Reena Shah

How I hold your data

 

The initial consultation

 

I will not take any notes at our initial meeting, so if we choose not to work together, I will delete all contact details, such as email and phone number.

 

If we do work together, I have set out below how I will hold your data:

 

Information about you

 

In order for me to be able to fulfil my responsibilities as a counsellor I will need to record personal information about you. This information includes your name, address and contact details, and GP practice. Under an identifying code I will also takes notes of ‘consultation information’, that is relevant medical information and aspects of your personal social and family history that you choose to share with me. This information will be retained in separate locations (keeping your name and contact details apart from the consultation notes) in password protected files, on a password protected PC which has virus protection software installed and / or in a locked filing cabinet.

Your contact details will be used to contact you. Other personal data such as your name, address and/or date of birth will be used to verify your identify if there is a need to contact your G.P. or a request for access to personal data from yourself or your representative or legitimate legal instrument such as a court order.

This personal information will be held for a period of three years after the cessation of our counselling relationship, except where there is a mutually agreed decision to retain it for longer or where I believe that it is in my best professional interests to do so.

Your contact details alone will be shared in exceptional circumstances with my supervisor or other named agent in the event that I am incapacitated so that they can contact you to explain the situation. The details of this arrangement are set out in my professional will.

 

Information about counselling sessions and our work together

I do not keep notes of our sessions but I keep a journal of my personal process in relation to our work, as a form of self supervision.

 

Records of contact between us

I will hold your email and telephone number until our counselling relationship ends and then I will delete it from my contact list.

I will hold records of any written communication between us (including the invoices I send you) digitally on a password protected computer for three years after our counselling relationship ends. 

I use Gmail for email communication and my phone is password protected. 

 

Your Rights

You have the right to ask to see any information held by me about you. To do this please either ask me, or submit a request by writing. You also have the right to ask for information that you believe to be incorrect to be rectified. I will endeavour to provide you with the information requested within four weeks.

If I become aware of a situation where your personal information may have accidently or maliciously been obtained by a third party I will notify you within three days.

If you are concerned about the way that your information is being held please discuss this with me. If you are still unhappy you have the write to complain to the Information Commissioners Office.