Privacy Policy

Dr Nikki Teper & Associates Patient Privacy Notice

So that we can provide a high level of service, staff at Dr Nikki Teper & Associates will ask for information about you. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have you referred to Dr Nikki Teper & Associates. We appreciate that you are trusting us with information that is important to you, and we want to be transparent about how we use it.

This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it, what we do with it and the controls in place to keep it safe.

Information collected by the practice

We may collect the following information about you:

  • Personal details such as your name, date of birth, address, telephone number, email address and details of your general medical practitioner
  • Notes of conversations with you about your referral
  • Dates of appointments
  • Details of any complaints made and how these were dealt with
  • Correspondence with other professionals relating to you
  • Details of fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and payment method

Nicky Harmes is the ‘data controller’ responsible for keeping secure the information about you that the practice holds. Those at the practice who have access to your information include professionals involved with your treatment and reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice. Please rest assured that all clinicians at the practise are bound by ethics of strict confidentiality, and all reception staff have signed agreements in their contacts that make it unlawful for them to break confidentiality in any way.

How we use your information

We use your personal data to arrange appointments, to send reminder appointment, to send invoices and retrieve payments and also to provide a high quality of treatment as required both legally and on a contractual basis with our patients.

Sharing Information

Only those working at the practice use your information, but there may be instances where we need to share it – for example, with:

  • Your doctor or other health professionals caring for you in order to provide you with the highest level of care
  • Health insurance companies (if relevant) to enable you to access your health insurance
  • The practice IT service provider (we have a service agreement in place with them, which include strict confidentiality and security of data clauses).

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary.

In certain extreme circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies. If this is the case you will always be notified.

Keeping your information safe

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system. Only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this. We take strict precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers.

We use high-quality, specialist software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information routinely.

We use cloud computing facilities for storing some of your information. The practice has a rigorous agreement with our provider to ensure that we meet the obligations described in this policy and that we keep your information securely. We will keep your records for 10 years after the date of your last visit to the practice.

If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with Nicky Harmes. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your treatment.

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745).