GDPR Policy

Privacy Notice for Patients

Complete Dentistry processes personal identifiable information that relates to patients and is therefore required by law to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which protect your privacy and ensure that your personal information is processed fairly and lawfully.

Our Data Protection Officer is Georgina McTaggart.

Our Commitment to Patients
‍Complete Dentistry is committed to ensuring that it complies with GDPR and applies ethical principles to all aspects of its work to protect the interests of patients and maintain the confidentiality and security of any personal information held in any form by the practice.
You may ask for a copy of this notice at reception or view it online at our website www.completedentistry.co.uk.

Why Does the Practice Hold Personal Information About Me?
We keep information about you to:
• ensure the dental team can contact you easily;
• provide you with the best possible dental care;
• provide care for you under the NHS and enable administration of the NHS.

Our legal basis for holding this information is
• Contract - To allow us to process personal data necessary for safe provision of your treatment
• Legal obligations - To allow us to provide information to the relevant authorities to show the care that has been provided for you and to obtain payment
• Legitimate interest - To ensure the practice can contact you easily if required
• Special Category Data - Relates to your health records

How does the Practice Collect Personal Information?
We collect personal information either directly from you or are provided with it by third parties, such as other dental or medical providers. It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed of any changes to your personal information.

What Personal Information is Kept?
Personal information includes facts (e.g. treatment you have had) and opinions (e.g. any concerns you or your dentist might have about your dental health). To provide the best possible care for you, accurate and comprehensive personal information is required. The following records are kept and updated regularly:

• personal information and contact details, including your name, address and date of birth;
• dental, social and medical histories (e.g. past or current medical conditions, current medication, the name of your GP);
• results of the examination of your mouth and oral health, including x-rays and clinical photographs;
• information about appointments;
• any treatments and their costs;
• any proposed care, including advice we give to you and referrals you might need;
• any concerns you or your dental team might have;
• details of your consent for specific procedures;
• correspondence with other healthcare workers that relates to your care.

How is My Personal Information Processed?
Processing of Personal Information - To provide you with appropriate care, we process your personal data for the following purposes:

Your care – we keep patient records to allow us to provide appropriate dental treatment and care;

Practice Administration – we may use your contact information to let you know when your next appointment is due and this may be by phone call, post, text message or a combination of these.
We will also contact you about outstanding accounts by phone or post when required.
Occasionally we undertake patient surveys and questionnaires to help improve our service. These are usually completed at the practice but occasionally may be posted to you. Certain, more complex treatments may require written consent and these may be sent to you by post.

Sharing Relevant Information
To provide you with appropriate care, we might need to share your personal data with:
• another dentist or health professional who is caring for you;
• your GP;
• a laboratory;
• NHS payment authorities;
• the Inland Revenue;
• the Benefits Agency, if you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges;
• a private dental scheme, if you are a member.

In these cases, only the minimum information required will be shared. Rarely, the law requires us to pass on information to prevent serious crime or injury. Where possible, we will inform you of requests to share personal information.

Storage and Retention of Personal Information
We keep patient records for adult patients for a minimum of 11 years and for child patients for either 11 years or until the child is 25 years of age, whichever is longer.
We will not keep records for longer than necessary and after they are no longer required, written records will be shredded.
Personal information is stored on a secure password-protected practice computer system; only authorised practice staff have access to these systems. Back-ups of these data are made regularly.