Privacy Policy

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Throughout this document the terms “you” and “yours” may refer to you as the individual receiving assessment or intervention, or to your child if you are acting on their behalf.  

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Highland Child Development Centre is committed to the protection of client data. We are registered with the ICO, and all handling of client’s personal data is done so in line with the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR. This Privacy Policy aims to give you more information on the data we hold on you, what we do with that data, whom we share your data with and your rights under GDPR. 

Highland Child Development Centre uses the information we collect in accordance with all laws concerning the protection of personal data, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR 2018. As per these laws, Highland Child Development Centre is the data controller. WriteUpp is the data processor. You can view WriteUpp’s Privacy Policy here https://www.writeupp.com/privacy  

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Introduction 

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Highland Child Development Centre needs to gather and use certain information about clients and prospective clients in line with the information contained in our referral forms and within your clinical records. This policy describes how this personal data is collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards – and to comply with the law. Our lawful basis for holding personal data is consent and the processing of special category data falls under article 9(2)(h) health or social care (UK GDPR). 

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What Data We Gather 

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All of our assessments require us to gather information and hold these in our records. This will include information provided to us by you in regards to your child's medical and education history. It will also include information from our observation and assessment of your child. It may also include information from external agencies such as education or NHS services. Before meeting with us we ask you to complete an information form to help us understand what services you are looking to access. On occasion, we may also ask you to complete additional screening measures.  We may collect the following information about you/your child to enable us to work with you safely and effectively, and to enable the efficient dissemination of appointment reminders and invoicing: 

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Name and address (postal and email) 

Date of birth 

Phone number 

Email correspondence 

GP details 

Education Setting 

Details of private health insurance policies (where relevant) 

Bank details 

Medical and mental health history 

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During the course of initial contact and then subsequent intervention and therapy, we will inevitably collect other personal data relevant to assessing and supporting you/your child. This is to enable us to offer you the service you have sought from us. 

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How We Use This Data 

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Collecting this data helps us: 

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Contact you to set up assessment and therapy appointments 

Link you up with an appropriate clinician 

Conduct a thorough neurodevelopmental, speech and language or psychological assessment 

Devise and implement an effective intervention plan (therapy) 

Invoice for the services rendered 

Communicate (when necessary and agreed with you) with relevant third parties to support your intervention and manage risks 

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Controlling Information About You    

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Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed under our data protection policy, in line with The Data Protection Act 1998 (in force on the date this statement became operational) and the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) adopted on 27th April 2016 and enforceable from the 25th May 2018. All of the information we gather is stored using WriteUpp; a clinical notekeeping and secure information management system. We take your privacy seriously and will take all reasonable steps to ensure the protection of your data.   

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Your data will be kept for the lifetime of your status as a client with us. You have the right to refuse to share information with us, however this may impede our ability to complete a full assessment for your child. We will hold data until your child / young person reaches the age of 25, unless our company is dissolved, in which case all records will be destroyed. 

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You have the right to ask for your data to be deleted but Highland Child Development Centre does not have to comply with this request if there is a legitimate reason for continuing to retain this data, for example possible future legal requests. 

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Highland Child Development Centre has the right to retain your data for a minimum seven-year period so that it can respond effectively to any questions or complaints that may later be raised by you and/or your representatives. This is in line with best practice guidance. 

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Security            

We will always hold your information securely. 

All client files and therapy notes are uploaded and kept securely in Write Upp. 

Access to your personal information is restricted on a ‘need-to-know’ basis only i.e. for those concerned directly with your care and with your account. 

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Data Accuracy 

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We would be grateful if you could notify us at the earliest opportunity of personal data changes, for example if you move, change GP practice, or change your name, so we can ensure our records are up to date. 

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Please contact us if you wish to update the accuracy of the personal data we hold about you. We may require additional verification that you are who you say you are to process this request. If you wish to have your information corrected, you must provide us with the correct data and after we have corrected the data in our systems, we will send you a copy of the updated information. 

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Subject Access Requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by Highland Child Development Centre are entitled to: 

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Ask what information the company holds about them and why 

Ask how to gain access to it 

Be informed of how to keep their data up to date 

Be informed of how the company is meeting its data protection obligations 

If you would like to request a copy of the data we hold about you, this is called a subject access request. Subject access requests should be made in writing or email to info@highlandchilddevelopment.com. 

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Disclosing Data for Other Reasons    

In certain circumstances the Data Protection Act allows Highland Child Development Centre to disclose data (including sensitive data) without the data subject’s consent, e.g. Carrying out a legal duty or protecting vital interests (for example safety) of a Data Subject or other person. 

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Under these circumstances, Highland Child Development Centre will disclose relevant data. However, we will take all reasonable steps to notify the individual whose data is being disclosed about the disclosure. We will also ensure that any such data request is legitimate, reasonable and necessary. 

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Risk Issues 

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Any information gathered by us about you during your consultation, assessment or intervention is strictly confidential, and will not be passed on to third parties without the explicit permission of the client. Please note that due to the nature of speech and language, psychological and neurodevelopmental assessment, therapy, and intervention, there are two exceptions to this rule: (1) under the professional’s Duty of Care we are obliged to contact the relevant services if we believe that the client is an immediate danger of harming themselves or others (the clinician will aim to inform the client of this prior to the disclosure); (2) health professionals are required by their accrediting bodies to undertake regular professional supervision. This involves the discussion of the professional’s caseload with a supervisor and ensures standards and best practice are being met. 

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Recording Sessions 

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When attending an appointment remotely via our video application, the safety and confidentiality of our clients and clinicians is essential.  We ask that clients do not record audio or video footage of their appointment without the prior consent of their clinician and any other parties joining the session. 

Video footage or audio of sessions that are recorded, published or distributed without consent of all parties would be in breach of our privacy policy. 

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For Further Information 

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If your questions are not fully answered by this policy, please contact us at info@highlandchilddevelopment.com. If you are not satisfied with the answers from us, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) https://ico.org.uk. 

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