Privacy notice and medical disclaimer

Upper Limb Ltd provides Mr Alistair Jepson's private practice in shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist surgery. Upper Limb Ltd is the data controller for the personal information described in this notice, which means it decides how your information is used and is responsible for keeping it safe.

• Company: Upper Limb Ltd, registered in England
• Company number: 07202502
• Registered office: 4a Church Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7AA
• ICO registration: Upper Limb Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller, registration reference Z6057089 (opens the ICO public register entry in a new tab).

If you have any question about your information or this notice, email enquiries@upperlimb.co.uk or call the practice on 01604 633730.

We only collect what we need to look after you properly. This usually includes:

• your name, address, phone number and email address
• your date of birth
• your GP's details
• your insurer and membership details, if you are using health insurance
• health information, such as your symptoms, referral letters, scans, test results, clinic letters and any photos you send us
• the messages you send through the enquiry forms on this website

Health information is treated as a special category of data under UK data protection law, so it is given extra protection.

We use your information to:

• provide and arrange your care, including consultations, scans, injections and surgery
• keep in touch with you about appointments, results and your treatment
• bill your insurer, or send you an invoice if you are paying for yourself
• meet our legal and regulatory duties, such as keeping accurate medical records

Why we are allowed to

Data protection law asks us to explain the legal reason for using your information. In plain terms:

• For appointments, billing and administration, we rely on the agreement you make with us when you arrange care, or on our legitimate interest in running the practice well.
• For your health information, we rely on the condition that allows health professionals to use health data to diagnose and treat patients and manage their care (Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR).
• Where the law requires it, we use your information to meet our legal obligations.

We share only what is needed, and only with people and organisations involved in your care or in paying for it:

• Your GP and the person who referred you, so they are kept up to date.
• The hospitals where you are seen, Circle Three Shires Hospital and Woodland Hospital. They keep their own records about you under their own privacy notices.
• Your insurer, when you use health insurance, so your treatment can be authorised and paid for.
• Clinical colleagues involved in your care, such as anaesthetists, radiologists and hand therapists.
• Carebit, which provides the practice's secure patient record and patient portal and acts only on the practice's instructions. You can read more in the guide to your Carebit patient portal on the patient FAQs page.
• AI or ambient voice dictation tools, which help write up clinic notes, are only used with your permission. You can say no, and it will not affect your care.

We never sell your information.

Medical records are kept for as long as NHS records guidance and professional guidance require. These set minimum periods so that your history is available if you need further care, or if questions about your treatment arise later. When records are no longer needed, they are disposed of securely.

Your information is held in secure systems with access controls, so only people who need to see it to look after you, or to run the practice, can do so.

You have the right to:

• see the information we hold about you
• correct anything that is inaccurate
• ask us to delete your information, where this applies (medical records usually have to be kept for a set period)
• ask us to limit how we use your information
• object to some uses of your information
• receive a copy of information you gave us in a format you can pass on

To make a request, please contact the practice. We may ask you to confirm your identity, and we will normally reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how your information has been handled, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk (opens in a new tab).

Enquiry forms. When you send an enquiry, the details you enter go securely to the practice team so they can reply. Please only include the health information needed for us to help you.

Cookies. The website may use essential cookies that it needs in order to work properly.

Videos. Some pages include YouTube or Vimeo videos. These only load when you press play, and the video provider may then set its own cookies.

Other websites. This website links to other sites, such as Doctify, PHIN and Circle Health Group. They have their own privacy and cookie policies, and we are not responsible for how they handle your information.

This website gives general information about shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist conditions and their treatment. It is not a substitute for a consultation, and it cannot take account of your own history, examination or scans.

Reading this website does not create a doctor-patient relationship with Mr Jepson. Results of treatment vary from one patient to another, and the right option for you can only be decided after a proper assessment. If you would like advice about your own condition, please contact the practice to arrange a consultation.