01278 792959

We are a Data Controller under the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation.

This Privacy Notice explains what Personal Data the practice holds, why we hold and process it, who
we might share it with, and your rights and freedoms under the Law.

 

Types of Personal Data

The practice holds personal data in the following categories:

1. 1. Personal data regarding you our client (name, address, contact details, financial).
   2. Pet clinical and health data and pet owner correspondence.
   3. Staff employment data.
   4. Contractors’ data.

Why we process Personal Data (what is the “purpose”)

“Process” means we obtain, store, update and archive data.

1. 1. Personal data / Pet health and pet owner correspondence data is held for the purpose of providing pets with  appropriate, high quality, safe and effective care and treatment.
   2. Staff employment data is held in accordance with Employment, Taxation and Pensions law.
   3. Contractors’ data is held for the purpose of managing their contracts.

What is the Lawful Basis for processing Personal Data?

The Law says we must tell you this:

1. 1. We hold pet and pet owner data because it is in our Legitimate Interest to do so. Without holding the data we cannot work effectively.
   2. We hold staff employment data because it is a Legal Obligation for us to do so.
   3. We hold contractors’ data because it is needed to Fulfil a Contract with us.

 

Who we are

Bridge Veterinary Surgery is a trading name of Bridge Vet Ltd with company number 08719596 and registered in England at Works 22 Bennett Road Highbridge TA9 4PW.

 

Our privacy commitment

Bridge Veterinary Surgery is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy (together with our Terms and Conditions and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. As a veterinary practice, we have what is known as a legitimate interest in holding certain details of our patients and clients. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

You consent, by using our Website, registering with us and by using our veterinary services that personal information you provide will be held on a secure database. As we require this data to treat your animals and for legal reasons, it is necessary for the performance of the contract with you, we consider (under section 3, article 6 of the GDPR regulations) that formal, written consent is not required to record this data.

We are fully committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have in place a suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedure to safeguard any information that we hold.

Bridge Veterinary Surgery may alter this policy from time to time, please check to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

 

What we collect 

• Name and address.
• Contact information, including email address and phone number.
• Pet details, including name, breed, age and, if relevant, any previous veterinary history.
• Pet insurance details.
• Any other information which is reasonably required to carry out our service to you.

 

When we may request this information

• On initial registration.
• When making an appointment.
• When submitting an insurance claim for your pet.
• At the request of a repeat prescription.
• When registering for a health plan.
• If you send an enquiry to us.
• At any other time as reasonably required.

 

Why we request this information

In order to understand your needs and to enable us to provide a quality service, we need to collect and store personal information from you. We may collect data for the following reasons:

• To treat your pet(s) and maintain accurate medical records.
• To ensure that your pet’s healthcare is kept up to date by sending reminders for preventative treatment, via text, email or post.
• To contact you about your pet, your account or credit status, where required.
• To obtain any previous veterinary history from another practice.
• To process insurance claims on your behalf.
• To process payment for any services provided.
• To book appointments.
• To ask you to complete client satisfaction surveys to help us offer the best service we can
• To let you know about changes to our services.
• To occasionally send you a Newsletter of inform you of any promotional offers that we feel you may benefit from.

We may send you SMS, post or emails to contact you about treatments we consider you pet(s) may require in the best interests of their health, for example, vaccination reminders. We may also send you health care advice for your pet(s). We consider the above communication vital to maintaining the health of your pet(s) and that it is required for us to offer the level of service we strive for. We, therefore, do not consider it necessary to ask you to opt into such communications.

We will also automatically collect data such as dates and times of your visits to our website.

 

Who might we share your data with?

We can only share data if it is done securely and it is necessary to do so.

Your personal data will be used for Bridge Veterinary Surgery to contact you for various purposes, that you will have selected and consented to by completing a form at your most recent practice visit (as of 25.5.18)

Your personal data and Pet health data may be shared with other healthcare professionals who need to be involved in your pet’s care (for example if we refer you to a specialist or if laboratory work needs to be
undertaken – an exhaustive list can be supplied if requested). Client and Pet health data will also be stored for back-up purposes with our computer software suppliers, with whom which we have satisfied ourselves it is stored securely and within the EU.

Employment data will be shared with government agencies such as HMRC.

We may share your personal information with third parties to help us to provide our service to you. We do not sell or lease your data.

The following is a list of the types of organisation with whom we share your information:

• Law enforcement agencies if requested in order to prevent any unlawful activity.
• Your pet’s insurance provider, if applicable.
• Pet microchipping companies.
• Other veterinary practices, including referral centres.
• External laboratories.
• Our database provider, if necessary for resolving any technical enquiries.
• Organisations which support us with the email or text communications we deliver to you.
• Relevant drug companies may require pet information for statistical or technical enquiries.
• Debt collection agencies assisting us with unpaid debt.

 

How we protect your information?

Your data is stored securely on our behalf by Idexx, our Practice Management software providers, as data processor and joint data controller. We endeavour to keep your data current and accurate. Please help us keep your data up to date by contacting us if there are any changes. We have in place strict security procedures for the storage and disclosure of your information to prevent unauthorised access.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us via our website; 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.

 

Protecting your security

We may permit authorised third parties to use your data to provide you with information relating to the health of your pet. You may be contacted by post, telephone, email or SMS.

We may use for the purpose of promotional, marketing and publicity purposes in any media worldwide any comments or feedback (excluding personal data) which you post publicly or provide to the practice, without notice or without any fee being paid, once consent has been given.

We may monitor or record telephone calls to ensure our quality standards are maintained and for fraud prevention purposes.

 

How long is the Personal Data stored for?

1. We will store pet health data for as long as we are providing care, treatment or recalling pets for further care. We will archive (that is, store it without further action) for as long as is required for legal or insurance purposes, or as recommended by trusted experts. At Bridge Veterinary Surgery this is currently 15 years from the last period of account activity, as this is a reasonable period of life expectancy for most domestic pets, within which time their history / details may be required.
2. We must store employment data for six years after an employee has left.
3. We must store contractors’ data for seven years after the contract is ended.

 

Social media, website and cookies

We may sometimes engage with you through social media channels.

• When we do so, we may see the personal information which you have shared with the social media platform, but we do not collect or store this information.
• If you communicate with us through a social media platform, for example Facebook messenger, we may retain your messages with the messaging platform for a reasonable period.
• If you publicly share any information with us through social media, please note that we are unable to control who sees that information. 

In order that we can monitor and improve the Website, we may gather certain information about you when you use it.   A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store it on the hard drive of your computer. You can read more about our Cookies on our Cookie Policy page. First time visitors to our site will be asked to consent to the use of Cookies.
 

Your Rights

You have the right to:

1. Be informed about the personal data we hold and why we hold it.
2. Access a copy of your data that we hold by contacting us directly: we will acknowledge your request and supply a response within one month or sooner.
3. Check the information we hold about you is correct and to make corrections if not
4. Have your data erased in certain circumstances.
5. Transfer your data to someone else if you tell us to do so and it is safe and legal to do so.
6. Tell us not to actively process or update your data in certain circumstances.

 

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Any changes we may make to our Privacy Policy in the future will be posted on the Privacy Policy page or our website and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. If you have any queries about data protection, please contact us on 01278 792959.

What if you are not happy or wish to raise a concern about our data processing?

You can complain in the first instance to the Management at Bridge Vets, and we will do our best to resolve
the matter. If this fails, you can complain to the ICO at www.ico.org.uk/concerns or by calling 0303 123 1113.