Privacy Statement
At Oncology Rehabilitation Manchester, I am committed to protecting your privacy and managing your personal and clinical data with the highest levels of security and confidentiality. This privacy statement explains how I collect, store, and process your information, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and professional standards.
I, Helen Rust, am the Data Controller for this practice. I hold a current DBS check and maintain active memberships with:
- Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) — for best practice, service provision, and continuing clinical development.
- Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) — for standards of conduct and performance.
- Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP) — for professional standards and supervision.
1. Information We Collect
To provide safe, effective, and professional speech, voice, and swallowing therapy, I collect:
- Contact Information: Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
- Clinical History: Details of your medical diagnoses, oncology treatments (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy), other health conditions, and medications.
- Clinical Records: Speech, voice, and swallowing assessment results, treatment plans, therapy notes, and progress reports.
- Virtual Session Recordings: Audio or video recordings of sessions or assessments when captured for clinical review, note-taking, or transcription purposes.
- Communication Records: Senders, recipients, and content of emails, text messages, or phone logs relating to your care.
2. How We Collect Your Data
Most information is collected directly from you during your initial consultation, assessment, and ongoing sessions. I may also receive information from other professionals involved in your care, such as:
- Your oncology consultant or multidisciplinary team (MDT).
- Your GP or other allied health professionals (AHPs).
- Health insurers (e.g., Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality) or legal representatives.
3. How We Store and Protect Your Data
Security of clinical information is paramount. I store information in both paper and electronic formats, protected using multiple layers of physical and digital security:
A. Electronic Health Records (EHR) — WriteUpp
All electronic health records, patient details, and clinical notes are stored securely on WriteUpp, a professional AHP-specific clinical management platform in the UK.
- WriteUpp is fully compliant with GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, and is certified to ISO 27001 information security standards.
- Any notifications, emails, or reports received via WriteUpp are secure and referenced as Oncology Rehabilitation Manchester.
- You can read WriteUpp's complete privacy policy at https://www.writeupp.com/privacy.
B. Paper Records
- Any physical paper records, referral letters, or hand-written notes are kept in a lockable filing cabinet at my home address.
C. Device and Communication Security
- Laptop and Storage: All electronic information is stored on a password-protected laptop or an encrypted USB Flash drive.
- Email: All email correspondence is managed via secure, encrypted Microsoft Outlook (Microsoft 365).
- Virtual Consultations: Video sessions and online therapies are conducted securely using Microsoft Teams.
- Mobile Phone: I use a dedicated mobile phone solely for patient-related calls, text messages, and coordination, protected by biometric encryption.
D. Report Sharing Security
- Where reports or clinical letters are emailed to you directly from myself, they will be sent as password-protected PDF documents. The password for the document will be sent separately via a text message or a separate email to ensure secure delivery.
E. AI Scribe (Dictation & Clinical Notes)
I use WriteUpp's integrated AI Scribe tool to draft clinical notes.
- With your consent, portions of a session or a spoken summary are recorded directly into the AI Scribe system.
- The system transcribes and structures the voice recordings into compliant clinical notes.
- All processing occurs within WriteUpp's secure, compliant environment. The voice recording is strictly used to compile the draft note.
- I maintain absolute control over the data: once the structured notes are finalized and saved, the raw voice recordings can be permanently deleted or securely stored according to clinical needs.
4. How We Use Your Data
Your information is processed under the legal bases of Contractual Obligation (to deliver the therapy services you have requested) and Special Category Data / Health Care Provision (for medical diagnosis and treatment). I use your data to:
- Provide clinical assessment, diagnosis, and speech and language therapy.
- Produce medicolegal reports, clinical letters, and progress summaries.
- Coordinate with other medical practitioners involved in your treatment (with your explicit consent).
- Process invoicing, insurance claims, and administrative scheduling.
5. Retention of Clinical Records
After discharge from this service, your clinical data will be retained for up to 8 years before being deleted, in keeping with professional RCSLT / Royal College of Speech & Language Therapy guidance, or earlier once it is clear our services are no longer required. For certain legal, insurance, or medicolegal requirements, records may be retained as necessary.
6. Your Rights
Under GDPR, you have the following rights:
- Right of Access: You can request a copy of the clinical notes and personal data I hold about you (Subject Access Request).
- Right to Rectification: You can ask to correct any inaccurate or incomplete records.
- Right to Restriction: You can request that I restrict processing of your data under specific conditions.
- Right to Object: You can object to certain communication channels or secondary sharing of your data.
Note: The right to erasure (the "right to be forgotten") does not apply unconditionally to professional medical and clinical health records, which must be retained for legal, insurance, and clinical governance purposes.
7. Contact and Complaints
If you have any questions about this statement, wish to exercise your data rights, or have concerns about how your data is handled, please contact me directly:
- Practitioner: Helen Rust
- Email: Hrust.speech@outlook.com
- Phone: +44 7796 528 457
Most complaints can be resolved by communicating directly via Hrust.speech@outlook.com. If you wish to complain formally, please contact the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice at https://asltip.com.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent data authority: https://ico.org.uk.