Last updated: 04/05/2026

PRIVACY POLICY

Our contact details

Name: The Hear Clinic
Address: 1 Grange Lodge Cottages, Stoughton Grange Rural Centre, Oadby, Leicestershire, LE2 2FB
Phone Number: 0116 271 0777
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.thehearclinic.co.uk

The type of personal information we collect

We collect and process the following categories of personal data:

1. Personal and contact details

  • Name
  • Address
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Date of birth

2. Health information (special category data)

  • Medical history
  • Ear health information
  • Treatment records
  • Consent forms

3. Booking and appointment data

  • Appointment history
  • Booking details submitted via our online booking system

4. Payment information

  • Payment records
  • Transaction details
    (Note: We do not store full card details.)

5. Communications data

  • Records of emails, SMS messages, and phone calls
  • Appointment reminders and correspondence

6. Technical and usage data

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Pages visited and time spent on our website
  • Cookie data

How we get your personal information

We collect personal information:

Directly from you

  • When you complete online booking forms
  • When you attend appointments
  • When you complete medical or consent forms
  • When you contact us by phone, email, or in person
  • When you make a payment

Automatically

  • Through cookies and analytics tools when you use our website

From third parties

  • Online booking and practice management systems
  • Payment processors

How we use your personal information

We use your information to:

  • Provide healthcare assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
  • Manage appointments and bookings
  • Maintain medical records
  • Send appointment confirmations and reminders
  • Process payments
  • Communicate with you regarding your care
  • Improve our website and services
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations

Appointment reminders and communications

We may contact you by SMS, email, or telephone to manage your appointments and provide important service-related communications.

This includes:

  • Appointment confirmations
  • Appointment reminders
  • Follow-up information related to your care

These messages are typically sent via our practice management system, Cliniko, and its integrated communication services.

We use your contact details (such as your mobile phone number and email address) for this purpose.

Lawful basis

We rely on legitimate interests to send appointment reminders and service communications, as these are necessary for the efficient delivery of healthcare services and help reduce missed appointments.

Opt-out

You can opt out of SMS or email reminders at any time by:

  • contacting us directly, or
  • following any opt-out instructions included in the message

Please note that opting out may increase the likelihood of missed appointments.

Lawful bases for processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Article 6 (general data)

  • Contract – to provide healthcare services you request
  • Legal obligation – for medical record keeping and regulatory compliance
  • Legitimate interests – for administration, communications, and service improvement
  • Consent – where required (e.g. non-essential cookies)

Article 9 (special category – health data)

  • Provision of healthcare and treatment

Online booking

We use an online booking and patient management system provided by Cliniko.

When you book an appointment online, the following information may be collected:

  • Name, address, date of birth
  • Contact details
  • Medical and appointment information

Cliniko processes this data on our behalf as a data processor.

Payments

Online payments

We use Stripe to process online payments securely.

  • Payment details are entered directly into Stripe systems
  • We do not store full card details

Telephone and in-person payments

Payments made via card machine are processed securely through our payment provider.
We do not record or store full card numbers.

Accounting

We use Xero for financial record keeping.
This may include transaction records and limited personal details.

Cookies and analytics

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website.

Cookies may include:

  • Strictly necessary cookies – required for website and booking functionality
  • Analytics cookies – to understand how visitors use our website
  • Booking-related cookies – used by our online booking system

We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised usage data about how visitors interact with our website.

Where required, we will request your consent before placing non-essential cookies.
You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings or our cookie banner.

Sharing your personal information

We may share your personal information with:

  • Healthcare professionals involved in your care (with your consent where appropriate)
  • Service providers acting as data processors, including:
    • Cliniko (booking, patient records, communications)
    • Stripe (payment processing)
    • Barclaycard (payment processing)
    • Xero (accounting)
    • Google Analytics (website analytics)

We ensure all third parties respect your data and comply with data protection law.

International data transfers

Some of our service providers may process personal data outside the UK.

Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

  • UK adequacy regulations
  • Standard contractual clauses

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored.

We retain records:

  • For as long as necessary to provide healthcare
  • In accordance with legal and regulatory requirements
  • In line with medical record retention guidelines (typically up to 8 years after last treatment or death)

We retain phone call logs for a minimum of 6 months unless required for longer.

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or destroyed.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

  • The right of access
  • The right to rectification
  • The right to erasure
  • The right to restriction of processing
  • The right to object to processing
  • The right to data portability

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights.
We have one month to respond.

To make a request, contact: [email protected]

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can contact us at [email protected]

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk

Changes to this policy

We keep this privacy policy under regular review and may update it from time to time.