Privacy Policy
The Weir Clinic, Bandon Primary Care Centre, Market Street, Bandon, Co. Cork, P72 WD58 Phone: 023 8852918 is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting https://theweirclinic.ie you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
COOKIES
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU?
The Weir Clinic is committed to best practice compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
When you attend or register with us a patient, we collect the personal details specified in the patient registration form. With your prior knowledge and consent, we may take up copies of your medical records from a previous GP etc. Your GP is also likely to receive updates from other health professionals, hospitals etc involved in your treatment and care.
WHY DO WE COLLECT THIS INFORMATION?
We collect this information to provide appropriate treatment and services to you to ensure your continuity of care and patient safety.
ON WHAT BASIS DO WE PROCESS THIS INFORMATION?
Your personal information is mostly collected directly from you and processed by us with your knowledge and express consent. You may withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal information at any time.
WHO WILL WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH?
We may share your information with other healthcare professionals and third party service providers, e.g. laboratories when it is necessary and appropriate for your treatment and care.
The law provides that in certain instances personal information (including health information) can be disclosed, for example, in the case of infectious diseases.
In general, work related Medical Certificates from your GP will only provide a confirmation that you are unfit for work with an indication of when you will be fit to resume work. Where it is considered necessary to provide additional information we will discuss that with you. However, Department of Social Protection sickness certs (“Social Welfare Certs”) for work must include the medical reason you are unfit to work.
In the case of disclosures to insurance companies or requests made by solicitors for your records we will only release the information with your signed consent.
It is usual for patient information to be used for research and audit in order to improve services and standards of practice. GPs on the specialist register of the Medical Council are required to perform yearly clinical audits. Information used for such purposes is done in an anonymised or pseudonymised manner with all personal identifying information removed.
If it were proposed to use your information in a way where it would not be anonymous or the Practice was involved in external research we would discuss this further with you before we proceeded and seek your written informed consent. Please remember that the quality of the patient service provided can only be maintained and improved by training, teaching, audit and research.
TRANSFERRING TO ANOTHER PRACTICE
If you decide at any time and for whatever reason to transfer to another practice we will facilitate that decision by making available to your new doctor a copy of your records on receipt of your signed consent. For medico-legal reasons we will also retain a copy of your records in this practice for an appropriate period of time.
HOW LONG DO WE KEEP HOLD OF YOUR INFORMATION?
Data will not be retained for any longer than is required.
We keep records since the commencement of the Clinic.
DATA PROTECTION OFFICER
The Weir Clinic registered Data Protection Officer is Mary Beasley. Any queries, concerns or requests to exercise your rights under General Data Protection Regulation may be addressed to Mary Beasley at: theweirclinic@gmail.com.
Under General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:
Withdraw consent to the processing of your personal information.
(Note: If you withdraw consent, we may not be able to continue to provide treatment and services to you. We will talk to you about the possible consequences of withdrawing consent, if and when you let us know that you are thinking of this. The withdrawal of consent will not undermine the lawfulness of processing carried out prior to the withdrawal.)
Request to access the information we hold about you.
Request the correction of inaccuracies in/erasure of the information held about you.
Request the restriction of processing of the information we hold about you.
Exercise your entitlement to data portability.
Make a complaint to the Office of General Data Protection Regulation Commissioner of Ireland.
WEBSITE
Each time any visitor uses the Weir Clinic website, we may collect personal information, which is personal or particular to a specific visitor. The information is collected by specific request so you will be fully aware when you are providing this information to us. This may arise when booking an appointment online or request prescription online or email us.
SECURITY OF INFORMATION TRANSMITTED TO OUR WEBSITE
The Weir Clinic cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our website. Transmission of your personal information is at your own risk. Once we receive your personal information, we will use appropriate security measures to seek to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure.
EXTERNAL WEBSITES
Our website may contain links to and from other website. Those website have their own privacy policies and The Weir Clinic does not accept any responsibility or liability for those policies. You are advised to check those policies before you submit any personal information to those websites.
The Weir Clinic reserves the right to amend this policy at any time, at its discretion. You are encouraged to review this policy from time to time. We will notify you of changes to this policy where we are required to do so.
Complaints Policy
| Practice Name | The Weir Clinic |
| Practice Address | Bandon Primary Care Centre |
| Practice Phone Number | 0238852918 |
| Complaints Officer/ Practice Manager | Mary Beasley |
| Lead for Data Protection | Mary Beasley |
| Date Protocol Drafted | 31.5.23 |
In this practice we want all our patients to be pleased with the service they receive, so we take complaints very seriously. We try to ensure that all our patients are pleased with their experience and quality of our service.
Aim
If a patient makes a complaint, we will deal with it promptly and courteously. A complaint may indicate a failing on our part from which we can learn and make improvements to our service. Our aim is to resolve the complaint as quickly as possible following the agreed procedure and, wherever possible, to the satisfaction of all parties.
Complaints Officer
The responsible person(s)/complaints officers in our practice for dealing with any complaint is the practice manager Mary Beasley.
Dealing with the complaint
If a verbal complaint is made to a member of reception staff, they will listen empathically with the complainant and then offer to refer the matter to the practice manager Mary Beasley. If Mary Beasley is not available at that time then the patient will be advised when she will be able to talk to them or to the doctor and make arrangements for this meeting. The member of reception will send a detailed message to the practice manager on this. If a complaint is about some aspect of the clinical care that has been received it will normally be referred to the relevant doctor.
The practice manager will contact the patient making the complaint. A record of this conversation and complaint will be made. The practice manager will request that all complaints are issued to us in writing and addressed directly to them.
All complaints will be acknowledged in writing by the practice manager or GP, normally within 5 working days.
We will do our best to investigate the complaint in a timely manner within 10 working days.
A patient may be offered to meet with us to discuss this. If the patient does not wish to meet us during this investigation of the complaint, we will attempt to talk with them on the telephone.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
If a third party, i.e. a relative, friend, wishes to complain on behalf of the patient who has been treated in our practice, it is important to understand that we have to adhere to the rules of patient confidentiality. Therefore, we would need the patient’s permission before responding to the complainant.
Anonymous Complaints
In the interest of fairness we cannot investigate anonymous complaints.
Investigation of the complaint
In our investigation of any complaint we will aim to:
- establish the facts
- facilitate a discussion of the problem with those concerned
- explore approaches aimed at resolving the complaint, and,
- identify what we can do to ensure that any problems identified during our investigation does not happen again.
Proper records will be kept of any complaint received, in addition to any actions taken to resolve the complaint and to improve services as a result of the complaint.
When the investigations are complete your complaint will be determined and a final response sent to you. If your complaint is still not resolved to your satisfaction, there are several external options where you may bring your complaint:
| HSE | HSE Email: yoursay@hse.ie |
| Website: www.hse.ie | 1890 424 555, |
| Address: Oak House, Millenium Park, Naas, Co. Kildare. | |
| MEDICAL COUNCIL | Email: complaints@mcirl.ie |
| Website: www.medicalcouncil.ie | Tel: 01 4983100 |
| Address: Kingram House, Kingram Place, Dublin 2 | |