is under this condition that I process and store personal information.

MY RESPONSIBILITIES

I are committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your / your child’s / your family members record. I actively implement security measures to ensure their information is safe and audit these regularly.

I will not release your personal details to any third party without first seeking your consent, unless this is allowed for or required by law.
I are constantly working to ensure compliance with current data protection regulation.

YOUR RIGHTS

Data protection legislation gives you, the client / parent / carer, various rights.

The most important of these are as follows:

You have the right to a copy of information I hold about you / your child / your family member
You have the right to ask for your record to be amended if you believe it is wrong

HOW TO ACCESS YOUR RECORDS

You can access the information I hold about you by writing to me at the email Victoria.allanson.slt@gmail.com or Sophiariozzislt@hotmail.com I will contact you in order to gain an original signature to compare against records I hold. A copy of the records is provided free of charge. I will provide access to the records within 30 days of receipt of all necessary information.

If you have any further questions about how I use your information please contact me at Victoria.allanson.slt@gmail.com or Sophiariozzislt@hotmail.com.

Further information about data protection legislation and your rights is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office or by calling 0303 123 1113, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

PROVIDING CONSENT

By signing the terms and conditions document you are:

Agreeing that you understand that Speech Matters Speech Therapy will be storing and processing your / your child’s / your family member’s personal information as described above.
Agreeing to your / your child’s / your family member’s information being shared with other professionals as deemed appropriate.
Agreeing to Speech Matters Speech Therapy using email as a form of communication with you and other professionals as described above.