Privacy Policy

Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy, London 

This privacy notice was written in September 2020. 

1.     Introduction

Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Your privacy is important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and only used for the purpose it was given to me. You have the right to keep private your enquiry and engagement in psychotherapy as well as the content of psychotherapy sessions. 

Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy adheres to the current data protection legislation: this includes the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) and the Data Protection Act 2018. I am registered as data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office and my registration number is ZA756965. 

The purpose of this privacy notice is to inform you what Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy will do with your personal information from the initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended. If you have any questions, I am happy to talk this through with you and you can contact me on 07775 972727. 

2.     The type of personal information I collect 

Initial contact 

When you contact me with an enquiry about psychotherapy, I collect the following personal information:

·       Name

·       Address

·       Telephone number

·       Email address

·       Nature of enquiry (eg requesting therapy following bereavement) 

·       Agreed next steps (eg initial appointment booked) 

This is stored electronically in an encrypted, password-protected file on my personal computer. If you decide not to go ahead with therapy at this time, I will delete your personal data within one week of you notifying me that you do not wish to go ahead or within one month should I not hear back from you following your enquiry to book in an initial session. 

While you are in therapy with me 

If you decide to embark on psychotherapy sessions with me, we will agree a mutually binding contract which we discuss in the first session and which I ask you to sign. I will retain the personal data collected at your initial enquiry and will also request your date of birth and GP details. These details are held securely in an encrypted password-protected electronic file on my personal computer and are not shared with any third party, unless there is a safeguarding concern or legal obligation to do so. I print off a copy as back-up and this paper copy is stored securely in a locked filing cabinet.

In keeping with good practice, I keep a record of each session. These notes are a brief summary of the key themes discussed and decisions I make in how best to support you therapeutically. They are stored electronically in an encrypted, password-protected file on my personal computer separate from your personal data above. I use your initials rather than your name in my notes and do the same for significant other people you mention in therapy. (This is called pseudonymisation.) 

I transfer email and text message correspondence with any significant content into your secure record on my personal computer and delete from my inbox or mobile phone. 

With your consent, I store your phone number and email address in my dedicated psychotherapy mobile phone (separate from my personal phone) with your initials and the regular date and time of our appointment eg TM Tues 1pm. If you prefer me not to do this, please just let me know. 

Everything you discuss in therapy with me is confidential. The only exception to this is if I have any cause for concern about either your safety or the safety of somebody else. I will always seek to speak with you first about my concerns unless there is a duty of care to act sooner. 

After therapy has ended 

Your records will be kept for 3 years after the end of the work together. This is in case you wish to resume therapy or in case of any complaint that was made after therapy ended. Your records are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please let me know so we can discuss this. 

3.     Your rights and the law

The GDPR states that all organisations need a lawful basis for processing personal information. The lawful basis for Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy to store your personal data is in order to fulfil the psychotherapy contract we agree in your first session. If your therapy has ended, the lawful basis for me to retain your data for three years is legitimate interest. 

The GDPR also makes sure I look after any sensitive personal information you disclose – this is called ‘special category’ personal information. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories is in what is considered in the law to be my role as a health professional and necessary for the contract between us to be fulfilled. 

For full information about your rights regarding your data, please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk/your-data-matters. In particular, you have the right to request of a copy of any data held about you. You also have the right to ask for your data to be erased. Unless there is a compelling reason for the data not to be erased, for example if I need to use the data to fulfil contractual obligations, your data will be deleted on request. Please let me know of any such requests by email at fiona@fionaturnbull.co.uk. 

4.     Additional information for visitors to my website 

The website www.fionaturnbull.co.uk is owned by Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy. 

The analytics on this website are collected via Squarespace. These do not identify personal data but more general items such as geographical location of visitors and time spent on site. 

If you fill in a form on the website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy at the secure email address fiona@fionaturnbull.co.uk.  

Where the website provides links to websites of other organisations, this privacy notice does not cover how that organisation processes personal information and you are encouraged to read the privacy notices on other websites you visit.

The website may place and access certain first party cookies on your computer or device. These are placed directly by Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy and used only by us. They are in place to facilitate and improve your experience of the website. This website does not currently used third party cookies. Before cookies are placed on your computer or device, you will be asked to give your consent. Please refer to the cookie policy on the Fiona Turnbull Psychotherapy website for more detailed information. 

5.     Third party recipients

I do not share your personal data with third parties. 

6.     Concerns and complaints 

You have the right to make a complaint about how your data is stored and used. If you have a concern or complaint about how I have handled your personal information, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by email and I will look into this. If you want to make a formal complaint about how I processed your personal information you can contact the ICO at www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.