Children and young people

Who we are

We are HCA Healthcare, an independent provider of private healthcare, offering treatment to private patients and NHS patients. In order to provide healthcare services and receive payment for those services, HCA need to collect and process certain information about you.

Here at HCA, protecting and respecting your personal information is very important to us. This Privacy Notice explains what personal information we may collect from you and how that information may be used.

Get in touch

If you want to know more about the personal information we have of yours, or if you want to raise a question with us then email us. If you are under 13 your parent or carer would need to do this. If you are over 13 then you can write to our data protection officer, Joan. She’s contactable at DPO@hcahealthcare.co.uk

We think it would be best if you discussed this with your parent or carer first, and that you copied them into any emails you send.

Personal data – what’s that?

What we mean is any information that could be used to identify you. This could be just your name and address; or, it could include a telephone number, email address, a picture or recording of you. As we might be giving you medical care there are things our Consultants and Doctors would need to know to help them do that. This could be quite sensitive and includes personal information about what treatment you have had in the past and how you are doing.

Where we get your personal data from

Basically, we get it from you or your previous medical records! If you are under 13 then your parent or carer has to give it to us on your behalf. If you are being treated by us then we might also take information from, for example, your GP or others involved in your care. This helps us to give you the best treatment. It is really important to know that we are really careful with this information.

When you are being treated by us we will sometimes ask you for personal information. Personal information means things like your name, your age, where you live and how we can contact you.

But that’s only if you are over 13. The first thing we would want to know, and check, is how old you are.

Are you Under 13?

If you are under 13 then we have to ask a parent or carer, or another adult who looks after you to give us that information for you. We tell them how we keep that information safe in our other ‘Privacy Notice’ – it is a bit longer than this one! They can ask to see any of that information, any time. You can also have a look at this if you want more information.

Are you over 13?

If you are over 13 and getting treatment from us then your Consultant or Doctor will sit down with you and explain all of this and check that you understand what we do with your personal information – it is yours after all and that you know what your rights are. Again have a look at our other Privacy Notice if you want more details.

Everyone here is trained in safeguarding which means that we know how to keep you safe and that includes how we keep your information safe. We don’t share it unless you tell us we can (unless we are really worried about you), and we store it safely.

We will process your data to make sure you get the best possible care but also to make sure we can protect it from anyone who shouldn’t see it and to make sure we are following all the laws and regulations.

How long we keep your data for?

We have thought a lot about how long we should hold on to personal data. We believe it is only as long as you would consider reasonable, or where we have to because of the law. We have a list of how long we keep all information and what we do with it (delete or archive) when its time is up! We keep it very safe on our systems, just like you would expect us too.

Your rights

You have all the same ‘rights’ with regard to your personal information as adults do. The main ones are that you can get a copy of all the data we hold about you; you can get any incorrect information put right; and you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). They will check that we have complied with the data protection laws and will take action if we haven’t. Contact the ICO on www.ico.org.uk

There are some other rights and you can see the rest of them in the full Patient Privacy Notice

Who can see your information?

Most of your personal data is processed by staff in the UK although occasionally we may need to share it outside the UK with companies who help us to provide your treatment. Sometimes we also share it with Cloud-based data storage providers like Microsoft; tax authorities like HMRC or external agencies like CQC who help to make sure that healthcare providers, like us, do things right.

We may also share your data with law enforcement agencies (that’s the police) or statutory agencies (that’s the Court) if the law tells us we have to.

A word about ‘Cookies’

When anyone visits our website, their IP address, browser and version, operating system and the site they came from are stored in a log file. This information is only used for statistical purposes to help improve this site. Log files do not contain any personal information. We do not use cookies for collecting personal information and we will not collect any information about you except that required for administration of the web server.

If you have a concern about how we have handled or processed your data, or are unsatisfied with our response to a complaint you have raised with us then please contact the ICO – https://ico.org.uk/concerns

For parents

We use the data we gather from children, young people and families we are supporting for the sole purpose of providing the best care and support that we can to them. This might also include being able to evaluate the quality of support we have given and audit our practices. Where we believe sharing the information we have been given with other agencies is in the best interests of supporting the child or young person then we would do that.

We take our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults very seriously. We are legally obliged to pass on personal information to the relevant authority if we think a child, young person or vulnerable adult is at risk.

This privacy notice was last updated by adults in May 2021.

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