Privacy policy.

Dr Catherine Sykes is a registered healthcare professional providing mental health and well-being services. She and her staff are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

You will be asked for your address, telephone number, email address, GP details and date of birth and if applicable your healthcare insurance details. This data will be stored on a spreadsheet on a cloud based platform which can be accessed from Dr Catherine Sykes’ passcode locked iphone, ipad and laptop.

Dr Catherine Sykes employs a Personal Assistant (PA) to help with administration and invoicing. Anyone employed by Dr Catherine Sykes is required to sign a confidentiality agreement. Dr Catherine Sykes’ PA will have access to the cloud based spreadsheet for administration and invoicing purposes.

Dr Catherine Sykes may contact you using these details in relation to your therapy. For example, she may send reminders about certain tasks agreed in the therapy session.

You may also be emailed information that Dr Catherine Sykes considers of interest to you.

If you do not want her to contact you please inform Dr Catherine Sykes at any point during your therapy sessions.

Your data is also used to process any healthcare insurance claims and update medical professionals who are involved in your care. This is usually a GP or a psychiatrist. If you do not want an update to be sent to any other medical professionals, please inform Dr Catherine Sykes. If Dr Catherine Sykes thinks your life or the life of others is at risk, she has a professional duty to inform your GP.

During your therapy session, Dr Catherine Sykes writes notes on her ipad to help with the process of therapy. Only your first name is used in these notes.

All identifiable client data is stored in separate files. All notes are deleted after 2 years, unless instructed to do so sooner or to keep on file. Your file will be closed and stored after the last session. If you decide at any point that you no longer wish to continue sessions, please send Dr Catherine Sykes an update, then your file will be closed. Files will be deleted 2 years after your file is closed.

At the end of your treatment, Dr Catherine Sykes will ask you if you would like your email to be added to her cloud based mailing system. Her newsletter keeps you informed about psychology research and her services once you have finished your treatment.

Dr Catherine Sykes subscribes to Creyos ( https://creyos.com/) which is a platform to help assess your mental health and brain health. Your date of birth is used in the system. You will be emailed Creyos progress reports. If you don’t want to receive these reports, please inform Dr Catherine Sykes.

Dr Catherine Sykes also subscribes to Top Doctors (https://www.topdoctors.co.uk/) which is a referral and review platform. You will be asked to provide a review at the end of your service use. This platform stores your email. Only Dr Catherine Sykes and her staff can access the data on Creyos and Top Doctors.

Your data will never be shared with any third parties.

Dr Catherine Sykes analyses the data in Creyos and Top Doctors for service improvement and promotional purposes. Non-identifiable review data and outcome data is used for promotional purposes. Please inform Dr Catherine Sykes if you don’t want your review or outcome data to be used for promotional purposes.

At present, the recording of therapy or coaching sessions, whether audio, video, or screen capture is strictly prohibited for both clients and practitioners. This policy is in place to protect the confidentiality, safety, and integrity of the therapeutic and coaching environment. We recognise the potential future benefits of session recordings for clinical review or client reflection, and as such, this policy will be reviewed periodically to assess its relevance and appropriateness in line with best practice and regulatory guidance.

Case information will never be shared with, or input into any artificial intelligence (AI) platforms or tools, ensuring that all client data remains confidential and securely managed in accordance with professional and legal standards.

Detailing about raising complaints about registrants on the Health & Care Professions Council can be found at http://www.hcpc-uk.org/complaints/contactus/ This privacy policy is regularly reviewed. Updated versions of the privacy policy will be added to the Dr Catherine Sykes website (www.drcatherinesykes.com) Cookies Policy