Privacy Policy for Patients of Osprey Opticians Ltd

Why we collect and process your personal data

Osprey Opticians Ltd is a registered data controller. This privacy notice sets out our privacy policy.

We collect and process patients’ personal data for the purposes of healthcare and marketing. Our legal bases for processing personal data for healthcare purposes, including appointment reminders, include public task or legitimate interests.

When we provide services under the NHS General Optical Services contract (such as a sight test funded by the NHS), our legal basis for processing personal data in respect of that service is public task
Otherwise our legal basis is legitimate interests

Our condition for processing special category data is the provision of health or social care. We process our patients' personal data for marketing purposes with their consent or to meet a legitimate interest. This means we can tell you about eye care products and services that may be relevant to you. If you do not want us to process your personal data for marketing purposes, please let us know and we will stop.

The data we may collect and process

The personal data of patients that we may collect and process includes:

Your name, contact details and personal identifiers (such as date of birth and NHS number)
Your general and ocular health history, your family medical and ocular history, and any relevant signs or symptoms you tell us about
Details of medicines, spectacles and contact lenses prescribed for you
Details of examinations and other healthcare checks and treatments we provide
Information relevant to your continued care from other people who care for you or know you well, such as other health professionals and relatives

How we hold and share your personal data

We process your personal data in strict confidence. We keep your personal data securely in our filing and electronic systems. Patient records are only accessible to the healthcare professionals working at the practice and those under their supervision.

We will usually keep any personal data we hold about you for ten years after our last contact with you before we delete it. This is the period recommended as good practice by the College of Optometrists. If we collected the data when you were aged under 18 we will keep it for ten years, or until your 25^th birthday if that is later, in line with NHS requirements. In exceptional cases we may need to retain personal data for a longer period, and will explain our reasons for doing so on request.

In the course of processing your personal data we may share it with:

The healthcare professionals working at this practice and those under their supervision
Healthcare professionals and those under their supervision at other optical practices, but only if you have specifically asked us to pass your personal data (such as your prescription) to them
Your GP, ophthalmologists and other healthcare providers and commissioners, and suppliers of optical appliances or similar products, in connection with your healthcare treatment
Software providers for our patient record and invoicing systems, and financial institutions, so that we can keep patient records up to date and arrange payment for services provided to you

Your rights

You have legal rights in respect of the personal data we hold about you. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance on the full range of rights. The rights that are most relevant to the way in which we use your personal data include:

The right to be informed about how we use personal data – this privacy notice gives that information
The right to object – if you object to us processing your data for marketing purposes, or for healthcare purposes where our legal basis is legitimate interests (see ‘why we collect and process your personal data’, above), we will then stop doing so, unless we are processing the data in respect of a legal claim or can otherwise show that our legitimate interest in processing the data overrides your rights and interests
The right of access – if you ask us for the personal data we hold about you we will provide it within a month, free of charge (unless we have already provided it to you, in which case we may have to charge you the administrative cost of providing it again)
The right to rectification – if you ask us to correct personal data about you that is inaccurate or incomplete, we will do so within a month (unless we need longer, in which case we will discuss this with you)
The right to erasure – also known as the ‘right to be forgotten’. If you ask us to delete your personal data, we will do so if there is no compelling reason to continue processing the data. However, this right does not apply to patient data that we process for healthcare purposes, such as patient records. We will not usually delete healthcare data before our usual time limit (see ‘how we hold and share your personal data’ above) where we have a duty to keep accurate records – for example, to comply with a legal obligation, or in connection with a legal claim. If you ask us to delete such data we will discuss this with you

Contacting us and the ICO about your personal data

Please speak to us first if you have any questions or concerns about the way in which we process personal data. You can contact Stuart Senior via info@ospreyopticians.co.uk

You have the right to complain to the ICO if you have a concern about our handling of your personal data which you do not think we can resolve. You can contact the ICO here.

Osprey Opticians Ltd Complaints Policy

Whilst we always endeavour to ensure that you are pleased with all aspects of the service we offer, from time to time things can go wrong. In the unlikely event that this does happen, you should follow the procedure outlined below in order to get the issue resolved.

Stage One: Make a complaint (local resolution) by phone call. If there is a clinical problem please ask to speak with the Optometrist, Stuart Senior. This may require the Optometrist to visit you at home to assess and hopefully resolve the issue.

Stage Two: If the matter is not resolved please ensure where possible to make your complaint in writing within one month of the purchase date to Osprey Opticians Ltd at the address below and explain your complaint to them.

Osprey Opticians Ltd, 22, Punton Road, CARLISLE. CA3 9BB

If you are unable to complain yourself, then someone else, usually a relative or close friend, can complain for you. We will respond to you within 14 days.

We would typically expect complaints to be resolved within 21 days but within a maximum time frame of 3 months. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of local resolution you may take your complaint to independent review.

Stage Three: Independent Review - If you are still unhappy after the above procedure has been completed, a complaint can be escalated to the above organisations:

Optical Consumer Complaints Service
6 Market Square, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 3UZ
Phone: 0344 800 5071
Web: www.opticalcomplaints.co.uk

The Optical Consumer Complaints Service relates to complaints about spectacles and contact lenses, should we be unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction.

General Optical Council
41 Harley Street, London, W1G 8DJ
Phone: 020 7580 3898
Web: www.optical.org

The General Optical Council should be contacted in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour. Examples of such behaviour include neglecting patients, alcohol or drug abuse, or having a sexual relationship with a patient. You can also write to these organisations if the professional's performance is seriously deficient or they are incapable of doing their job due to physical or mental illness.

In addition, if you do not wish to complain to us directly, or wish to complain to NHS England in the first instance, contact can be made to:

NHS Central Complaints Department

NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
Tel.: 0300 311 2233
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net