Privacy Notice

We collect certain information or data about you when you use our website. 

This includes:

• Your email address if you contact us using our contact web form. 
• Information on how you use the site, using cookies and page tagging techniques to help us improve the website (these cookies aren’t used to identify you personally). 

This helps us to:

• Respond to any queries or feedback you send us, if you’ve asked us to. 
• Improve the site by monitoring how you use it. 

We won’t share your information with any other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes, and we don’t pass on your details to other websites.

We take care to ensure your personal information is only accessible to authorised people.

We’ve put the following security measures in place to protect personal information: 

• All staff undertake mandatory training in Data Protection and IT Security.
• We comply with NHS Scotland Information Security Policy. 
• We have organisational policy and procedures on safely handling personal information. 
• We have access controls and audits of electronic systems. 
• Any other organisation to whom we contract work is bound to security standards at least as secure as TCAT’s. 

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information if we have a legal obligation to do so. 

We keep personal information as set out in the Scottish Government Records Management: NHS Code of Practice (Scotland) Version 2.1 January 2012 (“the code”).

The code sets out the length of time we need to retain information (called “minimum retention periods”) including personal information, held in different types of records like personal health records and administrative records. 

We maintain a retention schedule as directed by the code, which details the minimum retention period for the personal information and how we safely dispose of it.

This section contains a description of your data protection rights. 

As an organisation, we must explain how we use your personal information. We use a number of ways to communicate how personal information is used, including: 

• This Data Protection Notice.
• Information leaflets.
• Discussions with staff.

You have the right to access your own personal information. 

This right includes making you aware of what information we hold along with the opportunity to satisfy you that we’re using your information fairly and legally. 

You have the right to:

• Confirmation that your personal information is being held or used by us. 
• Access your personal information. 
• Additional information about how we use your personal information. 

If you’d like to access your personal information, please contact us with the details of your request using our contact web form. 

Once we’ve received your request and you’ve provided enough information for us to locate your personal information, we’ll respond to your request within one month (30 days). We may take longer to respond – by up to two months – if your request is complex. If this is the case we’ll tell you and explain the reason for the delay. 

If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete you have the right to have this corrected – this is called the right to rectification. 

If it’s agreed that your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete we’ll aim to amend your records within one month, or within two months where the request is complex. If more time is needed to fulfil your request, we’ll contact you as quickly as possible to let you know. We can restrict access to your records to ensure that the inaccurate or incomplete information is not used until amended – unless there is a risk to patient safety. 

If for any reason we’ve shared your information with anyone else, perhaps during a referral to other services for example, we’ll explain to them the changes needed so they can ensure their records are accurate. 

If, when we consider your request fully, we don’t consider the personal information to be inaccurate then we’ll add a commend to your record stating your concerns about the information. If this is the case we’ll contact you within one month to explain our reasons. 

If you’re unhappy about how we respond to your request for rectification, we will provide you with information on how you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, or how to take legal action. 

When we process your personal information, you have the right to object to the processing and also seek that further processing of your personal information is restricted. 

Your right to object will not be upheld if we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for processing your personal information, like patient safety, the need to deliver a public service, or for evidence to support legal claims.

If you’re unhappy with the way we use your personal information, please contact us using our contact web form and we will address your concerns. 

You also have the right to complain abut how we use your personal information to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). 

We seek to ensure that information on our website is up-to-date and accurate. However, the information does not constitute legal or professional advice and we cannot accept liability for actions arising from its use. Neither can we be held responsible for the contents of any pages referenced by an external link. 

Our website may contain links to other websites. This privacy policy only applies to this site and doesn’t cover other websites. 

We welcome websites to link to our site. You don’t have to ask for permission to do so. 

However, we don’t give you permission to suggest that your website is associated with, or endorsed by, our website.

Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

We reserve the right to modify this privacy notice at any time, so please review it frequently. 

Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. 

If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. 

If you would like to access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, you are invited to contact us using our contact web form.