Privacy Policy
At Enderby Associates we offer services to clients seeking various forms of psychotherapy and counselling. We also offer supervision and consultation for counsellors and psychotherapists. As from 25th May 2018, in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), we at Enderby Associates, Ray Little and Jane Read, are required to inform you, both current and potential clients and supervisees, about how we process and keep safe the data that each therapist holds that pertains to you.
Each therapist is required to gain your explicit consent to hold and process your data in ways listed below.
Both therapists, Ray Little and Jane Read, are bound by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) code of ethics, and both take confidentiality and privacy seriously.
If you are a current client with either therapist, or a supervisee, or are about to enter a therapeutic or supervisory relationship with either therapist, you will be asked to read the Privacy Policy and consent to these arrangements. You will be given a form to sign. In the event you do not wish to give your consent, you have the option to discuss this with the therapist and it may be possible to create a specific agreement.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. However, if you agree to give consent you will need to sign the form provided.
What data will be held?
Each therapist will keep certain data so that they can work professionally with you, in line with the guidelines of the professional organisations that each therapist belongs to, including the UKCP. The data each therapists holds may include:
1. Name and address
2. Telephone number & email address
3. GP's name & address
4. Relevant medical information
5a. Client Session notes
5b. Supervision Session notes
6. Payment information
7. Communications: Emails, Texts & Telephone
8. Therapeutic executors
9. Clinical supervision
You have the right to know what data is being held, why it is held, and for how long it will be held. You also have the right to view the data and ask for inaccuracies to be changed.
If there is a breach of your data and personal information, the therapist concerned will undertake to inform you and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as soon as possible.
How, why, and for how long is your data held?
1. Your name & address
The therapist will keep your name and address, with your GP's details in paper form in a locked filing cabinet. They are kept separate from any session notes. This data is kept because it is required by the therapist's professional liability insurers and the UKCP. Your name and telephone number will also be kept in the therapist's paper diary in case they have a need to contact you whilst they are away from the office. Both therapists are advised to keep the data for seven years. After that time it will be destroyed. Each therapist is the only person to see the data.
2. Telephone & email address
Your phone number will be kept in paper form in the therapist's diary, and in their mobile phone. Mobile phones are accessed with a passcode. Your email address is held on the office main computer. Mobile phones and the office computer are not available for others to access. The computer is password secure.
This data is kept in case the therapist needs to contact you. This data will be erased and destroyed when you have stopped working with the therapist.
3. GP's name and address
This data is kept in paper form along with your name and address in a locked filing cabinet. This data is kept in case there is some reason to contact your GP, for example, in relation to current medication, or possibly a referral to another medical practitioner. This will be destroyed when we finish working together.
4. Relevant medical information
This data will be kept in paper form, along with your name and address, in a locked cabinet. This data may be relevant in relation to your treatment, particularly where it may have an effect on the therapy. The data will be destroyed when we finish working together.
5a. Client Session notes
This data may include dates and times of attendance, and possible brief notes on themes that emerge in the therapy. The notes are kept in paper form and held in a locked cabinet. No name or address are held with these notes. They are coded and kept separate from your personal details which are in a separate locked cabinet.
The notes will be kept in confidential form for up to seven years, as layed out by the therapist's member organisations and insurers. Only the individual therapists will see and have access to the notes.
5b. Therapist's supervision notes
The data from supervision sessions carried out with therapists is kept in paper form and will include the client's first name only, important themes and date discussed. The notes are kept in a locked cabinet.
6. Payment information
The therapists will make a note of payments made or outstanding, in paper form, only identifying you by your first name, in their diary.
Payment by cheque will be processed by individual banks. If payment is by BACS the reference you use will be detailed on the therapist's bank statements.
7. Communications
Emails
Emails received will be deleted after the content has been noted.
Any emails that are considered necessary to keep will be filed on the computer, which is password protected and has virus protection software installed.
Our preference is, if you wish to leave messages cancelling appointments or wish to reschedule, you are asked to leave a voice mail message on the office answer machine (0131 667 2005). The message will be deleted after it has been noted.
A copy of an email may be kept if it is thought clinically necessary. All email records will be destroyed on completion of the work.
If you choose to communicate with the therapist via email, it is important to remember that all emails are retained by Internet Service Providers, and can be vulnerable to viruses and unintended forwarding or replication. You may prefer to contact us via telephone.
We currently do not use an email encryption programme. For this reason, it is a good idea to be thoughtful about what is included in emails. We encourage emails to be used for non-confidential communications. We attempt to keep confidential and psychological material within the sessions.
Text messages
If the therapist gives you a relevant telephone number you may use it to alert the therapist via text you are running late for an appointment. Alternatively, ring the office landline (0131 667 2005). Please use the telephone line to leave any other messages. The message will be deleted once heard.
Telephone/Internet contact
Both therapists work primarily face-to-face, but there may be exceptional circumstances when this is not possible. In these situations the telephone or the internet may be used to maintain contact at appointed times.
If the phone is used in this way, we ask clients/supervisees to ensure the environment they are in when phoning is safe and secure/private.
8. Therapeutic executors
Both therapists have arrangements with colleagues to act as Therapeutic Executors in the event of the therapists incapacitation. Their role is to contact clients/supervisees to notify them of the circumstances. The executors have a list of clients/supervisees names and telephone numbers in a secure sealed envelope which they will not open until such times as instructed. The details of this arrangement are set out in the therapist's professional will.
9. Supervision
Each therapist will have arrangements to receive supervision of their work, as required by their professional bodies, to help maintain a professional and effective service for their clients. As part of this process they will discuss their work and in doing so will use a client's first name only. No other identifying details will be given to the supervisor.
If you have any other questions or feedback regarding our Privacy Policy please don't hesitate to contact us.
This Privacy Policy statement is subject to regular review and may be updated as appropriate.
(c) Enderby Psychotherapy & Counselling Associates. June 2018
