We are the Ile Dental centre Ltd trading as The Smile Dental Group, The Crewkerne Dental Centre and The Wincanton Smile Centre. We are a business that owns and runs dental practices.

If you have any questions about this document, or the way in which we handle your personal information you can speak to your dentist.

Data Protection Privacy Notice for Patients

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.

Information that we collect

• Contact data (such as name, address, email address, telephone number) for the purposes of corresponding with you, for example, regarding your appointments and treatment
• Contact data (such as name, address, email address, telephone number) for the purposes of direct mail, email and text marketing
• Special category data concerning health (your past and current medical & dental records, medical history, medication, your doctor’s name and address, warning cards or bracelets, alcohol and drug use and correspondence relating to you with other health care professionals, i.e. in the hospital or community services) for the purposes of the delivery of safe and appropriate dental care
• Treatment data (such as radiographs, clinical photographs and study models) for the purposes of providing you with the best treatment
• Information about the treatment that we have provided or propose and its cost
• Notes of conversations or incidents that might occur for which a record needs to be kept
• Records of consent to treatment
• Financial data (such as credit card details, bank account information, credit history, employment status) for the purposes of processing your payment for treatment(s)
• Usage data (such as information about how you use our website, products and services) for the purposes of improving the way we provide our treatment and services

In order to provide you with the best possible care, the greater part of the information which we hold about you is kept in the practice server. In addition, we hold some of your information in manual records at the practice. We are responsible for keeping secure the information about you that we hold.

At the practice, dentists and other dental professionals involved with your care and treatment and the reception staff responsible for the management and administration of the practice have access to your information.

Purposes for processing personal data

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

• To provide you with our services
• To discuss relevant treatments
• To provide a safe working environment for staff, contractors and patients
• To check your employment and financial status for payment plans
• To process payments
• To keep you informed of our latest offers, other services we provide and general marketing activities
• To obtain reviews and feedback on your experience of our services

Marketing

We would like to send you information about products and services of ours and other companies we work with which may be of interest to you.

You have a right at any time to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes. If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, please let the practice know.

If you have consented to receive marketing you may opt out at a later date.

Sharing information

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:

• Your doctor
• The hospital or community dental services or other health professionals caring for you
• NHS payment authorities
• The Department for Work and Pensions and its agencies, where you are claiming exemption or remission from NHS charges
• Private dental schemes (if applicable) of which you are a member.

We will only disclose your information on a need-to-know basis and will limit any information that we share to the minimum necessary.

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.

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. You should submit your request to the practice in writing or by email. We do not usually charge you for copies of your information; if we pass on a charge, we will explain the reasons.

Links to other websites

This privacy policy only applies to this website. If you link to another website from here, you should remember to read and understand that website’s privacy policy as well. We are not responsible for any use of your personal data that is made by other organisations.

If you do not agree

If you do not wish us to use your personal information as described, you should discuss the matter with your dentist. If you object to the way that we collect and use your information, we may not be able to continue to provide your dental care.

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).

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may amend this privacy policy from time to time and new versions will be posted on this website. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes in our privacy Policy.