In providing your dental care and treatment, we will ask for information about you and your health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in providing your care. This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it and what we do with it.

About us

We are Cambria Specialist Oral Surgery and Family Dental Centre operating at 25 Eversley Road, Sketty, Swansea, SA2 9DB.

Dr Rhian Jones is responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold. Those at the practice who have access to your information include oral surgeons, dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment, and the reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice.

Our data protection officer, Gareth Lewis ensures that the practise complies with dataprotection requirements to ensure that we collect, use, store and dispose of your information responsibly.

• phone on 01792-202229;
• writing to him via Cambria Dental Practice, 25 Eversley Rd, Sketty, SA2 9DB;
• e-mail at admin@cambriadental.co.uk

INFORMATION THAT WE HOLD

We can only keep and use information for specific reasons set out in the law. If we want to keep and use information about your health, we can only do so in particular circumstances. Below, we describe the information we hold and why, and the lawful basis for collecting and using it.

Contact details

We hold personal information about you including your name, date of birth, national insurance number, NHS number, address, telephone number and email address. This information allows us to fulfil our contract with you to provide appointments. We will also use the information to send you reminders and recall appointments as we have a legitimate interest to ensure your continuing care and to make you aware of our services.

Dental records

We hold information about your dental and general health, including

• Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
• X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
• Medical and dental histories
• Treatment plans and consent
• Notes of conversations with you about your care
• Dates of your appointments
• Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with
• Correspondence with you and other health professionals or institutions.

We collect and use this information to allow us to fulfil our contract with you to discuss your treatment options and provide dental care that meets your needs. We also use this information for the legitimate interest of ensuring the quality of the treatment we provide.

Financial information

We hold information about the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details. This information forms part of our contractual obligation to you to provide dental care and allows us to meet legal financial requirements.

Where your dental care is provided under the terms of the NHS, we are required to complete statutory forms to allow payments to be processed. This is an NHS requirement.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you.

We will share your information with the NHS and/or DPAS (our private dental plan provider) in connection with your dental treatment.

We may contact you to conduct patient surveys or to find out if you are happy with the treatment you received for quality control purposes.

We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are telephone, email or letter.

If we wish to use your information for dental research or dental education, we will discuss this with you and seek your consent. Depending on the purpose and if possible, we will anonymise your information. If this is not possible we will inform you and discuss your options.

For our registered general dentistry patients, we may use your contact details to inform you of products and services available at our Practice.

SHARING INFORMATION

Your information is normally used only by those working at the practice but there may be instances where we need to share it – for example, with:

• Your doctor;
• The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you;
• Specialist dental or medical services to which we may refer you;
• NHS payment authorities;
• The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges;
• Dental laboratories;
• Debt collection agencies;
• Private dental schemes of which you are a member.

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary. We will let you know in advance if we send your medical information to another medical provider and we will give you the details of that provider at that time.

In certain circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies.

More information about information requests can be found here.

KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION SAFE

We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system and in a manual filing system. Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice; only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.

We take precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers.

We use high-quality specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information routinely.

We use cloud computing facilities for storing some of your information. The practice has a rigorous agreement with our provider to ensure that we meet the obligations described in this policy and that we keep your information securely.

We keep your records for a minimum of 10 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longer. At your request, we will delete nonessential information (for example some contact details) before the end of this period.

ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION AND OTHER RIGHTS

You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons.

You can also request us to:

• Correct any information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. If we have disclosed that information to a third party, we will let them know about the change.
• Erase some of the information we hold. For legal reasons, we may be unable to erase certain information (for example, information about your dental treatment). However, we can, if you ask us to, delete some contact details and other non-clinical information.
• Stop using your information – for example, sending you reminders for appointments or information about our service. Even if you have given us consent to send you marketing information, you may withdraw that consent at any time.
• top using information if you believe the information is inaccurate or you believe we are using your information illegally.
• Supply your information electronically to another dentist.

If we are relying on your consent to use your personal information for a particular purpose, you may withdraw your consent at any time and we will stop using your information for that purpose.

All requests should be made by email to our data protection officer, Gareth Lewis, at admin@cambriadental.co.uk

If you do not agree

If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.

If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (0303 123 1113 or 01625545745).

Last reviewed November 2019

General

We want our service to meet your expectations – we aim to provide the very best care and treatment. If you have a concern or complaint about any aspect of our service, we want to know what mistakes we made and identify how we can improve to ensure that we meet your expectations in future. Our aim is to learn from any feedback we receive and improve the service we provide to our patients.

Sometimes things may not go as well as expected. When that happens, you should raise your concerns with the staff involved with your care or treatment. They can then look at what may have gone wrong and try to make it better. We will deal with complaints courteously and promptly and aim to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. We will follow the NHS Wales process known as ‘Putting Things Right’.

Making a complaint

The best place to start is by talking to the staff involved with your care or treatment as soon as possible. They will try to resolve your concerns immediately.  It’s best to talk with someone as soon as possible but you can take up to 12 months to do so. If a longer time has passed, and there are good reasons for the delay, we may still be able to deal with your concern.

If you prefer not to speak with the staff who treated you or they were unable to resolve your concern, please contact Dr Rhian Jones, our Complaints’ Manager:

• In person at the practice;
• By telephone on 01792 202229;
• By email at reception@cambriadental.co.uk; or
• By letter to Dr Rhian Jones, Cambria Specialist Dental Practice, 25 Eversley Road, Sketty, Swansea, SA2 9DB.

The Complaints’ Manager usually works at the practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 09:30 and 18:00 and will endeavour to be available during these times. You may find it more convenient to make an appointment with Complaints’ Manager to ensure that she can dedicate sufficient time to meet with you.

If you contact the practice to make a complaint and the Complaints’ Manager is not available, we will arrange a convenient time for her to contact you. We will ask you for brief details of your complaint so that the Complaints’ Manager can gather any useful information before contacting you. You will be given a copy of the notes made for the Complaints’ Manager.

If your complaint is about your dental treatment or the fee charged, we will usually ask the dentist concerned to contact you, unless you do not want this.

We acknowledge all complaints in writing and enclose a copy of this code of practice as soon as possible, normally within two working days.

You can raise a concern yourself. If you prefer, a carer, friend, or relative may represent you, but you will need to give them written permission to do this.

Investigating a complaint

We will listen to your concerns to try to resolve them as quickly as possible. We will offer to discuss the complaint with you and will ask how you would like to be kept informed of developments – by telephone, letter, or e-mail, or by a face-to-face meeting. We will look into your concerns and speak to the staff involved in your care or treatment. We will let you know how we will deal with your complaint and the likely time that the investigation will take to complete. If you do not wish to discuss the complaint further, we will still let you know the expected timescale for completing the investigation.

We aim for the investigation to be completed and for you to receive a reply within 30 working days (weekends and bank holidays not included). If we can’t reply to you in that time, we will give you the reasons why and let you know when you can expect a reply. Some concerns may take longer to look into.

When we have completed our investigation, we will reply to you, unless you have told us that you do not wish for further communication. Our reply will explain how we considered the complaint, the conclusions we reached for each part of your complaint, details of any remedial action we have taken and whether further action is needed.

Records

We keep proper and comprehensive records of any complaints that we receive and the action we have taken following investigation.  We review these records regularly to ensure that we recognise our mistakes and take every opportunity to improve our service.

If you are not satisfied

If talking to the staff does not help, or you do not want to talk to the staff involved with your care or treatment, you can contact the health board’s concerns team.

You can contact the Swansea Bay University Health Board Patient Feedback Team, which deals with complaints by:

• Phoning: 01639 683363/683316
• Emailing: ABM.complaints@wales.nhs.uk
• Or you can write to:   
• Address: 1, Talbot Gateway, Baglan Energy Park, Port Talbot, SA12 7BR.

You can contact the concerns team at Hywel Dda University Health Board by:

• Phoning:  0300 0200 159
• Emailing:  hdhb.patientsupportservices@wales.nhs.uk

Address: Freepost RTJR-ZKJG-JZTC, Patient Support Services, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Fishguard Road, Haverfordwest, SA61 2PZ.

If you are not happy with the health board’s response, you can contact the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales by:

• Phoning: 0300 790 0203
• Emailing: ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk
• Submitting a form on their website: www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk  
• Address: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, 1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed, CF35 5LJ.

Since July 2019, the Ombudsman can investigate organisations (regardless of the absence of any contract with the NHS) where the services delivered were fully funded by the patient. However, this will only be in certain circumstances:

• Where the patient has received some NHS treatment for the issue complained about (paid for or commissioned by NHS Wales);
• Where the patient has paid privately for treatment at some point for the same issue; and/or

Where the Ombudsman cannot properly investigate the NHS complaint before him without also looking at the privately funded element.

FOR COMPLAINTS ABOUT PRIVATE TREATMENT:

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) is the independent inspectorate and regulator of health care services in Wales. Contact them with any concerns about matters relating to:

• the provision of health care by and for Welsh NHS bodies as defined under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003
• services regulated under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000 by establishments and agencies for which the Welsh Ministers are the registration authority
• private dental practices prescribed in regulation 3 of the Care Standards Act 2000
• the use and application of the Mental Health Act 1983

Address: Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Welsh Government, Rhydycar Business Park, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ

Phone: 0300 062 8163
Email: hiw@gov.wales
Website: www.hiw.org.uk

The Health in Wales Dental Complaints Service has been set up to assist private dental patients and dental professionals resolve complaints about private dental service. A patient can:

• phone them on 08456 120540 (Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00 pm)
• e-mail them at  info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
• complete a form on their website: www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

Health in Wales Dental Complaints Service

• phone them on 08456 120540 (Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00 pm)
• e-mail them at info@dentalcomplaints.org.uk
• complete a form on their website: www.dentalcomplaints.org.uk

If you want support when raising your concern, contact the Community Health Council’s independent advocacy service for free and confidential support.

Find your local Community Health Council by contacting:

• Phone: 02920 235558
• Website: www.communityhealthcouncils.org.uk
• Email: enquiries@waleschc.org.uk

If you want support when raising your concern, contact the Community Health Council’s independent advocacy service for free and confidential support.

Find your local Community Health Council by contacting:

The Board of Community Health Councils in Wales:

• Phone: 02920 235558
• Website: www.communityhealthcouncils.org.uk

Email: enquiries@waleschc.org.uk

We may be asked to disclose information, documents or records held by the practice. Requests for personal information are made under data protection legislation and under freedom of information legislation for information about the NHS services provided by the practice.

Requests for personal information or for information about the practice that is not included in the practice information leaflet should be passed to Dr Rhian Jones or Dr Jeff Hinton.

This policy describes who can request information and how and the practice procedures for managing these requests.

Request for personal information

Personal information is any information that allows an individual to be identified. This includes information where the individual is not named but a cross-reference to other information held by the practice would allow identification.

Data protection legislation allows individuals to request access to their personal information. Those eligible to request access include:

• A person aged 16 years or older
• The parents or guardians of a child under the age of 16 years and in connection with the health and welfare needs of the child
• A child under the age of 16 years who has the capacity to understand the information held by the practice. Children aged 11 years and under are deemed too young
• A third party, such as a solicitor, who has the written consent of individual concerned – checks should be undertaken to ensure that the consent is genuine – for example, by checking the patient’s signature or contacting the patient directly to confirm that they have given consent for the information to be disclosed.

If a request concerns information about a deceased person, those eligible to request access include:

• The administrator or executor of the deceased person’s estate
• A person who has a legal claim arising from the person’s death – the next of kin, for example. The person should explain why the information requested is relevant to their claim.

If the information requested includes information about third parties, it can be disclosed if the third party gives consent or is a health professional involved in the care of the patient.

The request

The request must be made in writing and describe the type of information required with dates, if possible, and include sufficient information to ensure correct identification (name, address, date of birth, for example). You must check that the person asking for information has the right to do so and, if necessary, ask for proof of identity.

We will provide the requested information within one month of receiving the request or confirming the individual’s identity.

The information

We will usually provide the information requested in electronic form using secure means, unless the individual asks for the information in paper format or otherwise agreed. The individual may also come to the practice to view the original version under supervision and on practice premises.

We will provide the information in a way that can be understood by the individual making the requests and may need to provide an explanation to accompany dental clinical notes.

Unfounded or excessive requests

Where requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive (particularly if they are repetitive), we can:

• Charge a reasonable fee taking into account the administrative costs of providing the information; or
• Refuse to respond.

If we refuse to respond to a request, we will explain the reasons and informing the individual of their right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office and to a judicial remedy.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRACTICE

Freedom of information legislation allows anyone to ask for information about the provision of NHS services. The available information is described fully in the practice guide to information available under FOIA and the model publication scheme. If the requested information is part of a larger document, we will disclose only the relevant part.

A freedom of information request cannot include clinical records or financial records.

The request

The request must be made in writing and should describe the information that they want and with dates, if possible. The individual making the request does not have to give a reason.

The charges for information provided under a freedom of information request are included in the practice guide and the model publication scheme.

We will provide Information within 20 working days of receiving the request or confirmation of identity or, if applicable, from the receipt of the fee.

It may be possible to extend this timescale if we need more information about the request or are taking legal advice on whether an exemption applies. We must inform the person making the request if we need to extend the 20-working-day deadline.

The information

Most of the information covered by a freedom of information request is available in the practice information leaflet or on the practice website. Requests for other information should be referred to Dr Rhian Jones or Dr Jeff Hinton. If we do not hold the information requested, we will inform the individual within the 20-working-day time limit.

We will provide information in a way that is convenient for the person who requested it, which may be in writing, by allowing the applicant to read it on the premises, or, if the information is held electronically, in a useable electronic format.

We are not required to respond to

• Vexatious requests for information, for example, requests that are designed to cause inconvenience, harassment or expense.
• Repeated requests for the same or similar information (unless the information changes regularly, for example performance or activity information)

In either situation, you should seek advice from Dr Rhian Jones or Dr Jeff Hinton.