Privacy Policy

The Rata Veterinary Surgery respects your right to privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information at all times, we will ensure that your personal information is collected and used appropriately, lawfully, and transparently at all times.  

This Privacy Notice explains:   

1. Who we are
2. What personal information we collect 
3. Definition of personal information and processing
4. Data protection principles
5. Our legal basis (grounds) for using personal information
6. How we use your personal information 
7. Who we share your information with and why 
8. How we keep your information secure 
9. How long we keep your information
10. Your Data Protection rights  
11. How to contact us  
12. How to complain
13. Changes to this Privacy Notice
14. Cookies

 

1. Who we are

The Rata Veterinary Surgery are a visiting veterinary practice based in Bristol.  We are an experienced, compassionate and friendly team of dedicated visiting referral vets who offer a comprehensive range of services to other veterinary practices and their patients.

We fully understand our obligations within the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and are committed to ensuring we operate safely and securely within the regulation.

The Rata Veterinary Surgery determines the purposes and means of processing personal data relating to providing its services.  This means we are the data controllers for these core services and therefore responsible for managing this data and ensuring compliance.   

Where we work with our veterinary practices to provide our visiting surgeons and nurses, we will operate as joint data controllers for the purposes of protecting the personal information that is shared between the parties. 

 

2. What personal information we collect 

Personal information is any information that relates to you that can be used directly or indirectly to identify you. This can include a name, address, email address, phone number, images or other information that is not otherwise publicly available. 

We collect this personal information about you when you contact us about our services by email, phone or in person, or when you are introduced to us by our Consultant Vets.

We do not place cookies on your device when you visit our website, and we do not use Google analytics to track your activity on our website. 

The type of personal information we collect about you will depend on the purpose for which it is collected, but you can ask us at any point what information we hold about you, this is covered in section 10. 

 

3. Definition of personal information and processing

Personal information and processing are defined as follows:

• Personal data is information relating to an identifiable person, i.e. can be identified, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that person (UK GDPR article 4)
• Special categories of personal data means information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation and biometric/genetic data (GDPR article 9)
• Processing means any set of operations which is performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction (GDPR article 4)

 

4. Data protection principles

We process personal data in accordance with the following data protection principles:

• We process personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way
• We collect personal data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes
• We process personal data only where it is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes of processing
• We keep accurate personal data and take all reasonable steps to ensure that inaccurate personal data is rectified or deleted without delay
• We keep personal data in a form which permits identification from personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purpose of the processing or, if for longer periods, for such reasons as permitted by the GDPR
• We adopt appropriate technical and organisational measures to make sure that personal data is secure, and protected against unauthorised or unlawful processing, and accidental loss, destruction, or damage

We will not process personal data of individuals for reasons other than the stated purpose or purposes. 

Where we process special categories of personal data to perform obligations, this is done in accordance with a policy, or for legal reasons. We will update personal data promptly if an individual advises that his/her information has changed or is inaccurate.

 

5. Our legal basis (grounds) for using personal information

There are several reasons why we hold, process, and share personal data. Under data protection laws, the lawful reasons for processing personal data include:

• Consent – you can remove your consent at any time by contacting our Data Protection Leads, whose contact details are at the end of this Privacy Notice
• We have a contractual obligation – for the performance of a contract
• We have a legal obligation – to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation
• We have a vital interest – to protect the vital interests of yourself or another person
• We need it to perform a public task – a task carried out in the public interest
• We have a legitimate interest – a legitimate interest for yourself or one of the organisations you/we share data with (e.g. legal adviser) except where those rights are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection.

Sometimes the handling of personal data may fall within several of the above lawful grounds, however, is most frequently based on consent, contractual obligation and legitimate interest. 

 

6. How we use your personal information

We use the information that we hold in order to support and maintain our initial and continued care of your pets, our contractual relationship with the veterinary practices we work with and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.  This includes providing our services to you and any related activities required or requested. We also process your data for specific business purposes to enable us to give you the best support services and the best experience. Our business purposes include the following: 

• To ensure that we deliver outstanding and appropriate care for you and your pets
• To meet our contractual and legal obligations
• To meet our regulatory requirements

You have the right to object to this processing if you wish, please see ‘Your Data Protection Rights’  section below. 

 

7. Who we share your information with and why

We may also share your information with external third parties who perform tasks for us and help us to provide the services you require these may include:  

• the vet practice who has introduced the parties 
• external IT providers when required for system development or management of the practice management system 
• colleagues and associates of the Rata Veterinary Surgery when necessary
• other organisations, including regulatory bodies, the police and fraud prevention agencies, to prevent and detect fraud when necessary
• third parties where required by law, court order or regulation; and/or as part of an acquisition or sale when necessary

 

8. How we keep your information secure

We are committed to ensuring the confidentiality of the personal information that we hold about you, and we continue to review our security controls and related policies and procedures to ensure that your personal information remains secure.  When we contract with third parties, we impose appropriate security, privacy and confidentiality obligations on them to ensure that personal information is kept secure. 

All information whether that be personal information, contact information or the clinical history of pets medical records are stored securely within our practice management system, Eclipse.

We do not share or process your personal information outside of the United Kingdom, the European Union or the European Economic Area.

 

9. How long we keep your information

We keep your personal information only as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet regulatory, audit or legislative requirements.  Personal information will be securely disposed of when it is no longer required for the purpose it was collected.

We are required to keep some performance data in order to meet our clinical responsibilities, however this data is anonymised and only stored for research and regulatory reasons. 

 

10. Your Data Protection Rights

• Your right of access – you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information 
• Your right to rectification – you have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate.  You also have the right to complete information if you think it is incomplete 
• Your right to erasure – you have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances
• Your right to restriction of processing – you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances
• Your right to object to processing – you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Your right to data portability – you have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights.  If you make a request we have one calendar month to respond to you.

Please contact Matt Hibberd, our Data Protection Lead at Rata Veterinary Surgery, using the contact details below, if you wish to make a request.

 

11. Our contact details

Name: Matt Hibberd

BVSc Cert AVP (GSAS), MRCVS, RCVS
Email: info@ratavetsurgery.co.uk
Registered address: Rata Kararehe Limited (t/a Rata Veterinary Surgery)

Melinda House
14 Fraser Street
Windmill Hill
Bristol  BS3 4LY

Phone: 07469 969000 

 

12. How to complain

If you have any queries or concerns regarding the personal information that we hold about you then we request that in the first instance you contact us directly using the contact details above.

However, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with our response or how we have used your data.

Name: Information Commissioner’s Office

Address: Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline No: 0303 123 1113

 

13. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We keep this Privacy Notice under regular review, and we may from time to time, update or modify it as necessary.  We will always post the latest version of our Privacy Notice on our website so please feel free to check back for the latest version should you need to.

This Privacy notice was last modified on 21/02/2024.

 

14. Cookies

Our website does not use any cookies, which is why you weren’t greeted by one of those annoying cookie banners when you arrived.