Privacy Policy

The Earl Shilton Dental Practice is committed to complying with The Data Protection Act 2017, the General Data Protection Regulation, GDC, NHS and other standards.

GDPR means that the Earl Shilton Dental Practice will be more accountable for the handling of people’s personal information.

At The Earl Shilton Dental Practice, the need for the strict confidentially of personal information about our patients is taken very seriously. This document sets out our policy for maintaining confidentiality and all members of the practice team must comply.

The Practice only keeps relevant information about employees for the purpose of employment, and about patients to provide them with safe and appropriate dental care.

Sarah Moncur BDS is responsible for Data Protection.

Data Protection code of Practice

Our Date Protection Policy lays out our procedures that ensure The Earl Shilton Dental Practice and our employees comply with The General Data Protection Regulation.

What Personal Data do we hold

To provide you with the highest standard of dental care we need to hold person information. This personal data includes:

• Full Name, Age, Address, telephone number and email address.
• General Medical Practitioner and their address.
• Past and current medical and dental condition.
• Radiographs, Clinical photographs and Study models.
• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept.
• Record of consent to treatment and a signed treatment plan.
• Record of consent to a referral.
• Any correspondence relating to them and other health care professionals, for example with the hospital or another specialist group.

Why do we hold this information

We need to keep comprehensive and accurate personal data about you in order to provide you with appropriate and safe dental care. We will askyou every six months to update your medical history and contact details.

Retaining information

We will retain your dental records and study models while you are a patient of the practice and after you cease to be a patient, for at least eleven years, or for children until age 25, whichever is the longest.

Security of information

Personal information about you is held in the practice’s computer system and or in a locked filing system. The information is not accessible to the public; only authorised members of staff have access to it. Our computer systems are pass word protected and these are changed at regular intervals. Our computer system has secure audit trails and we back up information routinely.

Disclosure of information

To provide proper and safe dental care we may need to disclose personal information about you to:

• Your general dental practitioner
• the hospital or community dental services
• Other health professionals caring for patients
• Private dental schemes of which patients are a member
• Agents and Third parties as required by legal and law

Disclosure will take place on the ‘need to know’ basis, only those individuals/organisations who need to know to provide care and for the proper administration of Government will be given the information.

In very limited circumstances or when required by law or a court order, personal data may have to be disclosed to a third party not connected with health care. In all other situations, disclosure that is not covered by this Code of Practice will only occur when we have your specific consent. Where possible you will be informed of these requests for disclosure.

Data Breach

The Earl Shilton Dental Practice has procedures to ensure personal data breaches are detected, reported and investigated effectively, including procedures to assess and then report any breaches to the ICO where the individual is likely to suffer some form of damage, e.g. through identification theft or confidentiality breach.

The Earl Shilton Dental Practice will report serious data breaches to the ICO within 24 hours of becoming aware of the essential facts. The Earl Shilton Dental Practice will keep a log of all person data breaches and record the basic facts, effects of the breach and remedial action taken.

Access to records

You have the right of access to the data that The Earl Shilton Dental Practice hold about you and to receive a copy. You may access your child’s record if this is in the child’s best interests and not contrary to a competent child’s wishes. Formal applications for access must be in writing to The Practice Manager Mrs Sue Wright and will then be passed on to Sarah Moncur, Data Protection Officer

If patients do not agree

If you do not wish personal data that we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way that is described in this policy, please discuss the matter with Sarah Moncur BDS and Data Protection Officer. Patients have the right to object, but this may affect the ability for The Earl Shilton Dental Practice to provide dental care.You have the right to withdraw consent at any time, however this will not be retrospective.