Privacy Policy

This privacy policy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information when you make contact with us or use our service. Use the links below to navigate through the privacy policy notice.

 

Contents of Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

2. How we collect personal information

3. Categories of personal data we obtain and process

4. How we use personal information

5. How we store personal information

6. Retention of personal data

7. Sharing your information

8. The lawful bases for processing personal information

9. Your data protection rights

10. Data Controller and Data Protection Officer details

11. How to access your child's records

12. Complaints procedure

13. Cookies

 

Who we are

Ready Steady Talk delivers independent speech, language and communication assessment and therapy to children in the home and/or educational setting.

It is owned and managed by Kimberley Homer, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist who is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and is a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). Kimberley Homer is also a member of the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP).

Ready Steady Talk operates a website at www.readysteadytalk.co.uk

Ready Steady Talk is committed to protecting the privacy of information provided by its clients and prospective clients.

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How we collect personal information

Most of the information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

• You have made an enquiry about Ready Steady Talk’s services

• You have made a referral to us for speech and language assessment or therapy

• Your child is receiving, or has received, speech and language assessment or therapy from Ready Steady Talk

Some of the information we process may be provided to us from other sources, such as:

• Speech and language therapy sessions (e.g. observations, clinical assessments)

• Reports or letters from other professionals (e.g. school/nursery, GPs, Health Visitors, Paediatricians, Audiologists, NHS Speech and Language Therapists)

Information about your child may be collected in spoken or written form from parents/legal guardians, and through the clinical sessions carried out by therapists from Ready Steady Talk. With parental consent, information may also be collected from other professionals working with your child (such as teaching staff, nursery staff, childminders, NHS Speech and Language Therapists, and other healthcare professionals). Where relevant to your child's care we may also collect information about family members e.g. contact details for parents and relevant medical history.

Information is collected when an enquiry or referral is made to Ready Steady Talk, either by text, phone, email, or website form. If your enquiry does not result in your child being seen by Ready Steady Talk then this personal information will be deleted one month after your enquiry has been dealt with, to allow for information to be used if you re-refer or re-contact Ready Steady Talk. If your child is subsequently seen by Ready Steady Talk these details will be added to their record.

Following an enquiry or referral, a telephone consultation may be provided by Ready Steady Talk in order to discuss your enquiry and reason for referral in more detail. During this telephone call further personal information may be collected with the purpose of determining the need for an assessment or involvement by a therapist. If your telephone consultation does not result in your child being seen by a therapist, then this information will be deleted one month following the telephone consultation. If your child is seen by a therapist following the telephone consultation, this information will be added to their record.

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Categories of personal data we obtain and process

The categories of personal information we may obtain in order to provide our services are:

• Child’s personal information

• Parent/guardian/family personal information, including contact details

• Child’s medical/health/development information

• Family medical/health/development history

• Professionals’ contact information

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How we use personal information

Personal information collected by us via the Ready Steady Talk website, emails, telephone calls or face to face, is stored and used by us for the purpose of delivering your child's speech and language intervention. Some information is also used to monitor and measure the quality and effectiveness of the service provided by Ready Steady Talk.

We use this information:

• To prepare, plan and provide speech and language therapy services appropriate for your child's needs;

• To communicate with you via post, email, telephone or text message in relation to:

  • arranging, confirming and planning for appointments

  • general communication in-between appointments

  • sending you reports and programmes for your child

  • copying you in to communications with other professionals involved with your child

  • sending you resources necessary for your child's speech and language intervention

  • sending you invoices

Any sensitive personal details are stored in a secure and confidential system and processed in confidence by Ready Steady Talk, and shall only be used for the purposes of delivering appropriate speech and language therapy services to your child.

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How we store personal information

We use a secure electronic cloud-based clinical caseload system called MyTherapyTracker, which is compliant with the GDPR. Clinical case notes and related documents are stored and processed in this system. Prior to being uploaded to this system documents may be temporarily stored in Dropbox, which is only accessible via a password held by the speech and language therapist involved in the care of your child.

MyTherapyTracker electronic clinical casenotes have been used since 24th October 2018. Prior to this date clinical casenotes were in paper format, and will remain in paper format, with new casenotes created after this date in MyTherapyTracker. This means that some clients’ clinical files will be part paper format, and part electronic. All paper format clinical files are stored securely in a locked filing cabinet.

Any paper based confidential information, such as assessment record forms, are stored securely in accordance with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) data protection regulations before being scanned and uploaded to your child's record on MyTherapyTracker. Once a paper document has been uploaded and is stored securely electronically, the original paper copy is destroyed.

Video and voice recordings may be taken of clients with parental consent, these are temporarily stored on a password protected tablet and Dropbox. These may then be viewed by the Speech and Language Therapist in order to make notes in a client record within 24 hours of the child's appointment. The video/voice recording is then permanently deleted.

The minimum amount of confidential information for assessment/therapy sessions and meetings will be taken out of the Speech and Language Therapist's office base when needed. When your child's information is taken out of the office base it will be kept with the Speech and Language Therapist.

 

Retention of personal data

Different types of personal data are required to be kept for different amounts of time. The following retention periods apply:

• Clinical records: child’s 25th birthday, or 26th if the young person was 17 when the treatment was concluded

• Referral information not resulting in receiving a service from Ready Steady Talk: 1 month

• Personal details on invoices/financial documents: 5 years after the data is used for a tax return

 

 

Sharing your information

We use data processors who are third parties who provide elements of services for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold is securely and retain it for the period we instruct.

With your consent, information about your child's speech and language needs will be shared with other professionals involved in your child's care, when it is in your child's best interests. A record of your consent is kept within your child's record.

Speech and Language Therapists are required to undertake clinical supervision as part of their professional registration, and to ensure the quality of their practice. Some personal information may be shared with the therapist’s supervisor for the purposes of clinical supervision. The clinical supervisor will always be another Speech and Language Therapist, who is legally bound to keep client information confidential.

​Where paperwork is shared between therapists for the purposes of supervision or formatting this is done via our professionally linked email addresses and is not password protected.  Where paperwork is shared outside of this environment e.g. to yourselves via email, the document will be password protected.

Unless we are required to do so by law, or for child safeguarding purposes, we will not disclose any personal information we hold, to any person other than as set out above.

We will never share your information with any third parties for the purposes of direct marketing.

 

 

The lawful bases for processing personal information

The lawful basis for processing personal information depends on the type of information that we process.

Some of the personal information we process is on the basis of ‘legitimate interests’ under Section 6 of the GDPR. When dealing with a new referral, we need to determine the appropriateness of the referral and determine the initial plan for assessment. When working with a child on our caseload, we need to process personal information to adequately and effectively deliver our speech and language therapy service to you and your child. We therefore have a legitimate interest in processing this personal information. Some information is also processed to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service provided by Ready Steady Talk, and is therefore processed under this legitimate interest.

Some of the personal information we process is on the basis of ‘contract’ under Section 6 of the GDPR, such as processing of contact information. The processing of this information is necessary for the contract we have with you as a client, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract (e.g. when making or discussing a referral or initial enquiry).

Some of the personal information we process is on the basis of ‘consent’ under Section 6 of the GDPR. This lawful basis applies when you have given us clear consent to process personal information data for a specific purpose.

Finally, some of the personal information we process is on the basis of a ‘legal obligation’ under Section 6 of the GDPR. This lawful basis applies to information processed for financial reasons, where Ready Steady Talk is under a legal obligation to process and retain financial information for tax purposes.

As Ready Steady Talk provides a health care service, some information collected and processed is classified as ‘Special Category Data’ under Section 9 of the GDPR. This personal information is processed for ‘health care purposes’. The regulations specify that health professionals who are 'legally bound to professional secrecy' may have a lawful basis for processing this data. Speech and Language Therapists are legally bound to keep client information confidential and it is under this condition that we process and store personal information.

In addition to adhering to data protection law, it is also a legal requirement for all Speech and Language Therapists to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The HCPC has clear standards of conduct, performance and ethics that all registrants must adhere to, including relating to processing and sharing information:

Standard 2: Communicate appropriately and effectively

"You must share relevant information, where appropriate, with colleagues involved in the care, treatment or other services provided to a service user."

Standard 10: Keep records of your work

"You must keep full, clear, and accurate records for everyone you care for, treat, or provide other services to. You must complete all records promptly and as soon as possible after providing care, treatment or other services. You must keep records secure by protecting them from loss, damage or inappropriate access."

 

 

 

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights we need to make you aware of. The rights available to you depend on our reason for processing your information, and all rights may not apply to all of the information we process.

Your right of access

You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. This right always applies. There are some exemptions, which means you may not always receive all the information we process. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to rectification

You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete. This right always applies. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to erasure

You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances. As some data we collect is health and care data, which is under responsibility of a professional subject to a legal obligation of professional secrecy, this right to erasure does not always apply. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to restriction of processing

You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to object to processing

You have the right to object to processing if we are able to process your information because the process is in our legitimate interests. As some data we collect is health and care data, there may be some limitations to the extent to which this right applies. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to data portability

This only applies to information you have given us. You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us from one organisation to another, or give it to you. The right only applies if we are processing information based on your consent. You can read more about this right here.

Your right to withdraw consent

Some data we process is done so with your consent. If you have consented to some information being processed, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. We have one month to respond to you. Please contact Kimberley Homer (Data Protection Officer) via the contact page if your wish to make a request.

 

Data Controller details

Kimberley Homer of Ready Steady Talk is the controller for the personal information we process, unless otherwise stated.

Ready Steady Talk is also contactable via post. If you require the postal address please first request it via our contact page.

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How to access your child’s records

You can access the information we hold about you or your child by writing to us. We will provide access to your child's records within 30 days of receipt of all necessary information.

In the first instance, please request the postal address via our contact page.

Further information about data protection legislation is available through the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

 

Complaints procedure

School staff, parents and carers are actively encouraged to raise concerns or issues at the earliest opportunity. Most concerns can be dealt with informally without the need to go beyond the preliminary stage. Please discuss any complaints or concerns that you may have with the therapist in the first instance.

In the unlikely event that it is not possible to resolve the concern, then you can take your concern to the Association of Speech & Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) via their complaints policy.

For serious issues you may also contact the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) at:

• Post: Park House, 184 Kennington Park Road, London, SE11 4BU

• Phone: 0800 328 4218

• Email: ftp@hcpc-uk.org

For complains regarding the handling and processing of personal data, please contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) at:

• Website: Make a complaint

• ICO Helpline: 0303 123 113

 

Cookies

Along with most other websites, our website uses cookies. Cookies are very small text files that are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. Cookies are downloaded to the website visitor's computer, and not collected and stored by Ready Steady Talk. Summary of analytics data are processed by Ready Steady Talk, which contains location data and anonymous data.

The Ready Steady Talk website is hosted by Wix. Wix uses some necessary cookies because the cookies allow visitors to navigate and use key features on the website. Other cookies used are Analytics and Performance cookies, which collect information about how visitors interact with the website. These cookies provide Ready Steady Talk with information about visitors, such as location, how many visitors are visiting the site, and which pages are receiving traffic.