Any personal data provided by you to Orchid Counselling Hub Limited through any means (verbal, written, in electronic form, or by your use of our website) will be held and processed in accordance with the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the purposes for which you have given consent, to provide the services you have requested from us, and to meet the legitimate interests of the organisation.

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Introduction

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Orchid Counselling Hub Limited (the ‘data controller’, referred to below as “us” or “we”) is committed to protecting your privacy. Please read the following in order to learn more about Orchid Counselling Hub Limited privacy policy and our information collection and use practices. This policy only applies to data collected by Orchid Counselling Hub Limited personnel, and via our own forms and website. Third party agents, and websites which are linked, are not covered by this policy. If you have any queries concerning your personal information or any questions on our use of the information, please contact us.

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When you request counselling, or any other service with us, or otherwise provide your personal details to us, you will be asked to consent to our processing of your data under the terms of this policy.

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What information do we collect?

• Counselling & Other Requests–Requests to access counselling, or other services can be done verbally, written or in electronic form. Our request process involves providing us with your name, address, telephone number(s) and email address. We may also request information on your availability, therapeutic issues, and other details which we deem relevant to processing your request.

• Initial Appointments– At an initial appointment we ask about your current personal, social, medical and financial circumstances. We may also ask about your background and family history, as well as the issues which are affecting you now. We require this information so that we can decide about our offer of counselling, supervision or other service to you and to manage the service we provide to you.

• Website – We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous data relating to user behaviour and ‘web traffic’ statistics. The collection and use of this data by Google Inc. is subject to their own Privacy Policies.

• Other Forms – The information you give us on our forms (including all enquiry and application forms) may include your name, postal address, email address, phone number and other messages to us.

 

What do we use your information for?

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• To provide clients with the professional counselling, or other service requested from us.

• To enable us to offer appropriate opportunities and support to our clients and counsellors.

• To offer suitable counselling appointments, and to allocate clients and counsellors for counselling.

• To notify you about changes to your appointments and other changes to our services.

• To seek feedback from you on your experience of counselling with us.

• To improve our service to ensure that it is provided in the most effective manner for you and for us.

• To administer our service, including (but not limited to) the arrangement of appointments, the handling of finances.

• To keep in touch with those who consent to this, for the purposes of organisational, service and professional development.

 

What information do we share?

We will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

• Consent – We may share your information with professional carers or others whom you have requested or agreed we should contact.

• Serious harm – We may share your information with the relevant authorities if we have reason to believe that this may prevent serious harm being caused to you or another person.

• Compliance with law – We may share your information where we are required to by law or by the regulations and other rules to which we are subject.

 

How do we keep your information safe?

All information you provide to us is stored as securely as possible. Where possible all paper forms and correspondence is kept locked away. Electronic records are kept on a physical drive and are accessed through password-protected authentication, or online by reputable service providers using secure internet ‘cloud’ technology.

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Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your information using industry- standard protocols and encryption, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us via email, including forms completed on our website which are transmitted by email; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

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Client notes and other documentation are stored indefinitely (or a minimum of 7 years as can be requested otherwise).

All electronic payments are processed by third party company so their data protection and privacy policy would apply in these instances.

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Your rights

You have the right to ask us to provide a copy of the information held by us in our records. You also have the right to require us to correct any inaccuracies in your information. If you would like to do this, please contact us.

You may withdraw your consent for us to hold and process your data at anytime. However, if you do this while actively receiving counselling or any other service your service would have to end. You can withdraw your consent by contacting us.

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