The Slimming Clinic take data protection responsibilities very seriously. Your privacy and security are important to us, so we’ve developed this privacy policy to explain how we collect, use, disclose, transfer and store your information.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
Personal information is data that can be used to identify or contact an individual.
If you choose to enquire about, or engage our services, you may be asked to provide your personal information. We collect this information so that we can provide our services to you in a safe, effective and responsible way. As a provider of medical services, we have certain legal and regulatory responsibilities to record and store items of personal data, and we may not be able to provide our services without this information.
What personal information we collect
When you register as a patient of The Slimming Clinic, attend a consultation, receive treatment, or make certain enquiries, we may collect a variety of information, including your name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, occupation and certain relevant medical information including your medical history.
Call recording
When you call The Slimming Clinic, we may record the call to assist with the training and development of our employees. Our pre-recorded introductory message will inform you when your call may be recorded.
During a call, if we need to take your credit or debit card details to take a payment over the phone, the operator will pause the recording so that we do not store this sensitive data. The recording will resume once payment has been taken.
Consultations via telephone calls or video calls with our doctors and practitioners are never recorded.
How we use your personal information
The personal information we collect allows us to ensure we provide a safe, effective service while complying with our legal and regulatory responsibilities. Our doctors use your medical information to ensure you are medically suitable to benefit from treatments and that any associated risks are minimised.
We also use your personal information for internal purposes such as auditing, data analysis and research so that we can comply with legal and regulatory responsibilities and so that we can ensure our services are continually reviewed for effectiveness and safety.
In exceptional circumstances, we may use your personal information to inform you of important safety notices, for example, in the event of a medication recall. Because this information relates to patient safety, you may not opt out of receiving these communications.
We may with your explicit consent share your personal information with your GP as part of our legal, regulatory and ethical responsibilities to your health and safety.
We may with your explicit consent use your personal information to send information to you regarding our products and services. If you do not want to receive this information, you can opt out at any time by contacting us by phone, email, using our website contact options, or by using the unsubscribe link on our emails.
Protection of Personal Information
The Slimming Clinic takes the security of your personal information very seriously.
The Slimming Clinic stores your personal data electronically. We use computer systems with limited access in facilities protected by physical security measures. This includes electronic data stored on third-party systems, and access is limited to The Slimming Clinic employees and designated support staff only. Our electronic data is routinely backed up to prevent damage or loss.
If The Slimming Clinic stores your personal data in hardcopy, we limit access to this data using physical security measures.
When you use some of The Slimming Clinic’s services (for example, our social media pages or forums), the personal information and content you share is visible to other users and can be read, collected, or used by them. You are responsible for the personal information you choose to share or submit in these instances. Please take care when using these features.
Website “cookies” and Other Technologies
The Slimming Clinic’s website, online services, interactive applications, mobile device apps, social media pages and advertisements may use “cookies” and other similar technologies. These technologies help us better understand user behaviour, tell us which parts of our website people have visited, and facilitate and measure the effectiveness of advertisements and web searches.
The data gathered by website “cookies” and other similar technologies is Non-Personal information and cannot be used to identify any specific individual.
Our Live Chat website feature may record your IP address for the purposes of facilitating the conversation between our support staff and yourself.
On visiting our website, you will be presented with the option to decline the use of “cookies,” which you can do with no detrimental effect to the provision of our services to you. Additionally, most web browsers have the facility to disable cookies and other tracking technologies – you should refer to guidance for your particular browser software.
Disclosure to Third Parties
The Slimming Clinic may use third parties to store your information in order to utilise technology to provide our services to you in the most efficient and safe way. For example, we may use electronic practice management software to arrange appointments, which involves storing your information on third party systems.
Any third parties used to store your information can only access the information in a support capacity. Further access is only available to The Slimming Clinic employees and support staff.
It may be necessary – by law, legal process, litigation, and/or requests from public and governmental authorities within or outside your country of residence – for The Slimming Clinic to disclose your personal information. We may also disclose information about you if we determine that for purposes of national security, law enforcement, or other issues of public importance, disclosure is necessary or appropriate.
Additionally, in the event of a reorganisation, merger, or sale, we may transfer any and all personal information we collect to the relevant third party.
Integrity and Retention of Personal Information
The Slimming Clinic endeavours to keep your personal information accurate, complete, and up to date. Providing a medical service means that we have obligations to keep certain recorded information for specific lengths of time, so we will retain your personal information only for as long as is required to provide requested services to you, or as is required by law or regulation.
Access to Personal Information
You are entitled to request a copy of any personal information we hold relating to you as an individual. This is usually provided free of charge, and supplied within 30 days. Requests should be made either in writing, or by email to our head office or to your local clinic.
Privacy Questions
If you have any questions or concerns about The Slimming Clinic’s Privacy Policy or data processing, please contact us.