Introduction

In addition to legal requirements Orchard Vets has an ethical obligation to protect the confidentiality of our clients. The Practice is committed to protecting the privacy and security of both clients and visitors to our website.

Your personal data (i.e. any information which identifies you, or which can be identified as relating to you personally) may be collected and used by Orchard Vets on our website or at any of our surgeries.

This Privacy Policy explains the types of personal information we may collect about you when you interact with us, such as receiving veterinary services, paying subscriptions, visiting our website or receiving newsletters and other communications. It also explains how we will store and handle that personal information, how we keep it safe and how you can exercise your privacy rights.

We will never sell your personal data or pass it on to anyone else without good reason or your expressed consent, so you can be assured that you will receive no unexpected communications from other organisations because of information you have given us.

By engaging with our Practice to provide veterinary services, or by visiting our website, orchardvets.co.uk, you are accepting and consenting to this policy.

You can contact us about privacy matters by mail at Orchard Veterinary Centre Ltd, 410 Birchfield Lane, Oldbury, B69 1AD, by phone on any of our surgery numbers, or by email at enquiries@orchardvets.com.

 

What information do we collect and why?

We collect information from you when registering, placing an order or communicating with us. For example:

• name, title, address and contact details (phone and email) when you register as a client, visit our website or when your pet is referred to us from another veterinary practice,
• financial information, such as card or bank details, when you make a payment,
• your IP address and details you include in any form when you use our website,
• personal description, photographs, or recordings in sound and/or vision during telephone conversations or when you visit the surgery,
• other information you may give us during our conversations and consultations.

We also collect information when you voluntarily complete customer surveys, participate in competitions, submit job applications, email us, engage with us on social media or when we microchip your pet, help with pet insurance claims or complete pet travel documents.

We collect this information from you directly, through our website, from microchip databases and insurance companies, and from other veterinary practices when animals are referred to us.

These details help us to:

1. As part of your contract with us:

• to provide veterinary and animal health care services to you and your pets,
• to manage and process your membership of the Pal For Life scheme,
• to process payments,
• to make bookings and take payments on our website,
• to communicate important messages to you about the health and wellbeing of your pets. These communications include keeping you informed about test results and the progress of your pet’s treatment, and gathering information from you about you and your pet which will help to improve the service we offer and to treat your pet’s health problems.

2. For legal reasons:

• to comply with legal obligations,
• for tax and VAT requirements,
• when we microchip dogs or complete pet travel documents.

3. For other legitimate reasons, such as to communicate with you 

• to remind you when significant steps need to be taken to preserve your animal’s health,
• to inform you of developments in veterinary medicine that may be relevant to you,
• to educate you on the best practices of pet care to help maximise the welfare and happiness of animals,
• to offer services that are of benefit to your pet,
• to send you our newsletter, and to manage your preferences if you elect not to receive our newsletter,
• to encourage website visitors to become clients.

You can choose whether to receive these messages or how you receive them by logging into your account on our website or by contacting us. Remember, we will not pass on your personal details to others without your consent and we do not send unnecessary or frequent messages.

If you are not a client and you register with our website or make an enquiry we may communicate with you to give you useful information or send our newsletter. You can give or withdraw your consent to this on the registration form by visiting your account page on our website or by contacting us.

We also use information for other legitimate reasons, such as client and staff security, and to understand how our website is used.

We carry out research and analysis on our clinical and animal records to assist in developing medical advice and treatments, to better understand the needs of our clients and to identify patterns and trends. This helps improve our approach to medical conditions and makes our services more effective. Understanding our clients and their pets also helps us provide a better experience and greater satisfaction to our visitors.

 

Who may we sometimes share your data with

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties. As a veterinary practice we uphold the ethical principal (as should all veterinary practices) of never disclosing or compromising information entrusted to us about you or your pets. If we did so we would expose ourselves to the full disciplinary powers of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS, our regulator).

There are a few circumstances where information must be shared, for example, with banks when payments are made, with other veterinary practices when pets are referred or you change vets, with laboratories when tests are carried out, with pet insurance companies if you make a claim, to comply with the law when registering microchips and pet travel documents, for animal or child welfare if abuse is suspected, or to defend our rights.

 

How we protect your information

We employ a variety of physical and technical measures to keep your data safe and to prevent unauthorised access to, use of or disclosure of your personal information. 

Electronic data and databases are stored on secure computer systems within the United Kingdom and we control who has access to information (using both physical and electronic means). Our staff receive data protection training and we have a set of detailed data protection procedures which personnel are required to follow when handling personal data.

Our website is secured (https) with the highest level of encryption available so that all electronic data between your browser and our servers is encrypted.

Payment security

If you use a credit or debit card to pay on-line your card details are entered securely directly to our card payment bank’s website and none of the card details are stored on our site. For card payments at our surgeries only the paper copy is kept and only long enough for our administrative needs.

We store bank details for direct debit payments on electronic and paper files which are destroyed when no longer needed and are passed only to our bank for BACS processing.

Recordings and images

During our contacts with you we may take or receive photographic images of you and your pets. These images remain our copyright and we may use them for educational purposes or to promote the Practice. We will only identify you by name with your consent.

Many of your conversations with us on the telephone, at the reception desk or in the consulting room are recorded. These recordings are for training purposes and to protect you and our staff and are kept for only as long as needed.

Our premises have CCTV and you may be recorded when you visit us. CCTV is used to help provide security and to protect both you and our staff. The recordings will only be viewed when necessary (e.g. to detect or prevent crime) and footage is only stored temporarily.

Where we store information

Orchard Vets operates in the United Kingdom and we store our data within this country. Our email newsletter lists may be stored in other countries by companies compliant with EU data protection rules.

How long we store information

We will only use and store information for so long as it is required for the purposes for which it was collected. Storage time depends on the information in question and what it is being used for. For example, if you ask us not to send you our email newsletter, we will stop storing your emails for this purpose (though we’ll keep a record of your preference not to be emailed). We continually review what information we hold and delete what is no longer required.

 

Keeping you in control

To remain in control of your personal data you have the following legal rights:

• the right to confirmation as to whether or not we have your personal data and, if we do, to obtain a copy of the personal information we hold,
• the right to have inaccurate data rectified,
• the right to have your data erased (though this will not apply where it is necessary for us to continue to use the data for a lawful reason),
• the right to object to your data being used for marketing or profiling.

Please keep in mind that there are exceptions to the rights above and though we will always try to respond to your satisfaction there may be situations where we are unable to do so. If you would like further information on your rights or wish to exercise them, please contact us.

You can decide not to receive communications or you can change how we contact you at any time. If you wish to do so please log in to your account on our website and click the Contact Options link or contact us by mail, telephone or email as above.

You may request details of the personal information which we hold about you either by logging in to our website and clicking the Check Your Personal Data link or by contacting us as detailed above.

Complaints

You can complain to us directly by contacting us. If you are not happy with our response, or you believe that your data protection or privacy rights have been infringed, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office which regulates and enforces data protection law in the UK. Details of how to do this can be found at www.ico.org.uk

 

Website cookies and links

Cookies

We use cookies on our website to improve the user’s experience, for instance to remember you when you logon, and for anonymous analysis of the pages visited to help us improve the online service provided.

Links to other sites

Our website may contain links to other sites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our website, you should note that we do not have any control over that other site. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement.

 

Changes to this notice

We will amend this Privacy Notice from time to time to ensure it remains up to date and accurately reflects how and why we use your personal data. The current version of our Privacy Notice will always be posted on our website.

This Privacy Notice was last updated on 1st January 2024.

 

Orchard Veterinary Centre Ltd 410 Birchfield Lane, Oldbury, West Midlands. B69 1AD Registered in England, No. 08478895