We take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our website.
Effective Date: 01/03/2023
Last Updated: 2026
In providing your dental care and treatment, we will ask for information about you and your health. Occasionally, we may receive information from other providers who have been involved in providing your care. This privacy notice describes the type of personal information we hold, why we hold it and what we do with it.
We are Chudleigh Practice Ltd operating at:
77 FORE STREET, CHUDLEIGH, NEWTON ABBOT, DEVON, TQ13 0HT
Laura Akast is responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold. Those at the practice who have access to your information include dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment, and the reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice.
Our data protection officer ensures that the practice complies with data protection requirements to ensure that we collect, use, store and dispose of your information responsibly. You can contact our data protection officer Kay Reed by email chudleighpracticemanagers@talktalk.net Information that we hold We can only keep and use information for specific reasons set out in the law. If we want to keep and use information about your health, we can only do so in particular circumstances. Below, we describe the information we hold and why, and the lawful basis for collecting and using it.
We hold personal information about you which may include your name, date of birth, national insurance number, address, telephone number and email address. This information allows us to fulfil our contract with you to provide appointments. We will also use the information to send you reminders and recall appointments as we have a legitimate interest to ensure your continuing care and to make you aware of our services.
We hold information about your dental and general health, including:
– Clinical records made by dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment
– X-rays, clinical photographs, digital scans of your mouth and teeth, and study models
– Medical and dental histories
– Treatment plans and consent
– Notes of conversations with you about your care
– Dates of your appointments
– Details of any complaints you have made and how these complaints were dealt with
– Correspondence with you and other health professionals or institutions.
We collect and use this information to allow us to fulfil our contract with you to discuss your treatment options and provide dental care that meets your needs. We also use this information for the legitimate interest of ensuring the quality of the treatment we provide.
We hold information about the fees we have charged, the amounts you have paid and some payment details. This information forms part of our contractual obligation to you to provide dental care and allows us to meet legal financial requirements.
How we use your information
To provide you with the dental care and treatment that you need, we require up-to-date and accurate information about you.
We will share your information with DPAS in connection with your dental treatment.
We may contact you to conduct patient surveys or to find out if you are happy with the treatment you received for quality control purposes.
We will seek your preference for how we contact you about your dental care. Our usual methods are telephone, email or letter.
Your information is normally used only by those working at the practice but there may be instances where we need to share it – for example, with:
We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary. We will let you know in advance if we send your medical information to another medical provider and we will give you the details of that provider at that time.
In certain circumstances or if required by law, we may need to disclose your information to a third party not connected with your health care, including HMRC or other law enforcement or government agencies.
We store your personal information securely on our practice computer system. Your information cannot be accessed by those who do not work at the practice; only those working at the practice have access to your information. They understand their legal responsibility to maintain confidentiality and follow practice procedures to ensure this.
We take precautions to ensure security of the practice premises, the practice filing systems and computers. We use high-quality specialist dental software to record and use your personal information safely and effectively. Our computer system has a secure audit trail and we back-up information routinely.
We keep your records for 10 years after the date of your last visit to the Practice or until you reach the age of 25 years, whichever is the longer. At your request, we will delete non-essential information (for example some contact details) before the end of this period. Access to your information and other rights You have a right to access the information that we hold about you and to receive a copy. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons. We will act on the subject access request without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt of request.
If you have any concerns about how we use your information and you do not feel able to discuss it with your dentist or anyone at the practice, you should contact The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF
(0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745).
Date: 01.03.2023
Our practice is committed to complying with the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), GDC and other data protection requirements relating to our work. We only keep relevant information about patients to provide them with safe and appropriate health care.
At Chudleigh Dental Practice we take complaints very seriously and try to ensure that all of our patients are satisfied with our service. We wish to learn from any mistakes that we make and if a patient has a complaint, we will endeavour to deal with it in a prompt and polite manner so the matter is resolved as quickly as possible.
We do have a complaints procedure in place at Chudleigh Dental Practice and is available to any patients who are unhappy with their treatment or visit to the practice.
View our complaints policy here.
At the end of your course of dental treatment your dentist will discuss with you when you will need to see them (or the hygienist) again. Depending on your oral health you may no longer need a check-up every 6 months.
Recall letters, emails and text messages are sent to all patients to remind them to make appointments for routine check-ups.
