Privacy

First Contact Opticians Privacy Policy 

Introduction

This privacy policy notice is served by First Contact Opticians Ltd under the website; [www.firstcontactopticians.co.uk]. The purpose of this policy is to explain to you how we control, process, handle and protect your personal information through the business and while you browse or use this website. If you do not agree to the following policy you may wish to cease viewing / using this website, and or refrain from submitting your personal data to us.

This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information we receive from users of the Site.

We use your Personal Information only for providing and improving the Site. By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

Data Handling Policy

We hold various pieces of information about you including your name and address, and clinical details such as the state of health of your eyes, your spectacle and/or contact lens prescription, and copies of any letters we have written about you or received from other professionals, such as your doctor. You are entitled to a copy of this information although there may be an administrative charge for providing it. If you wish to see your records, please contact us at the details at the bottom of the page, and we will respond as quickly as possible and in any case are required to do so within 40 days. If you require independent advice, contact the Information Commissioners Office at https://ico.org.uk.

We adhere to the guidelines of the College of Optometrists and the Data Protection Act and will not pass any of your personal information to a third party without your consent unless there is a clear public interest duty to do so. You will need to provide us with our consent if you wish us to pass your information to another optometrist. 

If you are an NHS patient, we are obliged to provide the portion of your record that relates to NHS services to authorised persons within the NHS (who are in turn subject to a duty of confidentiality) if they request this. This is usually to confirm that we have provided the NHS services that we have been paid for, and to improve quality of care. It is also possible that the NHS may contact you to ask if you have received services (such as a sight test or spectacles) as part of this monitoring. 

Within the practice we may use the information to analyse trends, or to audit our performance. This enables us to monitor and improve the quality of care that we offer you. Wherever possible (i.e. if we do not need to know who an individual patient is) we will only analyse trends from anonymised information. 

The information we hold

While using our Site, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. 

In practice, the details we may collect and process include:
  • Your name, contact details and personal identifiers (such as date of birth and NHS number)
  • Your general and ocular health history, your family medical and ocular history, and any relevant signs or symptoms you tell us about
  • Details of medicines, spectacles and contact lenses prescribed for you
  • Details of examinations and other healthcare checks and treatments we provide
  • Information relevant to your continued care from other people who care for you or know you well, such as other health professionals and relatives
  • Data from any individual under 16 years of age must be provided under the supervision of a parent/guardian. Without this consent, we are unable to accept/process this data.

How we protect this information

We keep your information on a secure computer system, which is only accessible to the healthcare professionals working at the practice. Precautions are taken to protect electronic data from viruses and cyber threats.

We also protect your information in the following ways:
  • All practice staff have a confidentiality clause within their contracts. 
  • We will not discuss your personal information with anyone other than you or, if you are under 16 and not Gillick competent, your parent or guardian without your permission. 
  • Confidential paper information requiring destruction is shredded. 
  • Any suspected breaches of security or loss of information are reported immediately and are dealt with appropriately by the person responsible for confidentiality and data management. 
  • Records are retained for periods as agreed with the optical bodies.

Log Data

Like many site operators, we collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site.

This Log Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics.

Cookies

Cookies are files with small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a web site and stored on your computer's hard drive.

Like many sites, we use "cookies" to collect information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.

How do we receive information about you?

We receive your Personal Information from various sources:
  • When you voluntarily provide us with your personal details in order to register on our Site;
  • When you use or access our Site in connection with your use of our services;
  • From third-party providers, services and public registers (for example, traffic analytics vendors).

Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to periodically amend or revise the Privacy Policy; material changes will be effective immediately upon the display of the revised Privacy policy. The last revision will be reflected in the "Last modified" section. Your continued use of the Platform, following the notification of such amendments on our website, constitutes your acknowledgment and consent of such amendments to the Privacy Policy and your agreement to be bound by the terms of such amendments.


Returns and Exchange Policy

We take great pride in ensuring your products have been delivered to you with the highest level of precision and care. If you have any concerns regarding your purchase, please call the practice so we can discuss this further with you.

Any non-prescription purchases (spectacle frames or sunglasses) can be exchanged, or a credit note can be issued within 7 days of purchase. The product should be returned unmarked and in the condition that it has been sold, with a copy of the original receipt. We do require you to notify us (in writing) within 48 hours of your purchase if you are unhappy with your product.

Any monetary refunds will be made by bank transfer or to your credit card and will be at the sole discretion of the practice.

How to contact us

If you have any general questions about the site or the information we collect about you and how we use it, you can contact us by email at team@firstcontactopticians.co.uk, by phone on 020 8866 4911, or by post at 126 Field End Road, Eastcote, Middlesex, HA5 1RJ.


Last Modified: September 2019
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