top of page

Creative Therapy Options Privacy Policy

​

​ Welcome to the Creative Therapy Options Privacy Policy in relation to the assessment services provided to families who we refer to as clients.


Our aims and commitments to clients are:

 

  • To provide a high standard of assessment and intervention for the purpose of complex emotional wellbeing, neurodevelopmental conditions and family assessments, in a manner which is flexible, friendly and approachable.

  • We will monitor and develop the services we provide to ensure we deliver high service standards, including monitoring clinical outcomes.

  • We will endeavour to support our clinical team of associates in delivering our services in meeting their professional standards and support their professional training.

  • To comply with legal and regulatory requirements

 

We will process your personal data in support of those aims, ensuring that we are transparent about our processing, respectful of confidentiality, only sharing your personal data for our client’s direct care and where permitted or required by law.

​

We will not gather your personal information to sell to third parties.

​

If you are under 16 we will require consent from your parent/ guardian for you to receive an assessment from us.

​

It is assumed that by engaging with our service client’s are consenting to records being kept.

 Creative Therapy Options is fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation and is committed to protecting personal information. This policy describes our processes for ensuring that personal information about clients is processed lawfully. We will outline:

 

  • ​What information we collect

  • What we do with this information

  • How the information is stored

  • Who we may share this information with

  • The legal grounds for holding and processing personal information

  • Your choices and rights relating to your personal information

 

Creative Therapy Options is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller/processor (ICO; registration no: ZB184185).

​

Collecting Personal Information

 

​To provide a high-quality comprehensive specialist assessment service we need to hold and process sensitive personal information about our clients and where necessary the client’s family.

 

This personal information includes:

 

​• Date of birth of client

• Address of client

• Contact details of parents/carers (if under 18) including; name, address, phone numbers (landline/mobile), email address 

• Name of GP surgery

• Name of education establishment

• Relevant medical diagnosis/reports and developmental history

• Consent forms for sharing information stating who information can be shared with

• Paper based assessment notes, which may include psychological screening questionnaires, observational checklists and a multi-professional formulation sheet.

• Email correspondence

• Reports/minutes/other multi-disciplinary information

 

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current.  Please keep us informed if your personal data changes whilst you are actively being seen for assessment or intervention. You can do this by contacting us, which we will confirm by an encrypted email exchange.

​

Sources of Personal Information

 

​Information may be gathered from a range of sources which includes:

 

​• From client/parent/carer

• From other professionals only with parental/carer (and where applicable) client consent

Information may be gathered in a range of forms including:

• Verbal communication: face to face, telephone, meetings (including virtual and face to face

• Written: email or text (including self-report measures)

 

Please be aware that email is not a secure way of sharing personal information and clients do so at their own risk.

 

If you fail to provide personal data

​

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, or for your benefit, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into (for example, to provide you with a specialist assessment).  In this case, we may have to cancel or not provide a service you have requested from us, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

 

​

Holding Personal Information

​

We will use clients sensitive personal data for the purposes of providing our services and to comply with a legal obligation.

​

We will use non-sensitive personal data to; register families as a new client, manage payment, collect and recover monies owed to us, and manage our relationship.

​

Lawful Basis For Processing Personal Information

​

Creative Therapy Options legal grounds for processing your data in relation to points above is for performance of a contract with you in providing the commissioned service that you have requested.

​

Sharing Data With Others

​

We will share personal information about a client within Creative Therapy Options ( for example, between associates such as Independent Consultant Paediatricians, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists) in order to share expertise and provide the most accurate and comprehensive assessment for clients.

​

We will only share personal information with other professionals outside of Creative Therapy Options when it is in the best interests of the client. Consent would be required for each instance of sharing information.

 

Others who may need to have this information can include:

​

• GP or other healthcare professionals

• Education Establishment

• Educational Psychology

• Paid carers

• Social Care Services

​

We will not share or sell your details with third parties for marketing purposes.

​

We may have to share your personal data with:

​

  • service providers who provide IT and system administration support

  • professional advisors including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers

  • HMRC and other regulatory authorities.

 

We require all third parties to whom we transfer data to respect the security of families personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. They are only allowed to process your personal data on our instructions.

​


 How We Store Your Data

​

Protecting data relating to families is important to us and we have put in place security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.

​

  • All information recorded on paper will be securely stored in a locked filing cabinet

  • Confidential digital information will be stored in a secure cloud service offering high levels of security

  • Confidential information sent by Creative Therapy Options via the internet will be through an encrypted system (i.e. through Egress)

  • Letters sent to professionals such as GPs, by surface mail, will be clearly marked Confidential

  • All electronic devices  (e.g. computer, laptop and phone) used to access stored information will themselves be password protected

 

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breaches and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

 

For the purposes of quality assurance, improvement and training

 

Creative Therapy Options will use video recordings of you (where you have given explicit permission allowing us to do so) for the purpose of ensuring the highest standard of care. From time to time videos will be used to train professionals on a wider scale, but again will only be used if you have given explicit permission for us to do so. 

 

Retention of Data

​

We will only hold your data for as long as is necessary. If you make an enquiry, and do not commission any service through us, and no further action is required, we will delete your data within 3 months of your first contact.

​

Once an assessment has started and contact is made (including remote contact such as by zoom) we open a case file and comply with data retention law relating to healthcare records. We will only store your personal information for as long as it is required. 

​

Consultation notes and questionnaires will be held for varying lengths of time depending on the content (and then securely disposed of).

​

 Health records are subject to special legislation e.g. children’s records are kept until age 26 and adult records for 8 years after the last contact with the service. For more information please visit;

 

www.gov.uk/government/publications/records-management-code-of-practice-for-health-and-social-care

​

Your Rights

​

Under GDPR families have the right to obtain information about the personal data we hold/process about families.

 

Families are able to exercise certain rights in relation to personal data that we process. These are set out in more detail at 

 

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/

​

In relation to a Subject Access Right request, you may request that we inform you of the data we hold about you and how we process it. A fee may be charged for each request. 

​

We will, in most cases, reply within one month of the date of the request unless your request is complex or you have made a large number of requests in which case we will notify you of any delay and will in any event reply within 3 months.

​

Data Breach

​

We have protocols in place to reduce the risk of a data breach. We have clear guidelines should there be a data breach. We must inform the regulating body (ICO) within 72 hours of any breach. We must also contact the individuals affected.

​

Data Protection Complaints

​

We are committed to protecting your personal data but if for some reason you are not happy with any aspect of how we collect and use your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).

​

​Terms and Conditions for Creative Therapy Options Ltd

​

These terms and conditions govern the relationship between the client and Creative Therapy Options ("we," "us," or "our") for the provision of assessment and therapy services in the United Kingdom. By engaging our services, you agree to the following terms and conditions.

​

1. Services Provided

We offer a range of private assessment and therapy services. The services provided will be tailored to the individual needs of the client and agreed upon during the initial consultation.

​

2. Appointments and Cancellations

  • Booking Appointments: Sessions are typically scheduled in advance. You will receive confirmation via email, or phone call.

  • Cancellations and Rescheduling: You must provide at least 72 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule a session. If less than 72 hours' notice is given, or you fail to attend an appointment, a full session charge will be upheld. We reserve the right to charge for a number of sessions that we deem fit that are cancelled by the recipient, caregiver or external representative at any point in advance. A maximum of two therapy sessions can be rearranged by the recipient prior to the 72-hour limit.

  • Late Arrivals: If you arrive late for an appointment, the session will still end at the scheduled time, and you will be charged the full fee.

​

3. Fees and Payment

  • Session Fees: Fees for services are agreed upon at the time of booking and must be paid before the first session unless otherwise arranged.

  • Payment Methods: We accept payments by bank transfer or online payment via initial invoice

  • Non-Payment: If payment is not received within the agreed timeframe, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate services until payment is made.

​

4. Termination of Services

Either party may terminate the therapy relationship at any time. We reserve the right to terminate services if:

  • You are unable to pay for services.

  • You fail to comply with these terms and conditions.

  • It is clinically appropriate to refer you to another service or professional.

  • We feel that any staff member or anyone within the Creative Therapy Option organisation has been deemed to be bullied or harassed by any outside person.

  • Any person that acts inappropriately to the point that we feel we cannot work with any individual

  • We reserve the right to decline or discontinue services to any individual at our discretion, at any time, and for any reason.

In such cases, you will be given notice that any work undertaken will cease or will be unable to be undertaken.

​

5. Limitation of Liability

While we aim to provide a high standard of care, we cannot guarantee specific outcomes from therapy. We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the therapy services, except in cases of negligence or breach of statutory duty.

​

6. Professional Boundaries

The therapeutic relationship is a professional one. Social contact outside of therapy sessions is discouraged to maintain professional boundaries. The therapist will not engage in any dual relationships (e.g., providing therapy to friends, family members, or those with whom there is an existing personal relationship).

​

7. Changes to Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right to update or modify these terms and conditions at any time. Any changes will be communicated to you via email or during your therapy session. Continuing to use our services after such changes indicates your acceptance of the new terms.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these terms and conditions, please contact robert@creativetherapyoptions.co.uk.

By booking and attending an assessment or therapy session, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to these terms and conditions. We reserve the right to implement these terms and conditions prior to, or during, any services being undertaken. 

bottom of page