Confidentiality
Confidentiality
The Lantern Family Centre is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be held and processed. We may change this policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you are aware of any changes.
By choosing to use our services you are accepting the terms outlined in this policy regarding how your personal information will be used and protected. This policy has been developed to meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and guidance from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Any questions or enquiries regarding this policy and our data privacy practice should be sent by email to lanternfamilycentre.org.uk
or via the other contact methods on our website. Equally, you can contact your individual therapist/practitioner to address any questions you may have in relation to data protection.
Please read the following carefully to understand how we will treat and regard your personal data.
COLLATION OF INFORMATION (what we collect and why)
- Essential contact details: This includes email and phone contacts as well as basic contact information e.g. next of kin, school and GP. As a mental health provider it is important that we have the minimum information required to fulfill our duty of care to children and young people we are working with.
- If you contact us by letter or email, records of the correspondence may be kept in order to facilitate effective communication.
- 3rd Party Information i.e. referral information, professional reports/assessments and associated documentation may be kept in order to support and inform our work. Any information shared between professionals will be done so with the knowledge and consent of the families concerned.
- Ongoing session records are an important part of the therapeutic process and assist the therapist/practitioner in maintaining an ongoing record of the therapeutic work. Individual therapists/practitioners will keep written session records for their own use. All client records are confidential.
WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
- Personal data that we collect from you is stored securely by the individual therapists responsible for their client’s information. Handwritten file records are held securely and digital/electronic documents are password protected.
- By submitting your personal data, you agree to this information being held. We will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with our privacy policy.
USES MADE OF THE INFORMATION
1. We aim to keep the minimum amount of personal information necessary to support our work with you. Written sessions records help to facilitate the therapeutic process and are also used to inform any written reports that may be required.
2. Referrers will often require assessment and review reports that provide an overview of the process and progress of the work i.e. the extent to which the stated aims and objectives of the work have been met. Where sessions are covered by an insurance policy, the insurance company may require reports on progress. Any reports written will be shared with you and consent sought prior to being shared with third parties.
3. Basic contact records/details are in place to facilitate effective communication with you and with any relevant professionals e.g. school/GP/social worker.
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION
1. The disclosure of any personal information held by our team will only be made with your knowledge and consent.
2. If we are placed under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation we will seek to discuss this with you.
3. When working within the context of a professional network, it is important that we are able to communicate relevant aspects of the work with other professionals. This may be to communicate issues around the process or progress of the work, to update relevant parties about the work and to share any specific concerns or information. Any communication with other professionals and third parties is undertaken in the best interests of yourselves and in the spirit of collaboration and partnership.
SAFEGUARDING
As mental health care professionals, we have a duty of care to the children, young people and adults that we are working with. In the event of any of our team being made aware of any information that may raise concerns about actual or potential risk of harm we have a duty to communicate this information to the relevant professionals. We will always seek to prior inform you of our need to do this, providing this does not compromise the safety or well-being of anyone concerned or run counter to any legal requirements.
PARTNER AGENCIES
Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.
CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY
We will notify you about changes to our service. Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.
27th March 2020
