PRIVACY POLICY
I must collect and hold information of a personal nature about you. I am committed to ensuring that I do this in a way that protects your privacy.
If you have any concerns or questions about this policy or anything contained within it, please contact me on the email address below so that we can discuss these further.
This policy might change from time to time, so please review it frequently, but if there are any significant changes that affect you, then I will contact you to ensure that you are aware of these.
The Law
As a private CBT psychotherapist, and a member of the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists), in accordance to the GDPR (2018) and the Data Protection Act (1998), information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully. Information must be obtained for specific lawful purposes. Information must be adequate, relevant and not excessive. Information must be accurate and kept up to date. It should not be held for longer than is necessary. It should be processed according to an individual’s rights under law and be protected in appropriate ways. Information should not be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless with an adequate level of protection.
How information is used
The information you share during therapy is confidential. Information will not routinely be shared with anybody connected to you, and I will not inform anybody that you are seeing me except from the referring organisation (if applicable).
The information I document will be shared openly with you throughout therapy. You can request to see the information at any time and I will go through it with you.
Information may be shared with other organisations if I decide that not sharing that information may place you, or anybody else at risk of harm. For example, if you advise that you are a risk to yourself or others, you disclose a child or adult safeguarding concern, or a serious crime. Information may also be shared if it is demanded by a court of law.
Anonymised information will be shared routinely when discussing my caseloads in Clinical Supervision. No patient-identifiable information will ever be shared as part of this process.
Information received via my website www.ashworthcbt.co.uk contact form will be collected, stored securely and used to contact you in response to your enquiry. The website may collect your IP address, email address, computer and connection information. The website may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, length of visits to certain pages.
Email addresses may be used to send relevant updates, information or news.
How information will be obtained
Information will be sought and obtained through you and (if applicable) the organisation that referred you to see me. I will not actively attempt to gain information by any other means unless that information is needed to protect you or anybody else from harm.
Information may be obtained through audio recordings, but only with your explicit consent that this may happen. I will always discuss this with you before using a recording advice and obtain your consent as part of the recording process. Audio recordings will be held with the same security as detailed for written records and are subject to the same rules and restrictions.
How information will be stored
Information from our sessions will be stored securely at the address of my private practice. Paper records will be locked in a filing cabinet in a locked room. These records will be backed up electronically on an encrypted memory stick in case of fire damage to the property.
My website is hosted on the wix.com platform. Wix.com allows me to advertise the service that my business offers. Any information you submit via the website's contact form may be stored through wix.com's data storage, databases, and the general wix.com applications. They store your data on secure servers behind a firewall.
Why is it necessary to keep information about you?
It is required by law that information obtained in a healthcare setting is kept and stored for a period of time even after you leave that healthcare setting, so that evidence exists about what happened whilst you were under my care.
To be able to contact you throughout therapy to arrange appointments, reschedule appointments, and seek updates on progress. Prior to therapy commencing, you will be asked to sign a CBT Therapy Agreement which seeks your consent to contact you by phone, email, and telephone. It also seeks consent to send out emails both during and after therapy with CBT related information, updates or news.
How long will information be kept?
I will keep all information and records for 7 years from the date of the last record made.
You have the right to request to view your records, to request amendments to information you deem inaccurate, and to request that your information be erased. If you wish to do so, then contact me by telephone: 07759366280 or email: anna@ashworthcbt.co.uk
Complaints
If you wish to complain about the way your privacy or data has been handled, then you can do so by emailing me or by contacting the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) directly at https://ico.org.uk/ or contacting them on 0303 123 1113.