Privacy Policy

Information about our Organisation and Website

The privacy of all our customers and Web site users is of great importance to us at Salts Healthcare Ltd. This Privacy Policy outlines how your personal information will be treated. Note that all of the information set out below may not apply to you. The Privacy Policy contains an overview of all possible interactions we may have with you and thus one or more of these may apply to you depending on how you have interacted with us.

For all of our services, the data controller – the company that is responsible for the personal data that you share with us is Salts Healthcare Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 00074096

Anonymous Access

You can access our Web site home page and browse our site without disclosing your personal data.

Links

This web site may link to other web sites, which Salts Healthcare Ltd. do not have control over. We are not responsible for the content of such web sites or for their own privacy practices, or for the way in which information about their users is treated. In particular, unless expressly stated, we are not agents for these sites nor are we authorised to make representations on their behalf.

Cookies

This website uses cookies. To find out what cookies we use, why and how to manage them, please visit our Cookie Policy here

What information do we hold about you, why and how we use it?

We collect the personal data that you may enter whilst using our services, including your name, address, email address and telephone number. We do not collect information about our visitors from other sources, such as public records or bodies, or private organisations.

The law on data protection specifies the different reasons a company can hold and process your personal data. We rely on one or more of the following legal grounds when we process your personal data:

Consent

This applies when you provide your personal data and specifically consent to us to use that data to provide a specific service.

For example: to send you information about our products and services.

When collecting your data, we will ensure it is clear to you what you are consenting to. You have the right to withdraw consent to any processing that you have previously given consent to at any time.

Contractual obligations

This applies when you provide us with your personal data in order for us to provide you with a service.

For example: When you order an item or sample from us for delivery, we’ll collect your address details to deliver your items

Legal obligations

This is where we need to process your data in order to comply with the law.

For example: we can pass on details of individuals involved in criminal activity if requested by law enforcement.

We may also contact you requesting to provide us with feedback following your order/sample request in order to fulfil regulatory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

This is where we use your personal data to enable us to accomplish our legitimate interests as may be reasonably expected as part of running our business.

For example: We will review the order history of our customers to ensure we can accurately forecast demand for our products.

Also, if you request a sample from us, we may contact you for feedback on the samples provided for product improvement purposes.

Below is a breakdown of the types of information we may hold about you, why and how we use it should you engage in one or more of our services:

Information	For what purpose we hold it
Name and Address	This information is essential for us to identify you and to enable us to dispense and deliver your prescription items. To send your sample order to you when you request a sample using our online Sample Request Form or via our Customer Advisory Team. To send you information about products and services, but only if you have consented for us to do so. To contact you about becoming a candidate in Market Research and/or product assessment, but only if you have consented for us to do so. This information is detailed on the prescriptions we receive from your GP in order to dispense to you. After we have dispensed, prescriptions containing your name and address are sent to the NHS for payment
Telephone Number	This is essential to enable us to contact you about your prescription order and/or delivery arrangements or if you are using the Medilink Language Support Service.
Date of Birth	This information is essential for us to identify you when in communication with GPs or other Healthcare professionals. In England it will also be used as part of assessing whether automatic age exemption from prescription charges is applicable. This information is detailed on the prescriptions we receive from your GP in order to dispense to you. After we have dispensed, prescriptions containing your date of birth are sent to the NHS for payment.
NHS (England & Wales) number CHI (Scotland) number	This information is essential for us to accurately identify you when in communication with GPs, Healthcare professionals and other NHS bodies. This information is detailed on the prescriptions we receive from your GP in order to dispense to you. After we have dispensed, prescriptions containing your NHS or CHI number are sent to the NHS for payment.
GP Details	This information is essential to enable us to communication with your GP regarding your prescription requirements. This information is detailed on the prescriptions we receive from your GP in order to dispense to you. After we have dispensed, prescriptions containing your GP details are sent to the NHS for payment.
Exemption status (England only)	For customers who are not automatically exempt from prescription charges due to age, we hold information to clarify their status to enable us to provide accurate information to NHS Business Services when submitting prescriptions for payment.
Nomination for EPS Electronic Prescription Service (England only)	This is essential to enable us to receive your prescriptions through the Electronic Prescription Service. We will have gained your consent to do so and recorded this and will have used this consent to update your NHS Summary Care Record accordingly.
Any special delivery instructions	This is essential to enable us to delivery your prescription appliances if you are not going to be home to receive them personally. In this instance, we would not leave a delivery without special instructions being in place. Special instructions are personal to each individual and entirely optional, and could be for example ‘leave in the porch'.
Referrer	This information is typically taken when a referral is made by a Health Care Professional. It is generally used for information purposes only.
Proxy	We can act as your proxy to request on your behalf, a prescription from your GP. We will only do so if you have given your consent for us to do so and if your GP will accept requests from third parties.
Information regarding specific allergies	This information enables us to safeguard against possible allergic reactions caused by items we supply.
Surgery type/Condition	To enable us to check product suitability and may also be used to monitor usage with national guidelines.
Mobile Number and Email address	We can use these contact details to inform you about your order and/or delivery and we will have gained your consent to do so.
eView	Medilink® can on request, provide analysis to the NHS regarding prescriptions dispensed. The tool we use to do this we call eView. If we are asked questions about specific dispensed transactions, we need your explicit consent to pass this information to the NHS. Without it, we would not do so.

Companies that provide services on our behalf

We share your personal information with companies that provide services on our behalf. We always ensure these companies give your information the same level of care and security we do. If your information is to be sent outside of the UK or EEA (European Economic Area), we make sure it’ll be subject to standards of protection and security that are as high as those Salts Healthcare uses. Examples of the functions that may be carried out by external companies:

Mailing houses and printers
Online and social media advertising
Delivery services such as couriers
Patient survey platforms
NHS bodies, such as GPs and hospitals

With whom do we share your personal data with?

The data we hold about you which highlighted in orange-coloured text is shared with our delivery partner, if we use a third party to deliver in your area. We do this as an essential part of being able to provide our services to you.

We have had a relationship with our delivery partner for more than 25 years and we have all the assurances that your data is held solely for the purposes of them delivering to you. In addition, we may share your information as follows:

Salts Medilink® Stoma Nurse Team

Only with your permission, we share data with our Salts Medilink® Stoma Nurse Team,to enable us to conduct clinical services(England and Wales only).

Information for Patients of a Salts Medilink® Stoma Nurse contacting their nurse through text messages/WhatsApp messages and emails.

If you are a patient of a Salts Medilink® Stoma Nurse, text/WhatsApp messages and emails are now an accepted form of communication. These messages may be used for appointment reminders and to give you reassurance. Your nurse will not be able to give you detailed advice in this way and will need to speak to you via a follow-up telephone call.

If you decide to send photos to your nurse, these will be uploaded onto your electronic notes and deleted off the nurse’s phone on the same working day. If you send photos to your nurse out of hours or on a non-working day, these will be uploaded to your electronic notes on the nurse’s next working day and deleted off their phone. Your nurse will ask for consent to upload your details/photos at your first visit, but you can withdraw this consent at any time.

Messages will not be read during non-working hours and should not be used for urgent queries. Be mindful if your nurse does not respond to your message, you should call instead, as they may not be at work but will have a useful contact number on their voicemail. In cases of emergency, you should always contact either your GP, dial 111 or 999 as appropriate.

Direct Marketing

With your permission, we send you details regarding the following:

Product information
Event information
Newsletter

A trusted marketing company provides these on our behalf. In addition, with your consent, our Customer Advisory Team can provide you with samples of our product. You have the right to stop direct marketing and to withdraw consent to any processing that you have previously given consent to, at any time.

Language Interpreter

We will share your Name and Contact number with the third party translation company, when using the Medilink Language Support Service. Please note that no information is stored by the third party company used for this translation service. A trusted marketing company provides these on our behalf. In addition, with your consent, our Customer Advisory Team can provide you with samples of our product range. You have the right to stop direct marketing and to withdraw consent to any processing that you have previously given consent to, at any time.

Other Healthcare Professionals
If you are a patient of a Salts Medilink Stoma Nurse we may sometimes share relevant information from your records with other care professionals or agencies, either through electronic or manual means. An example may be to routinely share information with social care professionals or others involved in your direct care. This will be so that continuity of appropriate care can be provided to you.

Customer feedback surveys & market research

Where you have used a Salts Healthcare product or service and given us consent; we may invite you to give feedback on the products or services you’ve used or take part in market research activities such as customer surveys, questionnaires or focus groups. Although the invitation may be sent to you by third party agencies on our behalf, rest assured that we only send your email address. Salts Healthcare will only ever share your data with reputable agencies in a safe and secure manner. All personal data is deleted as soon as it’s been used. Keeping your data safe is our top priority.

Product Assessments & market research

Salts Healthcare’s vision and values are Caring, Listening and Innovating to improve lives, therefore research is at the heart of what we do.

With your consent, we may contact patients who meet a particular set of criteria, including health-related factors, to invite them to take part in clinical research. The research may be carried out by external companies acting on our behalf, but we’ll never pass your personal information onto them unless we have your consent to do so. You’re always free to decline or withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.

Patient Care Survey

If you use our Stoma Care Nurse services, you may be asked to complete a survey to allow us to monitor our performance and also to enable to meet our regulatory obligations outlined by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This survey is provided by iWantGreatCare (iWGC). iWGC are a healthcare company which support providers in collecting and collating patient experiences. If you would like more information on what data iWGC will be collecting should you wish to share your feedback, rating or review, you can access their privacy notice via the following link: https://www.iwantgreatcare.org/information/privacy-policy

If you are interested in completing the survey, you can do so by accessing a website link or in a paper format.

Please note - this survey is completely voluntary and it up to you how much or how little information you want to share in this survey.

Virtual Review Feedback Survey

You may also be asked to complete a Virtual Review Feedback survey by your Stoma Care Nurse if you use our Stoma Care Nurse services. The purpose of this survey is to monitor how your virtual communication was with your Stoma Care Nurse and if there is anything else we can do in order to further improve the virtual services we provide to you.

The Virtual Review Feedback survey is completely voluntary and will only be emailed to you if you would like to complete this and if you have a valid email address.

How long will we keep your personal data?

We will only keep your data for as long as is necessary to enable us to provide our services to you.

Other People’s Information

If you provide us with information about another person, you confirm that they have appointed you to act for them, to consent to the processing of their personal data and that you have informed them of our identity and the purposes (as set out above) for which their personal data will be processed. When we first contact them we may tell them where we got their information from.

Security

We use a secure server, therefore when you place orders or access your account information your data is secure. SSL (the secure server software) encrypts your information before it is sent to us. We also take appropriate measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

We have implemented security policies, rules and technical measures to protect the personal data we have under our control from:

unauthorised access
improper use or disclosure
unauthorised modification
unlawful destruction or accidental loss

All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and are associated with the processing of personal data, are required to respect the confidentiality of our Customers personal data.

What are your rights?

You have a number of legal rights relating to your personal data:

Right to be informed: Know how we use your data – which is provided to you within this privacy notice.

Access request: You can request a readable copy of the personal data we may keep about you. This information will be provided within 1 month of receipt of the request.

We may require proof of identity before providing this information.

You are entitled to challenge the data we hold about you and where appropriate, you may have the data Erased, Amended or Completed.

Portability: You are entitled to request that data you have provided to us and that we hold electronically is transferred to yourself or another controller.

Direct Marketing: You are entitled to stop direct marketing and to withdraw consent to any processing that you have previously given consent to, at any time.

If you would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact Data Protection Officers, Salts Healthcare Ltd, Richard Street, Aston, B7 4AA or email dataprotection@salts.co.uk.

Note too that 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. Details of how to contact the ICO can be found on their website: ICO Website.