Frequently Asked Questions

We will take a thorough case history to understand your problem, including details of any illness, accidents or surgery. We will also want to know what medications you are taking. During the examination will ask you to perform some simple movements and may carry out some orthopedic or neurological tests. We will explain our diagnosis to you and describe what treatment approach we think will best suit you.

Please wear comfortable clothes which you can move freely in. During the initial assessment we may ask you to dress down to your underwear so that we can see your spine and posture. If you prefer you could bring shorts or leggings and a vest or bra top to change into.

On the whole people find osteopathic treatment and massage pleasurable and relaxing. We use a range of very gentle and stronger techniques depending on what we are aiming to achieve. We will always let you know what we are planning to do and warn you if a stronger approach might cause a bit of discomfort, such as when stretching very tight muscles. We will communicate with you and work within your comfort zone and we will let you know what to expect after treatment.

Relief from pain and other symptoms can be immediate but can take a few days as the body integrates the benefits of treatment. During this time it is not uncommon to feel some mild, transient discomfort such as that sometimes felt after exercise. We will tell you what to expect and offer you some self-care suggestions to help you manage this and get the most from your treatment

The amount of treatment needed to help the body make a change will typically vary depending on the complexity of the problem. We aim to bring long lasting relief and will tell you after your first consultation how many treatments we think you will need.

We run a busy clinic and always aim to see people as swiftly as needed. If for any reason you are unable to attend your appointment please give us as much notice as possible and we will be happy to re-schedule. Cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice will incur a full fee.

You are welcome to have a friend or relative with you at your appointment. Children below the age of 16 must always be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

An initial consultation including treatment will last about 1 hour for Osteopathy, 75minutes for Massage. Follow up treatments are 40minutes for osteopathy and 1 hour for massage.

We accept card payment, cash or cheque.

1 - Scope

This privacy notice (sometimes referred to as a privacy policy or privacy statement) concerns personal data, which is defined as information concerning any living person (a natural person who hereafter will be called the Data Subject) that is not already in the public domain.

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), seek to protect and enhance the rights of UK data subjects. These rights cover the safeguarding of personal data, protection against the unlawful processing of personal data and its storage within the UK.

1 – Wrington Vale Osteopaths, based at Unit 2, Chancellors Pound, The Pound, Redhill, BS40 5TZ which hereafter for the purposes of this privacy notice will be referred to as the Wrington Vale Osteopaths, is pleased to provide the following information:

2 - Who we are

Wrington Vale Osteopaths diagnose and treat musculoskeletal conditions. Treatments are carried out in accordance with the Institute of Osteopathy patient’s charter. The practice also provide other treatments, including Sports Massage and Deep Tissue Massage.

3 - Personal Data

a) For the purposes of providing treatment Wrington Vale Osteopaths may require detailed medical information. We will only collect what is relevant and necessary for your treatment. When you visit our practice, we will make notes which may include details concerning your health, medication, treatment and other issues affecting your musculoskeletal conditions. This data is always held securely, is not shared with anyone not involved in your treatment, although for data storage purposes it may be handled by pre-vetted staff who have all signed an integrity and confidentiality agreement. To be able to process your personal data it is a condition of any treatment that you give your explicit consent to allow Wrington Vale Osteopaths to document and process your personal medical data. Contact details provided by you such as telephone numbers, email addresses, postal addresses may be used to remind you of future appointments, provide reports or other information concerning your treatment.

b) For marketing purposes, Wrington Vale Osteopaths may also use the contact details provided by you to respond to your enquiries including making telephone contact and emailing information to you which the practice believes may be of interest to you.

c) In making initial contact with the practice you consent to Wrington Vale Osteopaths maintaining a marketing dialogue with you until you either opt out (which you can do at any time) or we decide to desist in promoting our services. Wrington Vale Osteopaths may occasionally also act on behalf of its patients in the capacity of data processor, when we may promote other practitioners based at our premises, who may not be employed by us. Osteopaths do not broker your data and you can ask to be removed from our marketing database by emailing or phoning the practice using the contact details provided at the end of this privacy notice.

d) Some basic personal data may be collected about you from the marketing forms and surveys you complete, from records of our correspondence and phone calls and details of your visits to our website, including but not limited to, personally identifying information like Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

e) Wrington Vale Osteopaths’ website uses cookies, which is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. Squarespace uses cookies to help Osteopaths to identify and track visitors and their website access preferences. Wrington Vale Osteopaths’ website visitors who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computers should set their browsers to refuse cookies before using Wrington Vale Osteopaths’ website.

f) Wrington Vale Osteopaths will only collect the information needed so that it can provide you with the services required.

4 - Legal basis for processing any personal data

To meet our contractual obligations obtained from explicit Patient Consent and legitimate interest to respond to enquiries concerning the services provided.

5 - Legitimate interests pursued by Osteopaths

To promote treatments for patients with all types of musculoskeletal problems including back pain and neck pain, tennis elbow, frozen shoulders, sciatica, headaches, sports injuries, and other degenerative conditions.

6 - Consent

Through agreeing to this privacy notice you are consenting to Wrington Vale Osteopaths processing your personal data for the purposes outlined. You can withdraw consent at any time by using the postal, email address or telephone number provided at the end of this privacy notice.

7 - Disclosure

Wrington Vale Osteopaths will keep your personal information safe and secure, only staff engaged in providing your treatment will have access to your patient records, although our administration team will have access to your contact details so that they can make appointments and manage your account. Wrington Vale Osteopaths will not disclose your Personal Information unless compelled in order to meet legal obligations, regulations or valid governmental requests. The practice may also enforce its Terms and Conditions, including investigating potential violations of its Terms and Conditions to detect, prevent or mitigate fraud or security or technical issues; or to protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of its staff.

8 - Retention Policy

Wrington Vale Osteopaths will process personal data during the duration of any treatment and will continue to store only the personal data needed for eight years after the contract has expired to meet any legal obligations. After eight years all personal data will be deleted, unless basic information needs to be retained by us to meet our future obligations to you, such as erasure details. Records concerning minors who have received treatment will be retained until the child has reached the age of 25.

9 - Data storage

All Data is held in the United Kingdom.

10 - Your rights as a data subject

At any point whilst Wrington Vale Osteopaths is in possession of, or processing your personal data, all data subjects have the following rights:

• Right to information - you can ask for information about what data is being processed and the rationale for such processing.

• Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.

• Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.

• Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.

• Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply you have a right to restrict the processing.

• Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.

• Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.

• Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right not to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.

In the event that Wrington Vale Osteopaths refuses your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why, which you have the right to legally challenge.

At your request Wrington Vale Osteopaths can confirm what information it holds about you and how it is processed.

11 - You can request the following information:

• Identity and the contact details of the person or organisation (Wrington Vale Osteopaths) that has determined how and why to process your data.

• Contact details of the data protection officer, where applicable.

• The purpose of the processing as well as the legal basis for processing.

• If the processing is based on the legitimate interests of Osteopaths and information about these interests.

• The categories of personal data collected, stored and processed.

• Recipient(s) or categories of recipients that the data is/will be disclosed to.

• How long the data will be stored.

• Details of your rights to correct, erasure, restrict or object to such processing.

• Information about your right to withdraw consent at any time.

• How to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority (ICO).

• Whether the provision of personal data is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract, as well as whether you are obliged to provide the personal data and the possible consequences of failing to provide such data.

• The source of personal data if it wasn’t collected directly from you.

• Any details and information of automated decision making, such as profiling, and any meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and expected consequences of such processing.

12 - To access what personal data is held, identification will be required

Wrington Vale Osteopaths will accept the following forms of ID when information on your personal data is requested: a copy of your driving licence, passport, birth certificate and a utility bill not older than three months. A minimum of one piece of photographic ID listed above and a supporting document is required. If Wrington Vale Osteopaths is dissatisfied with the quality, further information may be sought before personal data can be released.

All requests should be made to Esther Barton or by phoning +44 (0)1934 752504 or writing to us at the address further below.

13 - Complaints

In the event that you wish to make a complaint about how your personal data is being processed by Wrington Vale Osteopaths you have the right to complain to us. If you do not get a response within 30 days you can complain to the ICO.

The details for each of these contacts are:

Esther Barton

Unit 2, Chancellors Pound

The Pound,

Redhill

BS40 5TZ

ICO

Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF

Telephone +44 (0) 303 123 1113 or email: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/