Privacy notice

This privacy notice explains the information I will collect and hold about you, why this data is collected, with whom it is shared, and how it is stored.

Organisation name: Dr. Elizabeth Ann Edginton, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist. I am the Data Processor and Data Controller. I do not have any employees or associates.

ICO registration reference: ZA776935.

What type of data is collected?

Personal and Sensitive Personal Data

Personal data is any information which can identify you as an individual. It does not include anonymised data. Sensitive Personal Data includes information about your health, personal history, beliefs, feelings, culture, etc.

How is data collected?

Personal and sensitive personal data will be collected via the Client Details Form you will be asked to complete and the Consent to Contact Professionals Form, where appropriate. You may also have provided me with some contact details via phone, voicemail or email. Other personal and sensitive personal information of this kind shared verbally by you/your child in sessions might be recorded in clinical notes. 

Sensitive personal data will be gathered in sessions and might be recorded in clinical notes. This might also include reports or assessments from other professionals that you might wish to share with me
e.g. psychological/psychiatric/paediatric reports etc. and information communicated to me by other professionals involved with your family e.g. teacher, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.

What are the purposes for which data is collected?

Data is collected for the effective provision of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy treatment. This is the only purpose for which your personal and sensitive data will be collected without your express permission.

If I need to share your data for another purpose such as Safeguarding – i.e. sharing personal and sensitive personal information with other professionals to ensure your child's safety - then I will usually try to discuss this with you first, except in very rare instances where to do so might, in my professional judgement, further endanger your child.

If your data is requested for another purpose i.e. as part of a police investigation or court process, then you will be notified immediately unless I am prevented from doing so for legal reasons.

What information is held and why?

Your and your child or young person's contact details, and relevant medical information are required as a condition of treatment. This is so that assessment and treatment can be provided effectively e.g. so that I can contact you regarding appointment times etc., and so that I am aware of any medical and/or mental health diagnoses that might inform my assessment, or medical conditions that might require an urgent response. It is very important that any information that I hold about you and your child is up to date, so please do ensure that you let me know as soon as possible if there are any changes to the details provided.

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy treatment inevitably involves the sharing of sensitive personal information, including personal and medical history, as this is integral to the therapy, and to providing a framework for understanding your and your child’s difficulties.

Clinical notes will be kept after each session as a record of attendance and treatment progress. These notes will include sensitive personal information, for example family history, and some of the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that you/your child or young person have shared with me. These notes will be confidential and will not be shared with anyone else. The only exception to this would be if the notes were required by the police or courts in connection with a mandatory legal process.

Data security

Any personal or sensitive information stored digitally will be stored using encryption. Any reports or correspondence sent by me by email will be password protected. Paper notes will be kept securely locked away at all times when not in use. It is important that you do not share sensitive personal information with me via voicemail, email, or any other electronic written form, to ensure your privacy.

Information sharing – when, with whom and why?

If your child or young person begins therapy following assessment, then their name, address, and where appropriate, telephone number(s) and date of birth and parental names, address(es) and telephone contact details will be shared with two clinical trustees. Sensitive personal information will not be shared. It is a requirement of membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists that all clinicians working privately arrange for two colleagues to keep a list of current cases and commitments. This is so that, in the event of, for example, the therapist’s serious illness, a colleague will be able to contact clients and make appropriate arrangements.

It is a condition of treatment that I will inform your child or young person’s GP that your child or young person is in ongoing therapy (with parent session in support of the therapy, where appropriate), when medium or long-term treatment begins. I will also inform the GP when therapy ends, and at regular points throughout the therapy after termly reviews, or in any exceptional circumstances, such as where I believe that that there is an immediate and/or urgent risk to your child or young person’s health or well-being.

Where an assessment has been undertaken but there is no ongoing treatment, a GP letter will be provided to you as parent(s) for children and teenagers aged 0-17, or to the young adult aged 18-25, which you or they can forward to the GP if wished. If there are circumstances deemed by the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist to be exceptional, a letter might be sent directly to the GP, e.g. where there is immediate or urgent risk.

For short-term work (up to 6 sessions), I will usually inform the GP only after the work has been completed.

In a situation where further help is required to ensure the safety of your child or teenager up to the age of 18, then Child Protection (Safeguarding) guidelines will be followed. In the case of young adults, in very rare circumstances, Adult at Risk procedures will be followed. If I need to contact other professionals, except in very rare circumstances, I will usually try to discuss this with you (for children and teenagers up to age 18) or your young adult (for 18-25 year olds) first, with regard to the information that will be shared, with whom and why, except in very rare circumstances. Any information shared will be on a strictly 'need to know' basis.

There will sometimes be other professionals involved with your family with whom I will need to liaise, so that we can work as a team to support your child or young person (e.g. teacher, psychologist, psychiatrist). Any information shared will be on a ‘need to know’ basis, and will be discussed with you or where appropriate, your young adult, beforehand. Any reports I am asked for concerning your child or young person’s contact with me, with the exception of Child Protection (Safeguarding) or Adult at Risk reports, will also be shared with you or your young adult, as appropriate. These are likely to include sensitive personal information.

Any other professionals with whom your information is shared will also be subject to GDPR regulations and a duty of confidentiality.

Membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists requires that all therapists have regular clinical supervision of their work. Sensitive personal information about you and your child or young person will be shared with the supervisor and/or supervision group, but no identifying personal information will be shared. Case material discussed in supervision is anonymised so that you/your child or young person cannot be identified.

How long is information kept for?

It is a legal requirement that, for children who are aged under 18 during treatment, all records will be kept for 7 years following the child's 18th birthday. Where the young person turns 18 or is over 18 years old during treatment, records will be kept for 7 years following the end of treatment. At the end of this period of time, all notes and records will be destroyed.

Your rights

You/your child or young person may request to see your, or your child or young person’s notes, and I will respond within 40 days. Please note, however, that confidentiality is central to this type of therapy. Therefore, any requests of this kind would require detailed consideration, including why the request is being made, whether this is in your child or young person’s best interests, and any possible implications for treatment.

Please note that where young adults are aged 18 or over, it will not be possible for information to be shared with you as parent(s) unless the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist deems there to be exceptional circumstances.

You have the right to request correction of any inaccurate information held about you.

You may also request deletion of your data, which is possible if there is no legal requirement for me to keep it.

There is no fee related to the request to access, revise, correct or delete your data.

More information about your rights is available at www.ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights

If you are not happy with any aspect of how I collect and use your data, please let me know so that I can try and resolve this with you. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner's Office (www.ico.org.uk). My ICO reference number is provided above.