Privacy policy.

Please read this information before your initial appointment.  
 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is new legislation which came into effect in 2018.  Under this law you have a right to know what information I collect, how I use it and the circumstances in which it may be shared.

The personal information you provide to Therapy with Fran will be used for legitimate business interests, that is, to provide you with a professional therapy service.

Your Personal Data

Information kept includes:

  • An intake form

  • Contract and data sharing consent through Kiku

  • Personal data (see more below)

  • Brief notes as a record of each therapy/ counselling session (which may contain sensitive personal data – see below)

Sensitive Personal Data (“Special Category Data”)

Some of the information collected may be sensitive personal data including ethnic origin, religious beliefs and physical and mental health.  Such data will only be used to provide a counselling service in accordance with legal obligations.  Sensitive personal data is stored as part of your clinical notes in a secure online system called Kiku.  

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below: If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information. If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.

The GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case therapy/counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between me and you).

How I use your information

Initial contact.

When you contact me with an enquiry about my therapy/counselling services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, address, email address and telephone number. If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within twelve months. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.

While you are accessing therapy/counselling everything that happens in your therapy session remains confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if:

  • I will discuss aspects of the work with my Supervisor, but your identity will remain protected.

  • I may be required to discuss the work if required by law (this is very rare). For example, if you discussed acts of terrorism or serious crime or risk of serious harm to others, I would discuss this with the police. Similarly, if you reveal information about children or vulnerable adults being seriously at risk, I would report to that to the relevant authorities.

  • If subpoenaed to give evidence in court, I would have to do so.

  • I may contact your GP or other medical professionals if I believe that you were likely to cause serious injury to yourself.

I will always try to speak to you first about disclosing information, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the therapy/counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely using Kiku clinical software and are shared with my administrative assistant, Mary. Your session notes are not shared with my assistant. I will keep written notes of each session, these are kept within this software system. For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than three months. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will copy it and store it in your personal notes in Kiku. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after three months if it is not important. 
 

After therapy/counselling has ended.

Once our work together has ended your records will be kept for seven years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

Data/Why it is kept 

- Name, date of birth, occupation / Basic information about yourself that helps me to get to know you.

- Address, email address and telephone number / I use this as a way of contacting you about my sessions. - Address is also kept in case I felt you were at risk and needed to request a police safety check.

- Emergency contact / In case anything happens to you within our session, for instance if you become suddenly ill and I needed to contact someone.

- GP Details / If I felt you were at risk than I may need to contact your GP. Where possible, and if appropriate, I will discuss this with you first.

- Session Notes / Standard professional procedure requires summary notes to be made of each session to aid my memory of what was discussed in sessions.

- Sensitive Personal Data ("Special Category Data") / This information helps me to get to know you and make an initial assessment of your circumstances including any history mental health issues.

- Session Notes – Data I have a legal obligation to keep for a period of 7 years after the end of therapy, after which they are destroyed by deletion.

What are your rights?

You have a right to request to see or have amended any personal information I may keep about you. You also have the right to request that I delete information that I hold about you. You also have the right to object to the processing and use of your personal data.

What information do you share?

I will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

Consent – I may share your information with other professionals whom you have requested or agreed I should contact.

Serious harm – I may share your information with the relevant authorities if I have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.

Clinical Executor – If for any reason I become incapacitated and unable to work your information will be passed onto my Clinical Executor so they can contact you and make suitable arrangements.

Compliance with the law – for instance if I am required by a court of law

Third party recipients of personal data

I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example, where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks. More specifically, my VA, Mary has access to all data apart from secure session notes and you may hear from her regarding the adminstration of your therapy. I take great care to ensure that I have a contract with the third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.

How your data is stored

 All electronic records are encrypted and stored in an online practice management software (Kiku) which requires password access. I do not keep paper records.

How long I keep it for

For legal reasons I keep session notes for seven years after the end of therapy.  After this they are destroyed by deletion.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. My email address is: therapywithfran@gmail.com

Data Protection Accountability

If you wish to complain about how your data is handled, in the first instance contact me, Frances Massey.

If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you can contact the Information Commissions Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/ or call 0303 123 1113.

​

Confidentiality & online working

This is a very important aspect of the therapeutic relationship. Everything that is discussed in your session is kept in the strictest confidence. I will be using Teams to conduct your session which has end-to-end encryption. For security both the platform I will be using, Teams, and my laptop have end-to-end encryption. Recording functionality will be disabled, and meeting links will be unique and client specific to prevent unauthorised participants from entering.

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Cookies and how they Benefit You

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Cookies help to:

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I do not use cookies to:

  • Collect any personally identifiable information (without your express permission)

  • Collect any sensitive information (without your express permission)

  • Pass data to advertising networks

  • Pass personally identifiable data to third parties

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You can learn more about all the cookies I use below

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