Privacy Policy
Last updated 10 July 2026
This policy explains what personal information I hold about you, why I hold it, how long I keep it, and what you can do about it. It applies to everyone who contacts the practice, and to everyone who becomes a patient.
Who I am
Dr Ben Ingram is the data controller for the information described here. The practice is a CQC-registered independent practice. I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZB747907.
You can contact me about anything in this policy by writing to 10 Carnation Crescent, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 4RY, by emailing contact@drbeningram.com, or by calling 01795 358853.
What information I collect
If you send an enquiry through this website, I collect your name, email address, phone number, and whatever you choose to tell me in the message. That form is processed by Netlify, which hosts this site.
If you become a patient, I collect and create a clinical record. That includes your medical history, family history, the findings of any examination, test results, correspondence with other clinicians, prescriptions issued, and notes of every consultation. Health information is a special category of personal data and it is treated accordingly.
If you pay the practice, Stripe handles your card details as my payment provider. I never see or store them.
Why I am allowed to hold it
Under UK GDPR I rely on the following lawful bases. For your enquiry, I rely on my legitimate interest in responding to people who contact the practice, and on taking steps at your request before entering a contract. For your clinical care, I rely on the contract between us, and, for the health information itself, on Article 9(2)(h), which permits the processing of health data for the provision of health care by a professional bound by a duty of confidentiality.
Where I am required to keep records by law, or where I need to establish or defend a legal claim, I rely on legal obligation and legitimate interests respectively.
Who I share it with
I do not sell your information and I do not share it for marketing. I share it only where it is necessary for your care or where the law requires it.
- Laboratories, when I send a sample for testing.
- Imaging providers and consultants, when I refer you.
- Pharmacies, when I issue a prescription.
- Semble, my clinical records system, which stores your record securely on my behalf.
- My medical defence organisation and legal advisers, if a claim or complaint is made.
- Your NHS GP, only with your consent, unless there is a serious risk to you or someone else.
Rarely, the law requires disclosure without your consent, for example a court order, or a duty to report certain infectious diseases. Where that happens I will tell you unless doing so would defeat the purpose of the disclosure.
Where your information is held
Your clinical record is held within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. Where any processor transfers data outside those areas, that transfer is covered by UK adequacy regulations or by the International Data Transfer Addendum.
How long I keep it
Clinical records for adults are kept for ten years after your last contact with the practice. Records for children are kept until their twenty-fifth birthday, or their twenty-sixth if they were seventeen at the time of the last entry. Enquiries that do not become patients are deleted after twelve months. Financial records are kept for six years, as tax law requires.
Your rights
You have the right to a copy of the information I hold about you, and I will provide it within one month and without charge in almost every case. You can ask me to correct anything factually wrong, though I cannot remove a clinical opinion that was properly recorded at the time. You can object to processing, ask for it to be restricted, or withdraw consent where consent is the basis I relied on.
The right to erasure is limited where I hold your record for the provision of health care, because I am required to retain it for the periods set out above.
To exercise any of these rights, write to me at the address above.
Cookies
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If you are unhappy
Tell me first, and I will try to put it right. If you remain unhappy with how I have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or by calling 0303 123 1113. You can complain to the ICO without contacting me first.