Privacy policy

M&A Ashworth Ltd respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.

This privacy notice will inform you as to how and why we collect, use and share your personal data and will tell you about your privacy rights, how the law protects you and how to contact us.

​

 

Important information and who we are

Purpose of this privacy notice

This privacy notice applies to clients of M&A Ashworth Ltd where we have provided a medical report on your injury or in a case of alleged negligence against another healthcare practitioner. It also applies if you are contacting us for any other purposes.

Our website (www.hipandkneepain.org) is for educational purposes and we do not collect any identifiable data on your visit to this site.

 

 

Controller

Mark Ashworth is the data protection officer (DPO) for M&A Ashworth Ltd and is responsible for your personal data and for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, please contact the DPO using the details set out below.

 

Contact details

Mr M Ashworth, Mount Stuart Hospital, St Vincent’s Rd. Torquay TQ1 4UP
Email: mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com
Tel number: 01803 313881

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact our DPO in the first instance.

 

Changes to the privacy notice and your duty to inform us of changes

This version was last updated on 09 09 2018. From time to time, we may change our privacy notice.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

 

Third-party links

Our website includes links to third-party websites. Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements.

When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit (for example to see how they use your information and to find out how to opt out, or delete, such information).

 

The data we collect about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

To provide legal reports we collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

• Identity Data - includes first name, last name, title, date of birth, marital & residential status and gender.

• Contact Data - includes postal and billing address (for the instructing agent), email address, telephone number and photos where you or your solicitor/instructing agent have provided these,.

• Financial Data – we do not record your bank account details.

• Transaction Data - includes details about payments to and from your solicitor or insurance company.

• Case related Data - includes any information you provide to us about a personal injury or alleged negligence related enquiry for which you require our support and assistance.  This can include sensitive personal information (also known as Special Categories of Personal Data) which is information which relates, for example, to your health, sexual orientation, race or religion. We may obtain sensitive personal information about you from your instructing solicitor/insurer, or if you volunteer it during any of your contacts with us.

 

The information you provide to us is confidential and protected by law. The confidentiality of personal information is a top priority for M&A Ashworth Ltd. Your personal information is securely sent to the instructing agency/solicitor/insurer and no one else. It is not shared with any external organisation, government department, local council, or marketing company. The information collected will be used solely to produce a medical report to aid your case.

 

​

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (your solicitor or insurance company). In this case, we will be unable to help you.

 

How your personal data is collected

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including:

Direct interactions

• This occurs during our consultation with you

 

Pre-consultation questionnaire

• Prior to your consultation with Mr Ashworth you will be sent a questionnaire to fill out. There are 2 options, the first can be filled out on line and emailed to mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com. We recommend you use a password and advise Mr Ashworth’s secretary beforehand what the password will be. The second option is to print off the questionnaire and post it to the address advised (at least one week prior to your consultation).

 

​

How we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform the contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you, your solicitor or insurer.

• Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

Generally, we will rely on consent as a basis for processing your personal data and you will be asked to sign a GDPR consent form after an explanation of the process when you first see Mr Ashworth.

You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us on mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com.

 

 

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us on mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

 

 

Disclosure of your personal data

We may have to share your personal data with other parties if instructed to do so by your solicitor/insurer.

See third parties below.

​

 

Lawful basis

Legitimate interest of our business in conducting and managing your case to enable us to give you the best service and the best and most secure experience.

Performance of contract to process your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request or that of the instructing agency before entering into such a contract.

We will comply with a legal or regulatory obligation in processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that we are subject to.

 

Third parties 

• Service providers acting as processors who assist in the operation of our organisation and in the provision of services such as IT and system administration and support services, data storage, hosting and back up services, back office functions, accounting functions.

• Professional advisers acting as processors or joint controllers including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.

• HM Revenue & Customs, regulators (such as the ICO) and other authorities acting as processors or joint controllers based in the United Kingdom who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.

 

 

International transfers

We will never transfer your personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

 

​

Data security

We understand that the security of your information is important to you. We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. We use standard physical and procedural security measures to protect information from the point of collection to the point of destruction. This includes encryption, firewalls, access controls, and other procedures to protect information from unauthorised access.

Where data processing is carried out on our behalf by a third party, we take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to prevent unauthorised disclosure of personal data.

In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

Despite these precautions, however, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the internet or that unauthorised persons will not obtain access to personal data. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

 

​

Data retention

How long will you use my personal data for?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

The criteria we use for retaining different types of personal data, includes the following:

​

• Legal and regulatory requirements - we may need to retain personal data for up to ten (10) years after we cease providing services and products to you, where necessary, to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and to comply with our insurers terms and conditions.

 

• Financial records - we retain a record of your instructing agencies payment for ten (10) years after completion of your case.

​

• Case files - we retain your case file for ten (10) years after your case is closed. Where we have been given specific advice, this may have be retained for a longer period.

​

In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see 'request erasure' below for further information.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research, promotion or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

 

Your legal rights

You have the right to:

Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

 

Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

 

Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

 

Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

 

Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

 

Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

 

Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com.

 

No fee is usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

 

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

 

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

 

Contact our DPO

If you have any queries relating to how we use your information please contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO):

Contact details

Mr M Ashworth, Mount Stuart Hospital, St Vincent’s Rd. Torquay TQ1 4UP
Email: mrmashworthsecretary@gmail.com
Tel number: 01803 313881

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact our DPO in the first instance.