Types of personal data we collect and use

We (David Choi and staff) will use your personal data for the reasons set out below.  We will collect most of this directly during the registration and/or admission or clinic process but there may be sources of personal data collected indirectly as set out later in this policy. The personal data we use may include:
• Your name, address and contact details, including email address and home and mobile telephone numbers, date of birth and gender
• Your previous and current medical health records whether provided by your GP, doctors, physiotherapists or other third parties
• The terms and conditions of your contract with us for the provision of healthcare and related services
• Your financial information (your bank account and national insurance number) if you are a ‘self-pay’ patient or the financial information of the company or individual who is responsible for the payment of invoices/bills relating to your care (e.g. insurer or sponsor)
• Information about your marital status, next of kin, dependents, nominated and/or emergency contacts
• Information about your nationality and entitlement to treatment in the UK
• Information about medical or health conditions, including whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments
• Information about medical or health conditions of your family
• Information received in response to any surveys or, complaints claims
• equal opportunity monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health and religion or belief
• Information about how you use our website.
• If you are a consultant/doctor or other healthcare provider we may also hold and process other information relating to the clinical services you carry out.


We may collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be collected through Registration and Admission forms; obtained from your passport or other identity documents such as your driving licence; from pre-admission forms, online web forms completed by you at the start of your treatment; from correspondence with you, your general practitioner or other healthcare professionals; through the Admission and Registration process or through interviews, meetings or other assessments.

In some cases, the organisation may collect personal data about you from third parties, such as insurer providers, referral agencies, sponsors, checks permitted by law.

Providing your personal data

We will tell you if providing some personal data is optional, including if we ask for your consent to process it. In all other cases, we need you to provide your personal data so we can provide care and treatment and receive payment for these services. 

Monitoring of communications

Subject to applicable laws, we may monitor and record calls, emails, text messages, social media messages and other communications in relation to our dealings with you. We will do this to ensure an appropriate standard of care, for regulatory compliance, self-regulatory practices, crime prevention and detection, to protect the security of our communications networks and systems, to check for unlawful content, obscene or profane content, for quality control and staff training, and when we need to see a record of what has been said.

Using your personal data and the legal basis for processing

We will process your personal data under Article 6 (1); Article 9 (2) of the General Data Protection Regulations:
• To support the provision of your healthcare
• To decide how best to provide treatment to you
• As necessary to support the healthcare contract with you and to allow us to receive [full] payment for those services
• To take steps at your request during the course of your treatment
• To keep your records up-to-date
We will process your personal data under Article 6 (1) f  of the General Data Protection Regulations:
• As necessary for our own legitimate interests or those of other persons and organisations, e.g.:
• For good governance, accounting, and managing and auditing our clinical and business operations
• For market research, analysis and developing statistics for improving clinical performance; and
As  necessary  to comply with a legal obligation:
• When you exercise your rights under Data Protection Laws and make requests
• For compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and related disclosures
• For establishment and defence of legal rights
• For activities relating to the prevention, detection and investigation of crime
• To verify your identity, make credit fraud prevention and anti-money laundering checks; and
• To investigate complaints, legal claims and data protection or clinical incidents.
Based on your consent
• If you ask us to disclose your personal data to other people or organisations such as a company handling a claim on your behalf; or otherwise agree to disclosures;
• When we process any special categories of personal data about you at your request (e.g. racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning your health, sex life or sexual orientation).

You are free at any time to change your mind and withdraw your consent. The consequence might be that we cannot continue to provide full healthcare services to you.

Sharing of your personal data

Subject to applicable data protection laws we may share your personal data with:

• Consultants/doctors and other healthcare professionals who provide treatment to you at our facilities
• Other healthcare providers where we feel this will enhance the quality of your care
• Sub-contractors and other persons who help us to provide healthcare products and services to you
• Companies and other persons providing services to you as part of your extended care;
• Our legal and other professional advisors, including our auditors
• Fraud prevention agencies, credit reference agencies, and debt collection agencies
• Government bodies and agencies in the UK and overseas (e.g. HMRC who may in turn share it with relevant overseas tax authorities and with regulators, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
• Courts, to com ply with legal requirements, and for the administration of justice
• In an emergency or to otherwise protect your vital interests
• To protect the security or integrity of our business operations and other patients
• Payment systems and providers; and

Anyone else where we have your consent or as required by law

 

Private Healthcare Information Network

Subject to applicable data protection laws we are required to provide hospital and individual performance data to the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN), which publishes information on the quality and cost of privately funded healthcare.

PHIN’s goal is to help patients make more informed choices about where to go for treatment.

We will not supply your name, date of birth, or full address to PHIN. PHIN is only concerned with understanding the treatment that hospitals and doctors provide, whether that treatment was safe and effective, and whether there were any complications.

Any processing of personal data shall be made in accordance with the Data Protection Laws.

Publication will be made via the PHIN website in a format that will allow patients requiring hospital treatment and their doctors to search for local private hospitals by procedure and to compare how they perform in terms of quality and safety based on treatment data. Individuals are then able to make informed choices; which consultant to see, which treatment option to follow, and at which hospital to be treated. This information will not be in a form where individuals can be identified.

You have the option to withhold your personal information, in which case we will only share an anonymised record of your treatment to PHIN, but will not provide your NHS Number (or equivalent) or postcode.

 

Sharing of your personal data for research purposes and marketing purposes

Subject to applicable data protection laws and your explicit written consent we may share your personal data for the purpose of scientific research.

Sharing of your personal data for marketing purposes
Subject to obtaining your written consent and communications preferences we may use your contact details to send you newsletters and other information which we think may be of interest to you.  We will not sell your personal data to a third party without your written consent.

You are free at any time to change your mind and withdraw your consent. This will not affect the healthcare services we provide to you.

International transfers

Your personal data may be transferred outside the UK and the European Economic Area, for example when discussing complex cases with doctors who are experts in the field based overseas. While some countries have adequate protections for personal data under applicable laws, in other countries steps will be necessary to ensure appropriate safeguards apply to it. These include imposing contractual obligations of adequacy or requiring the recipient to subscribe or be certified with an 'international framework' of protection.

How long do we keep your data?

Information will be kept in in accordance with the retention periods outlined in the Information Governance Alliance (IGA) Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care (2016). Information may be held for longer periods where the following apply: 

• Retention in case of queries. We will retain your personal data as long as necessary to deal with any queries you may have
• Retention in case of claims. We will retain your personal data for as long as you might legally bring claims against us
• Retention in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements. We will retain your personal data after you have received healthcare services at our facilities based on our legal and regulatory requirements.

Your rights under applicable data protection law

Your rights are as follows (noting that these rights do not apply in all circumstances):
• The right to be informed about processing of your personal data
• The right to have your personal data corrected if it is inaccurate and to have incomplete personal data completed
• The right to object to processing of your personal data
• The right to restrict processing of your personal data
• The right to have your personal data erased (the 'right to be forgotten')
• The right to request access to your personal data and information about how we process it
• The right to move, copy or transfer your personal data ('data portability') 
• Rights in relation to automated decision making including profiling

You have the right to complain to the
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) which can be found at https://ico.org.uk/. It has enforcement powers and can investigate compliance with data protection law.

Your Personal Data is data which by itself or with other data available can be used to identify you as an individual.  David Choi is the data controller. This privacy notice sets out how David Choi and support staff will use your personal data. 

How we use cookies

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Content management and responsibility

David Choi, and the hosts of this website, accept no responsibility for, and exclude all liability in connection with browsing this website, use of information on this website and downloading any material from it, including, but not limited to, any liability for errors, inaccuracies, omissions or misleading or defamatory statements.

Downloads

Although every reasonable effort is made to ensure that files are free of defects and viruses, there are no guarantees that they are free from defects or computer viruses. Therefore, no warranty or guarantee is given by David Choi, regarding files downloaded or accessed through the website or through a link accessed via David Choi’s website.

Use of data

This website is intended to enable information relevant to the work of David Choi, to be freely available on the World Wide Web. Whilst we hope you find this website interesting and informative, the contents are for general information only. David Choi believes the contents to be true and accurate as at the date of writing, but can give no assurances or warranties regarding the accuracy, currency or applicability of any of this website's contents. As such, the contents of this website should not be relied upon. In addition, none of the content of this website will form any contract between David Choi and any user of the website, nor constitute any offer by David Choi. The use of and access to pages of the this website is subject to the foregoing disclaimer, and the terms and conditions set out below. By using or accessing this website, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

David Choi shall not be liable for any loss or damage howsoever arising in connection with the content of the website. David Choi does not guarantee that the website will be error-free, omission-free, uninterrupted or without delay.

Security

Whilst David Choi makes all reasonable attempts to exclude viruses from the website, we cannot guarantee that the website will be virus free and accept no liability in the unlikely event that the website is not virus free.

Users are recommended to take appropriate safeguards before downloading information from this website. 

Access to information

You are prohibited from posting or transmitting, to and from, the website any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, and pornographic or other material which would violate any law.

Unless otherwise specified, the materials on this website are directed solely at those who access this website from the United Kingdom mainland. Those who choose to access this website from other locations are responsible for compliance with local laws if and to the extent local laws are applicable.