Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

We need to keep personal information about you to be able to offer you the support you need. 

This information includes:

  • Your name, date of birth, address and any contact details.

  • Brief details about the reason for your visit.

  • Brief summary of the support we have given you.

When you first meet with a member of staff you will be asked by them for your consent for us to hold this information. Consent means that you voluntarily give permission for something to happen in an agreed way.

Where is that information kept?

This depends on which service you are working with, so we will either:

  • Make paper records which are kept in locked cabinets, or

  • Make electronic records which are kept on secure systems.

Access to any information about you is restricted to only those people who need to see it.

When is the information destroyed?

We usually keep records for 6 years after the date of your last contact with us.  There are occasions, however, when records need to be kept for longer (sometimes for a minimum of 25 years).  Occasions when we keep records for longer than 6 years might be:

  • If you have told us you have been a victim of crime.

  • If you have told us about any abuse or harm you have suffered.

  • If you are supported by one of our mental health services

How can I find out what information the Zone have about me?

We will always tell you what personal information we hold about you. You can ask to see this information at any time.

To find out what information we hold about you, you’ll need to complete a short form which tells us what information you would like to see, and you will need to sign to say you that have given your consent for this information to be released to you. 

We may not always be able to give you a complete copy of all of this information.  If this is the case we will explain to you the reasons why some information may be withheld.

There will not be a charge for providing this information.                                                         

Can I ask for this information to be destroyed?

Under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you can ask to have your records removed.  You can make a request verbally or in writing.  We will respond to your request within one month.  This does not mean that we will be able to agree to your request, but if we are unable to agree we will explain the reason to you. 

National Data Opt-out Programme

The national data opt-out is a service that allows patients to opt out of their confidential patient information being used for research and planning. The system offers patients and the public the opportunity to make an informed choice about whether they wish their personally identifiable data to be used just for their individual care and treatment or also used for research and planning purposes. If you have accessed our health services your worker will explain this further and you can also find out more here:  NHS Digital national data opt out

If you would like to discuss any of this further please get in touch.