At Ardent Dental Care we value privacy and transparency. You may have heard about the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that has come into effect.  As part of our compliance with the new regulation we need to advise you of our Privacy Notice which you can find below.

If you have any concerns please don't hesitate to phone us on 028 9182 1348   

Thank you.

Simon Gay, Sarah Sloan & Mark Boyd.

Ardent Dental Care - GDPR Privacy Notice

Data protection law is changing with effect from 25th May 2018.

Ardent Dental Care complies with both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and with good practice.

We take the protection of your information very seriously.   We respect individual’s rights and train our staff to handle personal data consistently in accordance with regulations.   In order to provide safe and appropriate dental care we need to collect and use personal data about our patients.   We recognise the importance of lawful and correct treatment of such data to maintain our patient’s confidence in ourselves.

At Ardent Dental Care, we hold certain personal information (known as “personal data”) about our patients.   Most of the personal data held and processed by Ardent Dental Care will be personal data (in other words it is information from which you as an individual can be identified) but we also hold your dental records and medical information where appropriate.

Personal data held on our computer systems is password protected and can only be accessed by authorised, fully trained members of staff.   The computer systems are backed up daily, have a full audit trail facility and have up to date anti-virus and firewall protection.

What information do we collect about you?

-           your name, date of birth and gender;

-           your health & care number, name of your GP, medical & dental history;

-           your address;

-           your telephone number(s), landline and/or mobile;

-           your email address where you have supplied this to us;

-           x-rays, clinical photographs where applicable;  

-           if you receive benefits we hold details of which benefit applies to you.

How do we use this information?  

Ardent Dental Care needs to hold and process information about you as it is required to administer your registration and to treat you as a dental patient of the practice.   In legal terms, this means that we have a legitimate interest in processing the information.   We will not collect any personal data from you that we do not need.

Personal data relating to patients is held on computer systems and on paper.  As the “data controller” we must process this information fairly and lawfully.

As part of providing dental treatment to patients we may also need to hold and process sensitive information about you the patient.   This is known as “sensitive personal data” and may include information that relates to health.   Except where the legislation allows it, this information cannot be processed or passed to a third party without your explicit consent.    

Who do we share it with?

We are not allowed to share personal data about you with other organisations and people, unless the law allows us to or you have given your consent. As we may need to share information with others in order to provide you with dental services, there is a legitimate interest in us sharing this information.

Information will not be disclosed to third parties without the consent of the individual it relates to, except in rare circumstances where this may be required by law, e.g. when the public interest outweighs the dentist’s duty of confidentiality.

How long do we keep personal data?

We must keep all personal data safe and only hold it for as long as necessary.   The minimum retention period for certain data is six years and for dental records is as per General Dental Council requirements, however in regard to some dental records we may be required to keep the information for the rest of your life so that it remains accessible.  

Your rights

-           You have the right to see personal data that is held about you and a right to have a copy provided to you, or someone else on your behalf where you give your written authority to do so in a machine-readable format.

-           If at any point you believe that the personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or wrong you can ask to have it corrected.

-           You can require us to restrict/limit the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example, whilst a complaint about its accuracy is being resolved.

How we will contact you

As a patient of the practice we need to be able to communicate with you so that we can provide your dental healthcare.

We will agree your dental appointments with you and we will use the following methods to contact you:

-           text message

-           telephone

-           letter

-           email.

Making a complaint

If you have a complaint about the use of your personal data please talk to a member of our reception staff.   Please be assured that all complaints received will be fully investigated.

If you are not satisfied with our response to any complaint you can refer the matter to the information commissioner’s office at www.ico.org.uk   helpline 0303 123 1113.