Data protection
Stag Lane Dental complies with the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and, for NHS services, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and this Policy describes our procedures for ensuring that personal information about patients is processed fairly and lawfully.
In order to provide you with a high standard of dental care and attention, we need to hold personal information about you. This personal data comprises:
- Personal details such as your name, age, address, telephone numbers, email address, NHS number and your general medical practitioner;
- Your past and current medical and dental conditions;
- Radiographs, clinical photographs and study models;
- Information about the treatment we have provided or propose to provide (and its cost);
- Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept;
- Records of consent to treatment;
- Any correspondence (relating to you) with other healthcare professionals, such as referrals to specialists, for example.
We need to keep comprehensive and accurate personal data about our patients in order to provide them with safe and appropriate dental care. We also need to process personal data about you if we are providing care under NHS arrangements, and to ensure the proper management and administration of the NHS.
We will process personal data that we hold about you in the following way:
We will retain your dental records while you are a practice patient. If you cease to be a patient, we will continue to hold them for at least another eleven years, or in the case of children until they reach the age of 25, whichever is longer.
Personal data about you is held in the practice’s computer system and/or in a manual filing system. The information is not accessible to the public; only authorised members of our team and Care Quality Commission inspectors have access to it. Our computer system has secure audit trails, and we back up information on every working day.
In order to provide proper and safe dental care, we may need to disclose personal information about you to:
- Your general medical practitioner;
- The hospital or community dental services;
- Other health professionals caring for you;
- Dental insurance companies of which you are a member;
- Private dental schemes of which you are a member;
- The NHS Business Services Authority, if you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges.
Disclosure will take place on a “need-to-know” basis. Information will only be given to those individuals/organisations who need to have it in order to provide care to you and for the proper administration of the Government (whose personnel are also covered by strict confidentiality rules). The recipient will only be given the information that they need to know for these purposes.
In very limited circumstances or when required by law or by a court order, personal data may have to be disclosed to a third party not connected with your dental care. In all other situations, disclosure that is not covered by this Policy will occur only when we have your specific consent. Where possible, you will be informed of these requests for disclosure.
You have the right to access the data that we hold about you and to receive a copy. Access may be obtained by making a request in writing to Dr Nihir Shah at 21 Stag Lane, Edgware, HA8 5LE or by email to info@staglanedental.co.uk. A copy of your records is free of charge, and we will provide it within one month of receiving your request, together with an explanation of your record should you require it.
If you move to another dental practice, we may (at our discretion) loan original X-rays and provide copy notes directly to that practice free of charge on receipt of a written request from them to do so.
If you do not wish personal data we hold about you to be disclosed or used in the way that is described in this Policy, please discuss the matter with your dentist. You have the right to object, but please remember that this may affect our ability to provide you with dental care.
For more about how we use your personal data and your rights, please see our Privacy and Cookie Policy. Questions about this policy can be sent to Dr Nihir Shah, our data controller, at info@staglanedental.co.uk or by calling 020 8952 0839.
