Privacy Policy

This policy sets out Belinda Buckley’s privacy policy in the event you wish to make contact. It specifies how she may use, store and protect any personal information you provide from using this website.

Belinda is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should you be asked for certain information by which you can be identified then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Belinda Buckley is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Data Protection Act 1998), providing a lawful basis for her to process data in the way and for the purposes set out below. Under the Data Protection Act (1998) she is unable to ask for information or to send information about children to other professionals/agencies without permission from the person with parental responsibility.

Requirements of EU General Data Protection legislation, effective May 2018, and the Data Protection Bill September 2017 specify that there must be transparency in how data is collected, stored and used.

This Statement sets out Belinda Buckley’s policy in relation to the holding and using of information about you and your child which may be obtained from you (child’s parents / legal guardians) or other sources during the course of your child’s treatment.

What data is collected?

For each child that we work with we record the child’s name and date of birth, the school that they attend and contact information such as the parents(s) or carer(s) phone numbers and / or email address.

We keep clinical notes on all the children that we work with including information from the assessments that we carry out and progress information collected during therapy sessions. For example if we are working with a child on understanding of the concept ‘under’ we might write that ‘Zara followed instructions containing the concept under correctly on 8/10 attempts during the session.’

We also keep records on conversations that we have about your child. For example this could be information that a teacher tells us about how a child is communicating in the classroom or it could be information that a parent tells us about how the child is communicating at home.

Sometimes we are given written information from other professionals such as Educational Psychologists or Occupational Therapists and we will keep a copy of this information in the child’s file.

Why is the data needed?

As speech and language therapists we are required to keep clinical notes about all the children that we work with. This is so that we can make clinical decisions such as making a diagnosis, setting goals, planning our therapy sessions and measuring the progress that the children are making.

We write reports to share information to help the team around the child understand the needs of the child and how best to support the child. Sometimes we are requested to write reports by the school or by the Local Education Authority when the school are applying for extra funding for a child.

When we talk to you (the parent / carer) or to a professional this is usually so we can:

1. gather useful information to help us to understand the needs of the child
2. share information that we think will help other people to understand the needs of the child

Who is the data shared with?

Clinical notes are not shared as they are only for use by the speech and language therapist.

When relevant we may share information with other professionals who are involved with the child such as teachers, SENCos, support staff, educational psychologists, paediatricians or social workers.

Sometimes we share information verbally through face to face conversations,telephone discussions or during a meeting about the child.

Sometimes we write reports or target sheets in order to share information about a child’s speech language and communication skills. When we write a report we discuss the report with the parent or carer to agree the content and to discuss who the report can be shared with.

In line with the school’s safeguarding policy we will share any information that we believe concerns a child’s safety with the school’s designated safeguarding lead person.

Where is the data stored?

We store some information in paper-based files in a locked filing cabinet at the clinic premises; some information on an encrypted external hard drive and some information on a secure cloud storage facility accessed via a password protected laptop. The information can only be accessed by therapist, and Two Factor Authentication adds an extra layer of security to the cloud facility.

How long is the data kept for?

We will keep clinical notes in our archive until the patient (your child) turns 25 years old. This is in line with current practice across various professions. At that point the data will be deleted.

Can you have access to the data?

Yes you can have access to the clinical records. A request for access will be responded to within 4 weeks.

Can you withdraw consent to your child receiving speech and language therapy?

Yes consent can be withdrawn at any time. The person with parental responsibility can withdraw consent by contacting the speech and language therapist.

Use of technology

Your and your child’s data (for example names, phone numbers, address, email address and notes) may be stored on the therapist’s mobile phone and the therapist may use platforms such as Skype, text messages, and other apps to communicate with you and / or to share data with you or others involved in your child’s care. All platforms and apps used are GDPR compliant.

Photo, Video and Audio Recording consent

The therapist will sometimes take photos, videos or audio recordings to use as part of the assessment or treatment process. A phone is usually used to make the recordings. You may opt out of consenting to having you or your child videoed or recorded.

For example:

– an audio recording may be made of a child describing a set of pictures and the therapist will then transcribe (write out) what the child has said so that the words, grammar and speech sounds that the child used are accurately recorded.

– during therapy a video may be taken of children interacting together in a pair or small group so that the children can watch the video together and think about what is going well with their communication skills and identify any areas (such as taking turns) that they may want to work on.

Videos, audio recordings and photos will be deleted following their clinical use. This may be usually within 4 months.

Videos, audio recordings and photos are stored on encrypted devices or in the Cloud. Two Factor Authentication adds an extra layer of security to Cloud storage.

Video, photos and audio recordings may sometimes be shared with others, e.g. teachers.

The Right to be Forgotten

It is your right to request that your and your child’s data be destroyed / deleted. You will need to specify the reason for your request. Depending on the circumstances at the time, the therapist may need to seek advice from a third party about whether to go ahead and fulfill your request.

Data Breaches

In the event of any breach, you will be informed immediately and if appropriate, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) will also be informed.