This statement lets you know how NDAS uses your personal information when you are referred to us for evaluation by your GP or healthcare practitioner. It also applies when you come to us directly without referral.

If you have any questions about how we use your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing: admin@ndas-autism.co.uk

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Overview

This summarises the personal information we use and what we use it for.

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If you have been referred to us by your GP or healthcare practitioner:

We use the personal information contained in their referral letter. This can include your:

• name
• address
• telephone number
• NHS number (or regional equivalent)
• reasons for referral (including details of symptoms you are presenting)
• your GP or healthcare practitioner’s diagnosis and autism assessment
• your medical history

If you are a minor or lack capacity, we will also receive the name, address, and telephone number of your parent, guardian or caregiver.

If you have not been referred to us by your GP or healthcare practitioner, we may request some of this information from you, your parent, guardian or caregiver.

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This information is used for:

• Confirming your suitability for assessment
• Arranging for you to be assessed by one of our specialist practitioners
• Completing your assessment and providing a diagnosis

Your name, address, email address, and appointment details:

This includes your:

• name
• address
• email address
• date and time of your appointment

This information is used for:

• Sending you (or your parent, guardian or caregiver) an Early Development Questionnaire
• Confirming your appointment for an assessment

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Information provided or developed during the assessment process:

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This includes:

• Information from referrals or appointment booking
• Personal information you or your parent, guardian or caregiver provide
• Diagnostic assessments
• Practitioner notes
• Practitioner diagnosis

This information is used for:

• Completing your assessment
• Providing a diagnosis

Information in your diagnosis:

This information is used for:

• Sending the diagnosis to you
• If you have been referred, also sending the diagnosis to your referring GP or healthcare practitioner

Invoice-related information:

This includes:

• Name
• Email address
• Postal address
• Charge for service
• Description of service

This information is used for:

• Providing our invoice for services
• If your referral is funded (such as by an NHS Trust), they will only receive the approval reference number associated with your referral

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What we use your personal information for

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NDAS only uses your personal information when it is necessary for the purposes of:

• receiving and administering your referral to us by your GP or healthcare practitioner;
• arranging an appointment for your assessment;
• completing your assessment and providing you (or your parent, guardian or caregiver) with a diagnosis;
• providing the diagnosis to you (or your parent, guardian, or caregiver), and to your GP or healthcare practitioner if they have referred you to us;
• administering the payment of our fees; and
• quality management of the service.

If we are unable to use your personal information in the ways we have described above, this will mean we will not be able to assess you or provide you with a diagnosis.

If you are a child, or if you are lacking capacity, we may process limited personal data of your parent, guardian, or caregiver so we can arrange your appointment. We will also share your diagnosis with them.

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Other ways we use your personal information

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These are about making sure we can administer our services effectively.

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Enquiries

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If you enquire about our services, we will use any personal information you give us only for:

• contacting you about our services;
• providing you with information about our services; and
• responding to your enquiries and requests.

We will not send you unsolicited marketing or other information about our services.

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Legal rights

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We all have legal rights, so to help us manage them we may need to use the personal information you have provided to us.

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Administration, quality, and training

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We also have to run our business and manage our relationship with you, so we will use your personal information for this as well. It will also be used to make sure our services are the best they can be, and so we can provide internal training.

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Who else gets your personal information?

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Our practitioner panel

NDAS maintains a panel of highly qualified and experienced practitioners who meet our patients, assess them, and provide a diagnosis. These practitioners will only ever use your personal information for the purposes we have described in this privacy statement.

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Service providers

To help us provide our services, we share your personal information with other people who provide services to us:

• technology and information services providers
• third-party service providers
• professional and other third-party advisers

These people can only ever use the personal information we share to provide their services to us or to support our delivery of our services to you. They cannot use your personal information for any other purposes.

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Security of personal information and where it is kept

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You want your personal information to be protected. We use strict procedures and security features to make sure this happens. Except as explained below, your personal data is kept in the United Kingdom.

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How long we retain your personal information

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We retain personal data only as long as necessary for our diagnostic services and in line with legal and professional standards:

• Care records, including assessments and clinical notes, are retained for 20 years.
• Emails and appointment records are retained for up to 2 years, after which they are securely deleted.

As a healthcare provider, we routinely process special category data. Our lawful basis under the UK GDPR is legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)), and for special category data, healthcare provision (Article 9(2)(h)).

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All data is stored securely and handled in accordance with data protection law.

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Lawful use of your personal information

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We only use your personal information if we are allowed to by law or with your permission. Our use of your personal information as described in this privacy statement is in our legitimate interests to provide you with the services that you have been referred to us to receive, or for which you have engaged us.

Our use of your health information is necessary for our medical diagnosis services.

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What are my rights

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You have personal information rights, described below. If you have any concerns about your personal information, contact our Data Protection Officer.

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Legitimate interests

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When we use your personal information in a way that we think is in our legitimate interest, it means that it is fair we use the personal information in that way. We also have to make sure our use does not harm you.

You can always object to our use of your personal information in this way at any time. The easiest way to do this is to contact us at:

Ardoch House, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, G82 5EW
or by email to admin@ndas-autism.co.uk

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Accessing, deleting, rectifying, and moving your personal information

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You have the right to:

• access your personal information and have disclosed to you what personal information we have collected, used, shared or sold about you, and for what purposes;
• object to our processing of your personal information where our collection and use is based on our legitimate interests;
• require us to delete your personal information;
• rectify any personal information we hold that is incorrect; and/or
• have your personal information transmitted to another data controller.

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Where applicable, if you want to exercise these rights, please contact us at:

Ardoch House, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, G82 5EW or by email to admin@ndas-autism.co.uk

Subject to the rights you have, and to any legal or other requirements, we will complete your request within thirty days.

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Complaining

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You can complain about our collection and use of your personal information to the Information Commissioners Office:
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www.ico.org.uk

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How do you contact us?

The data controller is Mackay Associates

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You can write to us at:
Ardoch House, Cardross, Dumbartonshire, G82 5EW or by email to admin@ndas-autism.co.uk

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If you wish to contact our data protection officer in relation to our use of your personal information, you can do so by emailing:
admin@ndas-autism.co.uk

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This Statement is effective from 23 July 2024.
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To see prior privacy statements, email admin@ndas-autism.co.uk