This policy (together with our Terms and Conditions and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. As a veterinary practice we have what is known as a legitimate interest in holding certain details of our patients and clients. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.  You consent, by using our Website, registering with us and by using our veterinary services that personal information you provide will be held on a database called Robovet created by Vetsolutions Ltd. As we require this data to treat your animals and for legal reasons it is necessary for the performance of the contract with you, we consider (under section 3, article 6 of the GDPR regulations) that formal, written consent is not required to record this data.

What information do we collect and why?

When you register your pet with us you will be asked for some essential information including your title, first name, surname, postal address, email address and telephone numbers. These details are collected either in person, by telephone or online, to help us:

• Register your details as a new client or update your details if they change

• Register your pet (s) on our system

• Register your pet on health plans

• Make appointments

• Process the fees due for any treatment

• Contact you about your pet, your account or credit status where required;

• Ask you to complete client satisfaction surveys to offer the best service we can

• Let you know about any changes to our services

• Contact you to advise when your pet(s) need timely treatments in the best interests of their health

• We will also automatically collect data such as dates and times of your visits to our Website.

Who may we sometimes share your data with?

• Other vet practices and health care providers including referral centres to ensure your pet’s medical care in the future

• Insurance companies who request a pet’s medical records to process an insurance claim

• Financial data to agencies assisting us with unpaid debt such as Equita.

• External Laboratories

• Our waste contractor for shredding - The data controller will ensure we have contracts with the above companies which confirm that your data will be processed following GDPR regulations.

How we protect your information?

Your data is stored securely on our servers. Our IT systems are regularly reviewed and updated to the latest version of windows. Software is updated daily as required. We have a firewall in place and we have cloud based antivirus/security software that will contact us immediately if

there is any breach.  We endeavour to keep your data up to date and accurate - our system will ask us to check your data every 6 months. Please help us keep your data up to date by contacting us if there are any changes. 
We have in place strict security procedures for the storage and disclosure of your information to prevent unauthorised access.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure.  Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to and/or through the Website; any transmission is at your own risk.

Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Protecting your security

We may also permit authorised third parties to use your data to provide you with information relating to your pets health. You may be contacted by post, telephone, email or SMS where you have consented to receiving such communications.  We may use for the purpose of promotional, marketing and publicity purposes in any media worldwide any comments or feedback (excluding personal data) which you post publicly or provide to the practice, without notice or without any fee being paid, once consent has been given.  We may monitor or record telephone calls to ensure our quality standards are maintained and for fraud prevention purposes.  Any data no longer required will be deleted or destroyed securely and confidentially.

Statement on the use and disclosure of Personal Data

We may send you SMS, post or emails to contact you about treatments we consider your pet(s) may require in the best interests of their health, for example vaccination reminders. We may also send you health care advice for your pet(s). We consider the above communication

vital to maintaining the health of your pet(s) and that it is required for us to offer the level service we strive for. We therefore do not consider it necessary to ask you to opt in to such communications. We will not pass your data onto third parties. You can also exercise your right not to receive these communications at any time by contacting us on 01376 325511.

Cookies

In order that we can monitor and improve the Website, we may gather certain information about you when you use it, including details of your domain name and IP (Internet Provider) address, operating system and browser. A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store it on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies allow us to understand who has seen which pages and advertisements on the Website and to make the Website more user friendly. We use cookies so that we can give you a better experience when you return to the Website. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. You do not have to accept cookies and you should read the information that came with your browser software to see how you can set up your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This will give you the opportunity to decide whether to accept it or not. We may also use cookies to provide you with customised information from the Website.

Rights

You have a right to access the personal data about you that is held by us. To obtain a copy of the personal information please apply in writing to the practice. The request will be passed onto our data controller and will be made available within 30 days. You also have a right to request we delete your data. As your data has to be kept by us for legal reasons we would consult our professional advisers regards any legal requirements to keep any data and inform you of their decision. Legally we have 30 days to exercise this.

 

Changes to our Privacy Policy

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 email. If you have any queries about data protection, please contact us on 01376 325511.