The registered data controller for The ADHD Specialist is Helen Raynham (registration number C1328556). You can contact Helen on helen@theadhdspecialist.co.uk or 07586 553723.

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I understand how important your privacy is. I take care to maintain your confidentiality in accordance with current data protection laws (GDPR, 2018) and the ethical guidelines of the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) the British Psychological Society (BPS), and the British Association for Counselling and Psychology (BACP). These guidelines have been set up to protect your confidential material and ensure that your therapist always conducts themselves with professionalism and integrity.

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In order to provide you with the best service possible, and in accordance with the guidance outlined above, I will hold your personal contact details and records of your therapy sessions. Please find below important information about how this information will be held and used.

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Your personal information

At the point of booking your initial consultation or first session with me, you will be asked for your personal contact information, for example, your name, address, email address and telephone number and you may also choose to share details of the issues you are looking for help with. All of your data is stored securely and in accordance with GDPR. ​

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In order to be able to fulfil my duty of care to you, in your initial consultation or first session, I will ask you for contact information for your GP and elected Emergency Contact person. It is the client's responsibility to gain consent to share the details of their emergency contact person with me to be stored an managed in line with this policy. It is the client's responsibility to inform me of any changes to their personal circumstances or contact details.

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This personal information (including your emergency contact's details) will be securely held for the duration of your therapy after which it will be deleted.

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Please note that I will need to keep a record of your name and client reference number for seven years after the end of your therapy so that I can respond effectively to any potential requests regarding your clinical notes and treatment.

 

I will never pass on your contact details to any third-party organisations for the purposes of sales, marketing or research and will never use your personal data for any purposes other than the administration of the service I am providing to you i.e. to arrange, cancel and rearrange appointments and collect payment for sessions, and to administer my clinical will. I use the services of a personal assistant (PA) to assist with administration. My PA will have sight of information submitted to me via my email or website purely for the purpose of carrying out the day-to-day business of The ADHD Specialist. My PA acts in accordance with GDPR and this Privacy Policy.

 

Clinical Will

In event that I am unable to provide a service to you due to an accident, critical illness, or unexpected death, a pre-appointed, professionally appropriate Clinical Trustee (in most circumstances my clinical supervisor, or my PA) will make contact with you. This is both best practice, and a requirement of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, (BACP). This is covered in my GDPR compliant clinical will. If you would like to opt-out of my clinical will process, please email me.

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Online Bookings

When you make an online booking or payment, Wix will send a booking notification to me via email. Wix does not disclose IP addresses of site visitors in accordance with the GDPR.

 

Anonymised payment details are recorded in my financial income reports. These reports will only hold your initials and unique client reference number. The HMRC requires that we retain this information for 5 years after the end of the financial year.

 

Website Cookies

By using this website, you are accepting that The ADHD Specialist may set cookies on your computer or mobile device. A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Cookies help the website identify and track visitors and their website access preferences. I will only collect the information needed so that I can provide you with the services you require, I do not sell or broker your data. The cookies I use do not collect any personal information about you and they cannot harm your computer, tablet or mobile phone. My use of cookies allows the website to work, it also helps me understand what information is most useful to visitors to the website.

 

Website visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers can opt out using the banner on the homepage or should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using this website. The most popular web browsers allow you to do this. You can choose to accept or reject all cookies, or just allow specific types of cookies. Please refer to the instructions or online help files available via your relevant browser if you wish to manage cookies in this way, or you can visit the links below for further information:

https://www.aboutcookies.org/how-to-control-cookies/

https://www.aboutcookies.org/how-to-delete-cookies/

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Please note, that if cookies are disabled or removed, not all features of my website may operate as intended.

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Your payment details

All payments made through my website www.theadhdspecialist.co.uk are made through the secure Wix Payments service. By using Wix Payments, you agree to the Terms & Conditions of Wix Payments, Adyen B.V. and Stripe.

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My website, therefore, does not hold your payment information. Where you have made payment for your session over the phone, I will never keep a record of your card details. Your information is inputted directly into the card payment portal and no written record will be taken. If you pay directly by bank transfer, I do not receive or store card details. I am required by law to retain financial information for 7 years.

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Your therapy sessions

Everything that you discuss with me is confidential. Confidentiality will only be broken if there is concern about your safety or the safety of someone else or if I am instructed to do so by a Court of Law. I will always endeavour to speak to you about this first.

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During remote working I will ensure that I am conducting online and telephone sessions in a quiet, private and confidential setting. I have selected a video calling platform (Telehealth, provided by Power Diary) which offers end-to-end encryption to ensure maximum privacy. The system is fully compliant for health care use, including ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR compliance. There are no third parties involved, and the call is end to end encrypted. More detailed information about the security of this feature is available here: Telehealth Lite Security Privacy and Compliance page. Please note however that I cannot be held responsible for any breaches that occur due to failures in Telehealth technology.

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As required by the HCPC, the BPS, and the BACP, I discuss my clinical work with a clinical supervisor. This is to ensure that I am offering you the best service possible. These conversations are bound by confidentiality, and you will be referred to by a pseudonym. 

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I keep concise and factual notes of each session. These are anonymised and are stored in a locked filing cabinet or within a password-protected file within the secure Power Diary system. These notes are for my use only and help to keep track of everything that is being discussed. In line with industry guidelines, these notes will be kept securely for up to seven years after your therapy comes to an end. After this time, they will be confidentially destroyed.

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If your sessions are paid for or arranged via a third party (e.g. your employer, insurance company, a friend, or a family member), other than payment requests, invoices or receipts your therapeutic information will not be shared. Details about what is discussed in your sessions will remain confidential between us. Any other information can only be shared if you provide your written consent.

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Your communications with me

My email uses the secure, GDPR complaint Titan email server and which is double password protected. You can view Titan’s privacy policy here: https://www.titan-cement.com/info/privacy-notices/. My PA has access to my emails to carry out the normal day-to-day business of this practice, for example confirming appointment times. My PA acts under the same terms of confidentiality and in accordance with our privacy policy.  

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All phones, tablets and laptops used to respond to your emails are fully protected with anti-virus software, and password protected. 

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Whilst I take all reasonable steps to protect my emails (using a firewall and password protection) please bear in mind that they are not encrypted and therefore I cannot guarantee their confidentiality. If you choose to communicate confidential information with me via email, I will assume that you have made an informed decision, and that you are aware that email may be intercepted. Please be aware that email is never an appropriate vehicle for emergency communication.

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Data usage

I will only use your email address and telephone number to contact you about your appointments. With your consent, I may also contact you directly via email in order to share information with you that is pertinent to your therapeutic process (e.g., worksheets, links to therapeutic resources, or changes to a session time).

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Your phone number may also be used to issue appointment reminders via text message. You can opt-in or out of text updates.

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Your rights

Any personal data retained by me is kept in accordance with the UK GDPR and DPA 2018.

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Under these guidelines, you have the following rights

 

1. The right to request access to your data

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You can request to view the information that I hold about you (contact details, appointment logs etc.) at any time. If during therapy you would like to see your session notes, please let me know. Should you require a copy of your notes after your therapy has come to an end you can make this request by emailing helen@theadhdspecialist.co.uk or calling 07586 553723.

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2. The right of rectification

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At any point during your time using my service or during the seven years thereafter, while we retain your records, you have the right to request amendments to your contact details or session notes. This right can be exercised by writing to me to request this.

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3. The right to be forgotten

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You can request that I delete and confidentially destroy the information that I hold about you and your sessions at any time. This request can be made by contacting me helen@theadhdspecialist.co.uk

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Instances, where I would not be able to comply with your request, are as follows:

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a) It is necessary for me to retain these records in order to continue providing an effective service

b) I am compelled to retain these records by a Court of Law

c) I require these records in order to establish, exercise or defend legal claims

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Consent

When you book your first session with me, you will be asked to complete a client contact form, and a client consent form. You will also be required to tick checkboxes to confirm that you consent to the storage and processing of your personal data for the purposes of providing therapeutic services, accept my privacy policy and terms and conditions, and opt-in to share your contact data with my clinical will provider.

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You are entitled to alter or to withdraw this consent at any time and you can do so by emailing helen@theadhdspecialist.co.uk

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Breaches of data protection

In the event of any breach of my data protection policies, I will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and will seek to rectify this immediately.

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Changes to this policy

I reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. 

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Raising concerns and complaints

Should you have any concerns about my data protection practices, you can raise these directly with me or my governing bodies. You can also notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (the supervisory authority GDPR). I am registered with ICO under the reference number C1328556.
 

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

 

Updated March 2024