The Fine Print
Introduction
Community Chiropractors Limited is committed to protecting your privacy as well as that of our employees, subcontractors, associates, partners and all of our suppliers. To comply with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have implemented several robust policies, programs, and practices to protect all personal information. This section has been guided by several legal resources and is reviewed regularly. Policy last reviewed on 12th of Jan 2023.
This fine print section seeks to describe and explain all important aspects in alphabetical order. Please take your time to read these carefully:
1.0 Access & Use of Our Website, Social Media Content & Services:
You can access most parts of this Website without having to register any details with us. This includes most, if not all articles, guides, news and product information pages within the Website.
It is for you to make the proper arrangements for you to access this Website. You are responsible for ensuring that all person(s) who access the Website through your Internet connection are aware of this Agreement, and that they comply with it.
Our Website is intended for people in the United Kingdom. Content available on our site may not be suitable or accessible from other countries. We may restrict the availability of our Website or our services or goods to any person or country at any time without prior notice. If you access our site from outside the United Kingdom, you do so at your own risk.
Any material that is available free of charge on this Website you are permitted to use for your own personal use, but not for distribution (including sharing or making available for use by others by any means, whether free of charge or for payment) or resale. You promise that you will not resell or otherwise attempt to commercially benefit from the Website content.
All intellectual property (including without limitation copyright) in this Website and its content belongs to us or our licensors and are protected by copyright laws around the world. You have permission to print one copy and download extracts of any web page(s) from our Website for (a) your personal use and (b) to mention to colleagues in your organisation. You do not have permission to use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio files separately from any accompanying text. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of material must always be acknowledged and you must not use the material on the Website in a derogatory manner.
If, in breach of these terms of use, you print off, copy or download any part of our Website, then your right to use our Website and is contents is automatically revoked - you must then immediately destroy any copies you have made of any part of our Website.
We do not guarantee that our Website will be free from bugs or viruses or protected at all times against hacking. You are responsible for setting up your computer, tablets or smartphones to access our Website and using appropriate firewall and virus protection software.
Our terms and conditions of supply will apply if you purchase goods or services from our Website.
Service appointments are available on a first come first serve basis. Each appointment slot runs between 25 or 50 minutes only.
2.0 Automated decision Making:
No decision will be made about you solely on the basis of automated decision making (where a decision is taken about you using an electronic system without human involvement) which will significantly impact you.
3.0 Business Information:
Community Chiropractors Limited is a company registered in England and Wales. Business registration number is 14489862, with registered office located at 5 Central Drive, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 5HL.
4.0 Cancellation, Rearrangement or No Show Policy:
If you need to cancel or rearrange any of your appointment(s) we require a 24 hour notice, otherwise you may be charged the full price for your appointment. If you need to cancel, rearrange or fail to show due to exceptional circumstances, then we may charge on the discretionary basis.
If you’re unsure whether Chiropractic treatment is the right option for you, then please take your time and read through our website before making an appointment. Typically, Chiropractic treatment mainly helps with musculoskeletal conditions such as pain in muscles and joints, both spinal and extremities (Chiropractic, 2021). If you feel we may be able to help you, feel free to arrange a consultation either through our website or by contacting us directly. We look forward to seeing you soon!
5.0 Consent & Changes: Your general Rights, Rights to withdraw Consent & Your Duty To Inform Us Of Changes:
5.1 Your Rights:
At any point whilst we are in possession of your personal data, you are lawfully entitled with the following rights:
Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.
Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete or both.
Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.
Right to restriction of processing –if you believe the data we hold is incorrect, we will stop processing these unless we have legitimate ground to process it.
Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right not to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.
5.2 Right To Withdraw Consent:
Where you have provided consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. There will be absolutely no consequences for withdrawing your consent.
5.3 Your Duty To Inform Us Of Any Changes:
It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information and health changes during your time as a patient with us.
6.0 Cookie Policy, Strictly Necessary Cookies & Tracking Other Optional Cookies:
6.1 Cookie Policy:
Like the vast majority of other websites, cookies are used on our website in order to provide you with the best possible experience. For instance, cookies help us identify your device, performance of typical actions on this website or when you are logged in to specific secure zones. We use strictly necessary and functional cookies to enable you to move around the site and to provide basic features. Tracking and performance cookies are used to provide a better overall user experience. Below are the types of cookies present on our website:
6.2 Strictly Necessary Cookies:
Some cookies are strictly necessary in enabling you to move around this website and use its most basic features. Without these cookies, for example, you would not be able to login to secure zones or keep track of your online shopping cart. These cookies cannot be disabled.
6.3 Tracking And Other Optional Cookies:
We use performance and tracking cookies internally to enable us to provide you with a better user experience. Information supplied by these cookies helps us understand how our visitors behave on this website, track unique visitors or time spent on the site, and on different web pages so that we can improve how we present content to you. You always have the option of disabling these cookies under your browser settings.
7.0 Definitions:
“communitychiropractors.co.uk”, “Us”, “Our” “I” and “We” all refer to this Website, or the owner of it, which website belongs to Community Chiropractors Limited, company details outlines in the 3.0 section earlier.
“You” refers to you the visitor and, or customer, and, or guest.
“Website” means this website at communitychiropractors.co.uk
8.0 Data Controllers:
With regards to GDPR Community Chiropractors Limited is a data controller, meaning that it determines the processes to be used when using your personal data. Our contact details are as follows: Community Chiropractors Limited, 5 Central Drive, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 5HL.
9.0 Data Protection Regulation, Data Security, Sharing Your Data & How Long Are Records Kept:
9.1 Data Protection Principles:
The new GDPR regulation requires that the personal data we collect and store shall be:
Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes
Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary
Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date
Kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary
Stored and processed securely
9.2 Data Security:
We have put in place measures to protect the security of your information against accidental loss or disclosure, alteration or unauthorised access. We limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, associates, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
Personal data is primarily kept on a cloud-based password protected system. Paper records including informed consent will be scanned and uploaded onto the system and the paper record will be shredded. IT systems are protected with firewalls and data security software are be kept up to date.
9.3 Sharing Your Data:
Your sensitive data is not passed to any third parties except to other healthcare professionals in relation to your care with prior consent from you. An exception to this is an overriding lawful reason exists for sharing this, such as to protect yours or another person’s vital interests/health; where possible, this is usually only done with your consent.
Your data may be shared with colleagues within Community Chiropractors Limited when necessary to provide you with tailored care. This includes, other Chiropractors, Chiropractic Assistants, Massage Therapists and team members in the clinics. All our team members are trained on data protection and are duty bound do not disclose personal information outside the clinics.
Whilst we always aim to keep your data within the UK, or EU, this may not always be possible. For example, we utilise internationally encrypted backup systems e.g. Cliniko, Dropbox, Amazon Cloud, Microsoft’s One Cloud storage and apples iCloud. We will only use companies that can demonstrate adequate security to protect your information.
9.4 How Long Are Records Kept?
Legally medical records must be kept for 8 years from the date of your last treatment, and to age 25 years for children so this is the duration of time we store your data for. We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Where specific concerns have been identified, it may be necessary to retain certain records for a longer period of time.
10.0 Implications of Not Providing Your Data To Us:
One of the reasons for processing your data is to allow us to carry out our duties in line with your care with us. If you do not provide us with the data needed to do this, we may be unable to perform that care or to ensure your best interests are being maintained. We may also be prevented from continuing with your treatment, both new or on-going, with us due to the medico-legal obligations of our medical governing bodies.
11.0 Disclaimer & Exclusion Of Liability:
Our Website is made available free of charge. We take reasonable steps to ensure that the information on this Website is correct at the time of first publishing. However, we do not guarantee the correctness or completeness of material on this Website or the absence of inaccuracies, omissions or typographical errors. We may make changes to the material on this Website at any time and without notice, including additions, corrections or substitutions. Whilst we try our best to update our website, the material on our Website may be out of date, or on very rare occasions incorrect and we make no commitment to ensure that such material is correct or up-to-date. We are not liable to send you notice of any changes or corrections made.
The material at this Website is provided without any conditions or warranties of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we provide access and use of this Website on the basis that we exclude all representations, warranties and conditions which but for these Terms may have effect in relation to this Website.
All information and services are provided "as is" without warranty or condition of any kind. We disclaim all warranties and conditions with regard to this information and services, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement.
Any information on the Website in many cases will be an abbreviated and simplified summary for general use or general guidance only, and is not a substitute for taking specific advice on your own situation from an appropriate expert. Before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content of our Website, you must obtain suitable advice from a professional or specialist.
You use the Website at your own risk - neither we, nor our agents, employees, associates and or sub-contractors, shall be liable to you or any other party for any losses or damages whatsoever or howsoever arising in connection with the website (whether under these terms and conditions or other contract or as a result of any misrepresentation, misstatement or tortious act or omission, including negligence).
Neither we nor any other party (whether or not involved in producing, maintaining or delivering this Website) shall be liable or responsible for any kind of loss or damage that may result to you or a third party as a result of your or their use of our Website. This exclusion shall include (without limitation) servicing or repair costs and any other direct, indirect or consequential loss, and whether in tort, contract or otherwise in connection with this Website.
We shall have no liability to any users for loss (whether in contract, tort, including without limitation negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise, and whether foreseeable or not) relating to any of the following:
· use of, or inability to use, our Website; or
· use of, or reliance on, the contents of our Website.
· In addition if you are a business user, we will not be liable to you for:
· lost profit or turnover;
· interruption or disruption of your business;
· your failure to make anticipated savings;
· lost business opportunities or damage to your goodwill or reputation; or
· indirect or consequential losses.
In addition if you are a consumer, you agree not to use our site for any commercial or business purposes, and we shall have no liability to you for anything mentioned in the above mentioned Paragraph(s).
We shall have no liability to you for any losses caused by a distributed denial-of-service attacks, computer viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs, corrupted data, or other potentially harmful software or data that may damage your computer system, software and data from your use of our Website or your downloading of any content on it, or on any website linked to it.
Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or limit liability for (i) death or personal injury caused by negligence (as defined by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977); (ii) fraud; (iii) misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter; or (iv) any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under English law.
12.0 Fees:
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee for a second or subsequent copy of information or if your request for access is found to be clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
13.0 Governing Jurisdiction:
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. Any dispute(s) arising in connection with these Terms are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
14.0 Information we process:
When you become a patient, make a healthcare related enquiry, or visit our website, we collect personal information which may include some sensitive data. This is necessary to offer you the very best service and or respond to your enquiry.
Your personal details including; your name, address, date of birth, email address, phone numbers, emergency contact details and GP details with consent to contact them. These are collected and are processed under the lawful basis of legitimate interests as it is essential for the provision of our healthcare service.
We process your sensitive data (Clinical notes, medical information, details of your physical and/or mental health) to deliver the best possible care for you and to comply with our legal and professional healthcare obligations.
We may collect financial information, as part of a contractual agreement if you wish to subscribe to a care plan.
We occasionally send marketing communication by email. We will ask for your consent to use your email address for marketing communication prior to using it. We also occasionally add educational and marketing content on our social media. We will always ask your consent, both verbal and written before any social media posts/stories are made featuring you. These consent(s) can be withdrawn at any time. For social media and marketing consent, you consent to the following:
The rights of your image, in video or still, and of the likeness and sound of your voice as recorded on audio or video tape. You understand that your image may be edited, copied, exhibited, published or distributed and waive the right to inspect or approve the finish product wherein your likeness appears. Additionally, you waive any right to royalties or other compensations arising or related to the use of your image(s) or recording(s). You also understand that this material may be used in diverse educational settings within an unrestricted geographic area.
If you visit our website and make an enquiry we will collect your name and email address along with any other information you provide, such as telephone number and reason for contacting us. Under GDPR we have a legitimate interest to process this information
If you visit our website then anonymous statistical information about your visit will be collected to assist us in understanding how our site is used, this is captured and managed using cookies. We also use Google analytics to monitor our visitor numbers, they may gather your IP address, location and device information. Google analytics information is only used to monitor the use of our website and not for any other purpose, it is stored on Google servers. You can opt not to have your data captured for analytical purposes via your browser settings or add-on.
15.0 Links To And From Other Websites:
Any links to third party websites located on this Website are provided for your convenience only. We have not reviewed each third party website and have no responsibility for such third party websites or their content. We do not endorse the third party websites or make representations about them or any material contained in them. If you choose to access a third party website linked to from this Website, it is at your own risk. We will not be liable for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.
If you would like to link to this Website, you may only do so on the basis that you link to, but do not replicate, any page on this Website, and subject to the following conditions:
you do not in any way imply that we are endorsing any services or products unless this has been specifically agreed to by us in writing;
you do not misrepresent your relationship with us or present any false information about us;
you do not link from a website that is not owned by you; and
your website does not contain content that is offensive, controversial, infringes any intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or does not comply in any way with the law in the United Kingdom.
If you choose to link to our Website in breach of the above Paragraphs you shall fully indemnify us for any loss or damage suffered as a result of your actions.
16.0 Miscellaneous:
If any part of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable under any applicable law, including, but not limited to, the above disclaimers and liability limitations, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed to be replaced by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the Agreement will continue in effect.
Unless otherwise specified, this Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between you and us with respect to the use of the Website and it supersedes all prior communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and us with respect to the use of the Website.
You must not assign or otherwise transfer the Agreement, or any right granted under it, without our written consent. We can freely transfer our rights under the Agreement.
Any failure by us to enforce or exercise any provision of the Agreement, or any related right, will not be a waiver of that provision or right.
We may provide you with notices, including those regarding changes to the Agreement, by email, regular mail, postings on the Website, or other reasonable means now known or developed in the future.
17.0 Questions & Complaints:
If you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Notice or how we handle your information, please contact us. Alternatively, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to the supervisory authority in the UK for data protection matters, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
18.0 Refund Policy:
If for any reason you are unhappy with the adjustments or treatments you receive here at Community Chiropractors, please let us know, and we will be more than happy to discuss options to resolve your complaint.
If you’ve already paid for your treatment(s) upfront and wish to discontinue your care for any reason, any treatments already received will be calculated at the normal non-discounted price and the remaining balance will be refunded back to you. Please allow us 7-14 working days for the refund to be processed.
19.0 Site Uptime:
We take all reasonable steps to ensure that this Website is available 24 hours every day, 365 days each year. However, websites do sometimes encounter downtime due to maintenance, server and, other technical issues. Therefore we will not be liable if this Website is unavailable at any time. We do not guarantee that our Website, or any content on it, will be available uninterrupted. Access to our Website is permitted on a temporary basis. We may suspend, withdraw, discontinue or change all or any part of our site without notice. We will not be liable to you if for any reason our Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.
This Website may be temporarily unavailable due to issues such as system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons beyond our control. Where possible we will try to give our visitors advance warning of maintenance issues, but shall not be obliged to do so.
20.0 Terms & Conditions:
Below are our terms for the use of our Website, whether as a guest or a registered user - please read these terms carefully before using our Website.
These terms are an "Agreement" between “you” and “Community Chiropractors Limited” about your use of our Website and the information contained in or available through our Website. If you do not agree to these terms in full please leave this Website and do not make use of our services. By remaining on this Website and/or making use of our services you are deemed to accept these terms in full. These terms are updated from time to time, e.g. to reflect changes in our services and this Website. Please return to these terms from time to time and note any changes, as they are binding on you.
21.0 Visitor Conduct:
With the exception of personally identifiable information, the use of which is covered under 5.0 & 9.0, any material you send or post to this Website shall be considered non-proprietary and not confidential. Unless you advise us to the contrary, we will be free to copy, disclose, distribute, incorporate and otherwise use such material for any and all purposes.
When using this Website you must not attempt unauthorized access to our Website, the servers on which our Website or database are stored or any servers, computer or database connected to our site, and you shall not post or send to or from this Website any material:
for which you have not obtained all necessary consents;
that is discriminatory, obscene, pornographic, defamatory, liable to incite racial hatred, in breach of confidentiality or privacy, which may cause annoyance or inconvenience to others, which encourages or constitutes conduct that would be deemed a criminal offence, give rise to a civil liability, or otherwise is contrary to the law in the United Kingdom; or
which is harmful in nature, including, and without limitation, denial-of-service attacks, computer viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs, corrupted data, or other potentially harmful software or data.
By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site will cease immediately.
We will fully co-operate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requiring us to disclose the identity or other details of any person posting material to this Website.
If a third party alleges that content posted by you on our site is in breach of their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy, we may disclose your identity to such third party.
We reserve the right to remove any posting you make on our Website for any reason and without notice, but particularly if your post does not comply with these terms of use.
22.0 Your Account & Password:
If you choose to, or you are provided with, a user log-in or password as part of our security procedures, you must keep such information confidential.
If in our reasonable opinion you have breached these terms of use, then we may disable any user log-in or password at any time.
If you suspect anyone else knows your user login or password, you must promptly notify us. You can also contact us if you have problems with logging in or accessing any of our services.
References:
GOV.UK. 2021. Data protection. [online] Available at: <https://www.gov.uk/data-protection> [Accessed 12th of Jan 2023].
Legalo. 2021. Legal Document Templates and Resources - Legalo. [online] Available at: <https://www.legalo.co.uk/> [Accessed 12th of Jan 2023].
Legislation.gov.uk. 2021. Computer Misuse Act 1990. [online] Available at: <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/contents> [Accessed 12th of Jan 2023].
nhs.uk. 2021. Chiropractic. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chiropractic/> [Accessed 12th of Jan 2023].
nhs.uk. 2021. Acupuncture. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acupuncture/> [Accessed 12th of Jan 2023].