Policies and Procedures
Complaints Procedure
All the member of the Dental Team at this practice are committed to delivering high quality care and service to all our patients.
Should a patient claim that this has not been their experience, we need to know about the patient’s experience and learn how we can improve our services. The appointed person to handle complaints is Sarah Meeds (Practice Manager) If the patient is unhappy with the choice of appointed person, an alternative member of the dental team will take on the role of complaints manager.
The Practice receives complaints by letter, telephone, email or directly made to reception staff. The complaint shall be passed on to the Complaints Manager immediately and it will be responded to by this person within 48 hours. Any delays experienced during preliminary investigation are alerted to the patient who is kept informed of progress. The patient shall be invited to discuss the complaint via telephone call or during a meeting at the Practice. A record of the discussion shall be made and the patient is given a copy.
Further investigation shall be carried out following on from initial meeting with the patient. The patient is kept informed of progress throughout the investigation. Should any contact be made to third parties, written consent will be obtained from the patient. A further meeting shall be arranged and the findings of the investigation are discussed with the patient. Prior to the meeting, the patient shall be informed of all attendees. The patient has the right to bring a representative with them. Comprehensive notes shall be taken and verified as a true record by all involved in the meeting.
If the patient is unwilling to attend a meeting, discussions are held via telephone. The patient will receive a copy in writing of the meeting or telephone conversation which will conclude with a decision made about the complaint. Translation services, sign language or Braille services are used to enable the patient to understand the proceedings at any point during the complaint’s lifespan.
If the patient is not satisfied with the result of the procedure, then the complaint should be directed to: . Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at your Local NHS care . The Dental Complaints Service for complaints about private treatment . The General Dental Council
Website privacy policy
Key details
This practice Privacy Policy describes how this Dental Practice uses and protects the information you give us when you use this website.
If you provide information when using this website, it will only be used in the ways described in this Privacy Policy.
This Policy is updated from time to time. The latest version is published on this page.
This website Privacy Policy was last updated on: 30/09/2020
If you have any questions about this policy, please email us or write to us.
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Introduction
We gather and use patient information in order to provide products and services and to enable certain functions on this website.
We also collect information to better understand how visitors use this website and to present timely, relevant information to them online.
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Website Forms
Forms on this website do collect personal data that you submit, which will be emailed with the intent to store that data on industry standard UK email hosting and practice management records for the purpose of providing you a service.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679
Our practice is Notified with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Our Data Controller can be contacted at our practice address or by telephone with any questions you may have or details concerning the protection of your personal data.
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Patient Records
Our Practice is Registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Details of our Registration can be seen at www.cqc.org.uk. Our practice has to comply with the CQC data protection policy for Patient Records both offline and online.
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What data we gather
We may collect your data in a variety of ways on this website. Our lawful basis for processing your data will be your explicit consent to us to do so. We may store this data indefinitely.
We may collect the following information:
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Contact information including your email address
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Demographic information, such as postcode, preferences and interests
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Website usage data
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Other information relevant to patient enquiries
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Other information pertaining to special offers and surveys
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How we use this data
Collecting this data helps us understand what you expect from your practice, enabling us to deliver improved products and services.
Specifically, we may use data:
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For our own internal records
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To transfer or share sensitive patient data with other registered dental or medical professionals
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To improve the products and services we provide
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To contact you in response to a specific enquiry
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To customise the website for you
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To send you promotional emails about products, services, offers and other things we think might be relevant to you.
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To send you promotional mailings or to call you about products, services, offers and other things we think might be relevant to you.
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To contact you via email, telephone or mail for research reasons.
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Your individual rights
As an individual, you have the following rights in regard to the data that we collect and store:
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The right to be informed
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The right of access
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The right to rectification
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The right to erasure
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The right to restrict processing
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The right to data portability
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The right to object
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Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
Should you wish to exercise any of these rights, please call the practice and speak to our Data Controller or Data Protection Officer.
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Cookies and how we use them
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small file placed on your computer's hard drive. It enables our website to identify your computer as you view different pages on our website.
Cookies allow websites and applications to store your preferences in order to present content, options or functions that are specific to you. They also enable us to see information like how many people use the website and what pages they tend to visit.
How we use cookies
We may use cookies to:
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Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
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Identify whether you are signed in to our website. A cookie allows us to check whether you are signed in to the site.
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Test content on our website. For example, 50% of our users might see one piece of content, the other 50% a different piece of content.
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Store information about your preferences. The website can then present you with information you will find more relevant and interesting.
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To recognise when you return to our website. We may show your relevant content, or provide functionality you used previously.
Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.
Controlling cookies
You can use your web browser's cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.
However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you.
Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.
To learn more about Cookies, see our Cookie Policy.
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Controlling information about you
When you fill in an e- form or provide your personal details on our website, you may see one or more tick boxes allowing you to:
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Opt-in to receive marketing communications from us by email, telephone, text message or post.
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Opt-in to receive marketing communications from our third-party partners by email, telephone, text message or post.
If you have agreed that we can use your information for marketing purposes, you can change your mind easily, via one of these methods:
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Send an email to us.
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Write to us.
Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed under our data protection policy, in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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Security
We will always hold your information securely.
To prevent unlawful disclosure or access to your information, we have implemented strong physical and electronic security safeguards.
We also follow stringent procedures to ensure we work with all personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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Links from our site
Our website may contain links to other websites.
Please note that we have no control of websites outside of the www.biggleswadedentalcentre.co.uk domain. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for your data protection and privacy.
Always be wary when submitting data via interactive website templates. Study the website data protection policy and the status of the website itself - is it padlocked or using https:// or green bar transfer protocols?).
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Feedback
If you feel that there is a problem with the way that we are handling your data, you may complain to the ICO directly at https://ico.org.uk/.
Children's Privacy Policy
The practice keeps records of your name, address, date of birth and details of any health problems as well as details of your dental treatment and details about your family. We keep this information so that we can provide you with the best dental care. Your personal information is kept very confidentially and securely.
We only use your personal information so we can give you the best dental care and for sending reminders to you.
We only pass your personal information to another dentist, doctor or hospital if you have a problem that needs their special skills and you need to go and see them. We will not give your information to anyone else unless the law allows us to or we have to provide it for legal reasons.
If you leave the practice, we will stop using your information, but will keep it confidentially and securely until you are 25 years old, when we will review if and when we can delete it. You can always ask for a copy of the information we hold for you, we can transfer it to another dentist or doctor at your request and you can ask us to stop using your personal information to send letters or contact you in other ways if you are no longer a patient at the practice.
When you reach 18 years of age the Privacy Notice about how we process your personal information will change to the adult version. This can be found on our website.
If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you or if you have any other enquiries it about such as to change an error in your information or to provide a copy of your information to somebody else please contact:
The Information Governance Lead: Sarah Meeds
Biggleswade Dental Centre,
Saffron Road, Biggleswade SG18 8DJ
Email: enquiries@toothfairys.co.uk,
Phone: 01767 660555
Privacy Notice
The practice aims to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s website as well as our professional guidelines and requirements.
The data controller is Sarah Meeds who is also the Data Protection Officer.
This Privacy Notice is available on the practice website at www.biggleswadedentalcentre.co.uk at reception and by email if you contact enquiries@toothfairys.co.uk or by calling Tel: 01767 660555.
You will be asked to provide personal information when joining the practice. The purpose of processing your personal data is to provide you with optimum dental health care and prevention.
The categories and examples of data we process are:
â–ª Personal data for the provision of dental health care
â–ª Personal data for the purposes of providing treatment plans, recall appointments, reminders or estimates
â–ª Personal data such as details of family members for the provision of health care to children or for emergency contact details
â–ª Personal data for the purposes of employed and self-employed team members employment and engagement respectively
â–ª Personal data for the purposes of direct mail/email/text/other to inform you of important announcements or about new treatments or services
â–ª Personal data - IP addresses so that we can understand our patients better and inform our marketing approach as well as improve the web site experience
â–ª Special category data including health records for the purposes of the delivery of health care and meeting our legal obligations
â–ª Special category data including health records
â–ª Special category data to meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010
â–ª Special category data details of criminal record checks for employees and contracted team members
We minimize the data that we keep, and do not keep it for longer than necessary.
We never pass your personal details to a third party unless we have a contract for them to process data on our behalf and will otherwise keep it confidential. If we intend to refer a patient to another practitioner or to secondary care such as a hospital we will gain the individual’s permission before the referral is made and the personal data is shared. Your data will be shared with the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales or the HSC in Northern Ireland if you are having NHS or HSC treatment.
â–ª Personal data is stored in the EU whether in digital or hard copy format
â–ª Personal data is obtained when a patient joins the practice, when a patient is referred to the practice and when a patient subscribes to an email list / other
For full details of where your data is stored, please ask to see Information Governance Procedures (M 217C).
We have established the following lawful bases for processing your data:
Our lawful bases for processing personal data:
â–ª The legitimate interests of the dental practice
â–ª Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract
â–ª Consent of the data subject
â–ª To comply with our legal obligations
â–ª Other
Our lawful bases for processing special category data: Processing is necessary for health care purposes
â–ª Processing necessary for identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with the view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained
â–ª We obtain consent of the data subject to process criminal record checks
â–ª Other
The reasons we process the data include:
â–ª To maintain your contemporaneous clinical records
â–ª To provide you with dental treatment, prevention and oral health advice
â–ª To carry out financial transactions with you
â–ª To manage your NHS or HSC dental care treatment
â–ª To send your personal data to the General Dental Council or other authority as required by law â–ª To communicate with you as and when required including appointment reminders, treatment plans, estimates and other communications about your treatment or the practice â–ª To communicate with your next of kin in an emergency
â–ª If a parent or carer to communicate with you about the person you parent or care for â–ª To refer you to other dentists or doctors and health professionals as required â–ª To obtain criminal record disclosures for team members
â–ª For debt recovery
â–ª To continually improve the care and service you receive from us
The personal data we process includes:
Your name, address, gender, date of birth, NHS number, medical history, dental history, family medical history, family contact details, marital status financial details for processing payment, your doctor’s details and details of treatment at the practice. We may process more sensitive special category data including ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation so that we can meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010, or for example to modify treatment to suit your religion and to meet NHS or HSC obligations.
The retention period for special data in patient records is a minimum of 10 years and may be longer for complex records or to meet our legal requirements. The retention periods for other personal data is 2 years after it was last processed. Details of retention periods are available in the Record Retention (M 215) procedure available from the practice.
We obtain your personal details when you enquire about our care and service, when you join the practice, when you subscribe to our newsletter or register online, when you complete a registration or medical history form and when another practitioner refers you for treatment at our practice. Occasionally patients are referred to us from other official sources such as NHS clinics or hospitals.
You have the following personal data rights:
â–ª The right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data
â–ª The right of access – to have a copy of the data we hold about you. Generally, we will not charge for this service
â–ª The right to rectification - to correct the data we have if it is inaccurate or incomplete â–ª The right to deletion of your personal data (clinical records must be retained for a certain time period)
â–ª The right to restrict processing of your personal data
â–ª The right to data portability – to have your data transferred to someone else â–ª The right to object to the processing of your personal data
â–ª Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
Further details of these rights can be seen in our Information Governance Procedures or at the Information Commissioner’s website. Here are some practical examples of your rights:
â–ª If you are a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for important notifications, newsletters, surveys or marketing. You can inform us to correct errors in your personal details or withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text. You have the right to obtain a free copy of your patient records within one month
â–ª If you are not a patient of the practice you have the right to withdraw consent for processing personal data, to have a free copy of it within one month, to correct errors in it or to ask us to delete it. You can also withdraw consent from communication methods such as telephone, email or text
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We have carried out a Privacy Impact Assessment in Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment and you can request a copy from the details below. The details of how we ensure security of personal data is in our Security Risk Assessment and Information Governance Procedures.
Comments, suggestions and complaints
Please contact the IG Lead at the practice for a comment, suggestion or a complaint about your data processing at enquiries@toothfairys.co.uk or by writing to or visiting the practice at Saffron Road, Biggleswade. We take complaints very seriously.
If you are unhappy with our response or if you need any advice you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Their telephone number is 0303 123 1113, you can also chat online with an advisor. The ICO can investigate your claim and take action against anyone who’s misused personal data. You can also visit their website for information on how to make a data protection complaint.
Related practice procedures
You can also use these contact details to request copies of the following practice policies or procedures:
â–ª Data Protection and Information Security Policy (M 233-CNS)
â–ª Sensitive Information Map, PIA and Risk Assessment (M 217Q), Information Governance Procedures (M 217C), Record Retention (M 215)
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If you have an enquiry or a request please contact the Information Governance Lead Sarah Meeds .Biggleswade Dental Centre, Saffron Road, Biggleswade, SG18 8DJ
Email:Enquiries@toothfairys.co.uk Phone: 01767 660555
Thank you
Data Opt-Out Policy
How the NHS and care services use your information
Biggleswade Dental Centre is one of many organisations working in the health and care system to improve care for patients and the public. Whenever you use a health or care service, such as attending Accident & Emergency or using Community Care services, important information about you is collected in a patient record for that service. Collecting this information helps to ensure you get the best possible care and treatment. The information collected about you when you use these services can also be used and provided to other organisations for purposes beyond your individual care, for instance to help with:
â–ª Improving the quality and standards of care provided
â–ª Research into the development of new treatments
â–ª Preventing illness and diseases
â–ª Monitoring safety
â–ª Planning services
This may only take place when there is a clear legal basis to use this information. All these uses help to provide better health and care for you, your family and future generations. Confidential patient information about your health and care is only used like this where allowed by law.
Most of the time, anonymised data is used for research and planning so that you cannot be identified in which case your confidential patient information isn’t needed.
You have a choice about whether you want your confidential patient information to be used in this way. If you are happy with this use of information you do not need to do anything. If you do choose to opt out your confidential patient information will still be used to support your individual care. To find out more or to register your choice to opt out, please visit www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters. On this web page you will:
â–ª See what is meant by confidential patient information
â–ª Find examples of when confidential patient information is used for individual care and examples of when it is used for purposes beyond individual care
â–ª Find out more about the benefits of sharing data
â–ª Understand more about who uses the data
â–ª Find out how your data is protected
â–ª Be able to access the system to view, set or change your opt-out setting
â–ª Find the contact telephone number if you want to know any more or to set/change your opt-out by phone
â–ª See the situations where the opt-out will not apply
You can also find out more about how patient information is used at:
https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/ (which covers health and care research); and https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know (which covers how and why patient information is used, the safeguards and how decisions are made)
You can change your mind about your choice at any time.
Data being used or shared for purposes beyond individual care does not include your data being shared with insurance companies or used for marketing purposes and data would only be used in this way with your specific agreement.
Health and care organisations have until 2020 to put systems and processes in place so they can be compliant with the national data opt-out and apply your choice to any confidential patient information they use or share for purposes beyond your individual care.
Our practice only uses your personal health data to provide individualised care to you and does not disclose your data for any other purposes. The national data opt-out does not apply to our usage of your data and we are compliant with the policy.
Our practice takes part in research projects where the opt-out could apply. We are not currently compliant with the national data opt-out policy.
Processing of Staff and Candidates’ Information
This section explains how Biggleswade Dental Centre processes the information of staff and applicants for job roles within the practice.
What data do we have?
So that we can provide a safe and professional service, we need to keep certain records about our team members. We may record the following types of data:
â–ª Your basic details and contact information e.g. your name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and next of kin
â–ª Your financial details e.g. details so that we can pay you, insurance, pension and tax details â–ª Your training records
We also record the following data which is classified as “special category”:
â–ª Health and social care data about you, which might include both your physical and mental health data – we will only collect this if it is necessary for us to know as your employer, e.g. fit notes or in order for you to claim statutory maternity/paternity pay
â–ª We may also, with your permission, record data about your race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or religion
As part of your engagement with the practice, you may be required to undergo a Criminal Record Check. This information is not kept for longer than is necessary—usually not more than 6 months following the recruitment decision, unless a dispute is raised or, in exceptional circumstances.
Why do we have this data?
We require this data so that we can contact you, pay you and make sure you receive the training and support you need to perform your job. By law, we need to have a lawful basis for processing your personal data.
We process your data because:
â–ª We have a legal obligation under UK employment law
â–ª We have a legitimate interest in processing your data – for example, for administration of training or learning course or emergency planning etc. These legitimate interests will be customary, or necessary for operational, administrative, HR and recruitment purposes and to otherwise manage employment relationship and interaction between employees
â–ª We are required to provide data to our regulator, CQC/NHS/RQIA/HIS/HIW, as part of our public interest obligations
â–ª We are required to do so in our performance of another public task
â–ª We process your special category data because It is necessary for us to process requests for sick pay or maternity pay
â–ª If we request your criminal records data it is because we have a legal obligation to do this due to the type of work you do. This is set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975
â–ª We may also process your data with your consent. If we need to ask for your permission, we will offer you a clear choice and ask that you confirm to us that you consent. We will also explain clearly to you what we need the data for and how you can withdraw your consent
Where do we collect your data from?
As your employer we need to receive specific data about you. This is collected from or shared with: â–ª You or your legal representative(s)
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â–ª Third parties – for example this could include references from your previous job We do this face to face, via phone, via email, via our website, via post, via application forms, via apps
How do we share your data?
Third parties are organisations we have a legal reason to share your data with. These include:
â–ª HMRC
â–ª Our pension and healthcare schemes. Nest Pensions
â–ª George Hay Online Accounting & Payroll
â–ª Organisations we have a legal obligation to share information with i.e. for safeguarding, the CQC, NHS England
â–ª The police or other law enforcement agencies if we have to by law or court order
How long do we hold your data?
The retention period for staff records is 6 years, however, certain information relating to team members may lawfully be kept for longer. Team members should refer to Record Retention (M 215) for further details on how this practice keeps and deposes of staff data. Application forms and interview notes for unsuccessful candidates are kept for one year.
Your rights
As an individual you have certain rights regarding our processing of your personal data, including a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as the relevant supervisory authority. For more information on your personal data rights, you can access information and advice on the ICO’s website.
You can request a copy of your personal file by contacting the Information Governance Lead
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The practice keeps records of your name, address, date of birth and details of any health problems as well as details of your dental treatment and details about your family. We keep this information so that we can provide you with the best dental care. Your personal information is kept very confidentially and securely.
We only use your personal information so we can give you the best dental care and for sending reminders to you.
We only pass your personal information to another dentist, doctor or hospital if you have a problem that needs their special skills and you need to go and see them. We will not give your information to anyone else unless the law allows us to or we have to provide it for legal reasons.
If you leave the practice, we will stop using your information, but will keep it confidentially and securely until you are 25 years old, when we will review if and when we can delete it. You can always ask for a copy of the information we hold for you, we can transfer it to another dentist or doctor at your request and you can ask us to stop using your personal information to send letters or contact you in other ways if you are no longer a patient at the practice.
When you reach 18 years of age the Privacy Notice about how we process your personal information will change to the adult version. This can be found on our website.
If you would like a copy of the information we hold about you or if you have any other enquiries it about such as to change an error in your information or to provide a copy of your information to somebody else please contact:
The Information Governance Lead: Sarah Meeds
Biggleswade Dental Centre,
Saffron Road, Biggleswade SG18 8DJ
Email: enquiries@toothfairys.co.uk,
Phone: 01767 660555
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