Barbara McGinley PRIVACY POLICY
Barbara McGinley trading as Mind U Therapies
Name: Barbara McGinley
Tel: 07832485668
Email: minducounselling@gmail.com
ICO Reference Number: ZB299416
Date Created/Updated: 22/12/23
The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) May 2018 is the legal regulation that has been put in place to safeguard an individual’s personal information. The following privacy policy details the lawful basis for Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies to hold information, the type of information that Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies holds about her clients, why that information is required, who it is shared with, how that information is used and protected and details the rights an individual has in terms of access to that information or, requests for information held to be amended or deleted.
WHY THE PERSONAL INFORMATION IS REQUIRED
The lawful basis for Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies processing client data is:-
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consent or contract for personal data
and
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the fact that the processing of the special category of personal data is necessary for the provision of healthcare
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There is also a legitimate interest in retention of records as detailed in ‘ How long is the personal information held for’ below.
In order to provide an appropriate counselling and psychotherapy, Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies requires information about your current health and your medical history. This information is used only to provide you with the most appropriate support.
Your contact details are also required in order to arrange appointment times with you.
As a registered counsellor & psychotherapist with COSCA (Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland) and with the BACP (British Associations for Counselling and Psychotherapy), Barbara McGinley abides by these associations codes of conduct and confidentiality requirements.
WHERE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED FROM
Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies may collect personal information from:
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Email or Text messages sent from individuals to Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies
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Discussions with clients during the consultation process and during subsequent treatments
WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED
Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies may collect the following personal information:
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Name, title and date of birth
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Contact information including email address, telephone numbers and home address
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Emergency contact or next of kin details
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Brief, relevant medical history and other health related information provided on the consultation form and discussed during the first and subsequent sessions
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Counselling session notes and assessment notes which will be recorded after each session
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Follow up information which may be discussed with you by phone email or text after your session
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Diarised records of appointment times
HOW IS THE PERSONAL INFORMATION USED
Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies requires this information to assess your counselling requirements and provide you with a safe and counselling/psychotherapy. Additionally the information is used to refer to at subsequent sessions in order to assess levels of progress/change.
WHO IS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION SHARED WITH
The information may be shared with another Counsellor/Therapist or with another health practitioner should you be referred to one of these by Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies. This will only be done with your consent. Your information will not be shared with anyone else (other than required for legal process) without explaining the reason why this is necessary and obtaining your explicit consent.
The contact information you provide may be used by Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies to contact you in relation to appointment times or dialogue regarding your treatment plan.
HOW LONG IS THE PERSONAL INFORMATION RETAINED FOR
Section B8 of the CNHC code requires registrants to keep client records safely and in good condition for eight years from the date of the clients last visit or, if the client is a child, until his or her 25th birthday if the client was 17 when the treatment ended.
This means there is a ‘legitimate interest’ in retaining records for this period
Records are required additionally for professional indemnity insurance purposes which also represents a legitimate interest.
Your data will not be transferred without your consent.
Disposal of Data: Once per year, Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies will review all client records and destroy any records that are no longer bound by the regulated legal timescale for such records to be held.
SECURITY POLICY
Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures have been put in place to safeguard and secure the information that is collected both online and on paper.
The health information gathered is held on paper Consultation forms and treatment notes and is stored securely in a locked filing cabinet. None of this information other than your name, phone number and/or email address is held electronically.
Contact details including telephone numbers and email addresses are held on a password protected telephone and personal computer.
DATA BREACH
A back up document is held of client names and contact details (name, email and telephone number).
In the event of a data breach which consists of a breach of security leading to destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of or access to personal data, Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies understands ICO have to be notified where it is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals. In the event of such a breach, Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies will notify those concerned directly and without delay. Records of personal data breaches will be maintained in any case.
YOUR RIGHTS
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The GDPR May 18 gives an individual:-
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The right to be informed as to how personal information will be both used and held. This is contained within this document.
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The right to access your personal information so individuals know what is held about them and they can confirm it
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The right to rectification if there is something incorrect or incomplete.
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The right to have information deleted
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The right to limit how the information is used or shared
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The right to portability. Under certain circumstances a copy of electronically held information can be requested so it can be reused in other systemsThe right to object if there are certain parts of an individual’s information that they do not want used or to be used only for certain purposes
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Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling
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The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. An individual can complain to the ICO if the individual feels the information held is incorrect or not being used in the permission was granted or if information is being held unnecessarily.
Full details of individual’s rights can be held at:
Should an individual wish to exercise these rights, the contact details at the start of the document should be used. In the event that an individual is dissatisfied with the response, then a complaint can be made to the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk
NOTES:
If an individual does not agree to Barbara McGinley Mind U Therapies keeping records of information about an individual and treatment records then it may not be possible to provide the therapy.
Additionally, counsellors and psychotherapists have to keep records of treatment for a specific period of time as described above which may mean that even if you ask for information to be erased, they might be bound to keep these details until the period has elapsed.