Terms and Conditions
Confidentiality
I collect information about the people I work with and the work we do together. This information will not be shared with anyone outside of Waves Psychology unless we agree together that it may be helpful to do so. In these circumstances we will review the information being shared together and you and/or your family can give their consent about what is/is not disclosed.
As a registered practitioner psychologist with the HCPC I routinely participate in clinical supervision. Clinical supervision involves discussing clinical work with another qualified and regulated practitioner to ensure effective and safe practice. The work discussed in clinical supervision will be treated confidentially and anonymised where possible.
There are exceptional circumstances where I may have a duty of care to share information with other services or authorities. For example if I had concerns about risk of harm, or the safety, of yourself or someone else. Where possible I will discuss any disclosures like this with you first unless I had concerns that this may increase risk.
Where online sessions take place I will endeavour to ensure that confidentiality is maintained e.g. by using a secure platform with appropriate levels of security. However clients will be made aware that the nature of online work means that complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.
How we use your data
GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulation that all professionals comply with. GDPR outlines how personal data is collected, shared or stored. Wherever possible we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process this information. There are however times where you might give your consent implicitly, such as when you submit an enquiry form or email requesting a response. In these instances I may keep personally identifiable information associated with your message e.g. your name, email address so as to track our communications and provide a high quality service.
Only data essential to our work together will be collected and stored. Some of this information is classified as personal data, and I can only use such data where we have explicit consent. More information about GDPR, where information is stored and how you can exercise your rights to enquire, review, obtain or erase information held about you or your family member will be outlined in the ‘Terms and Conditions’ shared with you when we start our work together.
Record Retention
Personal data will not be retained longer than necessary. Once our work together ends, I am legally required to securely store this data for a specific retention period. Current guidelines state adult records are to be retained for seven years and children’s records are retained until the child’s 25th birthday. If the child was 17 at the conclusion of our work together data will be retained until their 26th birthday. Clinical diaries are retained for two years.
We may keep personal information for longer as required to provide you with a service you have requested, to comply with other law including the period demanded by tax authorities or to support a claim or defence in court.
Mobile phones and recording
To ensure we can work safely and effectively together, it is important that the privacy of our work is respected. Please do not attempt to record your session, training or consultation using any device or app unless explicitly agreed beforehand. If it is found that recordings have been made covertly then I will suspend our work together and reserve the right to seek legal advice regarding further possible action. I will not record any sessions, other than routine note taking unless explicitly agreed. Any notes taken will form part of a clinical record and stored safely on our practice management software. These notes will not be shared outside of Waves Psychology unless explicitly agreed.
Feedback, complaints and compliments
I will routinely collect feedback throughout our work together and welcome open, transparent conversations about how you are finding our work together. If you have constructive feedback to give, or you are not satisfied with your experience, then do inform me so I can work to resolve your concerns. As a registered member of the Health Cares Professionals Council you are able to contact them here (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/concerns/) if you wish to take things further. I am also regulated by the Information Commissioners Office which ensures I protect your personal information. If you would like to discuss a concern about your personal data then you can contact the ICO here (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/)