Who we are
Alexander-Wallace Health Care Ltd, trading as Vintage and Alexander Wallace Veterinary Practice (also known as Vintage Vet Practice), is the data controller for the personal information described in this notice. That means we decide how and why your information is used, and we are responsible for looking after it.
Company number: 14722373
Registered office and practice address: 107–109 High Street, Margate, Kent, CT9 1JT
Telephone: 01843 808344
Email: enquiries@vintagevetpractice.co.uk
We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.
If you have any question about this notice or about how we use your information, please contact the practice manager using the details above.
What this notice covers
This notice explains what personal information we collect about you, why we collect it, who we share it with and how long we keep it. It covers information we hold about you as a client of the practice, as a visitor to this website, and as someone who contacts us or visits our premises.
Information about your animal is not personal data in its own right – the law protects information about people. But because your animal's records are linked to you, we treat them with the same care.
The information we collect
When you register as a client or contact us
- your name, address, telephone numbers and email address
- details of your animal, including species, breed, age, microchip number and insurance details
- your animal's clinical history, including examinations, test results, imaging, treatments, prescriptions and clinical notes
- correspondence between us, including emails, text messages and notes of telephone calls
- payment details and account history, including any unpaid balances
When you use this website
- information you type into a contact or appointment request form
- your IP address, browser type, device type, approximate location and the pages you visit, collected through cookies and similar technology (see the cookies section below)
When you visit the practice
- CCTV images. We operate CCTV in and around the building for the safety of our staff, clients and patients, and for the security of the premises and of controlled drugs held on site.
From other sources
- clinical history from a previous veterinary practice, where you have asked us to take over your animal's care
- results and reports from external laboratories, referral practices and imaging specialists
- information from your pet insurer where you are making a claim
- microchip registration details
Why we use your information, and our legal basis
Data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for everything we do with your information. Ours are set out below.
To provide veterinary care and run your account – performance of a contract
Booking and managing appointments, examining and treating your animal, keeping clinical records, dispensing medicines, taking payment and pursuing unpaid accounts.
To meet our legal and professional obligations – legal obligation
Keeping clinical and dispensing records as required by the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 and the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct; recording controlled drugs; retaining accounting records; reporting suspected adverse reactions to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate; reporting notifiable diseases; publishing and sharing practice and pricing information with the RCVS where we are required to do so.
To run and improve the practice – legitimate interests
Responding to enquiries, sending appointment reminders, training and supervising our team, reviewing the quality of care we give, maintaining security including CCTV, handling complaints and insurance matters, and keeping our website working properly. We have considered your rights and interests, and we only rely on this basis where we are satisfied that our use of your information would not surprise you or cause you harm.
To send you practice news and offers by email or text – consent
You can withdraw your consent at any time, and doing so will not affect any care we provide.
To protect someone's vital interests – vital interests
In rare cases, for example where we must act urgently to prevent serious harm.
Health reminders for your animal – vaccination boosters, parasite treatment, follow-up checks – are part of providing care rather than marketing, and we send them unless you ask us not to.
Information about your health
We do not routinely collect information about your own health. Occasionally it becomes relevant – for example if you tell us about a mobility issue affecting how we arrange your visit, an allergy, or a zoonotic infection. Where that happens we treat it as special category data, use it only for the purpose you shared it, and keep it to the minimum necessary.
Who we share your information with
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing.
We do share it with:
- external laboratories and imaging providers, to analyse samples and report results
- referral and specialist practices, where your animal needs care we cannot provide
- other veterinary practices, where you move your animal's care elsewhere and history is requested
- pet insurers, where you make a claim or ask us to complete a claim form
- microchip databases, to register or update your animal's chip
- our practice management and IT suppliers, who host and support the systems our records sit in
- payment providers, to process card payments. We do not store full card numbers.
- our professional advisers, including accountants, insurers and solicitors
- debt recovery agents, where an account remains unpaid after we have contacted you
- regulators and public authorities, including the RCVS, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, APHA, HMRC and the police, where we are legally required or permitted to disclose
We may also disclose information where there is a serious animal welfare concern, or a wider public interest, and disclosure is justified. That is a professional judgement we do not take lightly, and it is made by a veterinary surgeon.
Where a supplier processes information on our behalf, we have a written contract requiring them to keep it secure and to use it only on our instructions.
Sending information outside the UK
Some of our suppliers store data outside the UK. Where that happens, we make sure the transfer is protected by appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as an adequacy decision or the International Data Transfer Agreement. You can ask us for details of the safeguards in place.
How long we keep it
- Clinical records – at least seven years after your animal's last treatment. We may keep them longer where there is an ongoing complaint, claim or regulatory matter, or where the records have continuing clinical value.
- Controlled drug registers – at least seven years from the date of the last entry.
- Accounting and payment records – six years from the end of the financial year they relate to.
- Enquiries that do not lead to registration – twelve months.
- CCTV footage – 30 days, unless retained for a specific incident.
- Marketing consents – until you withdraw consent, and then a record of the withdrawal so we know not to contact you again.
- Job applications – six months for unsuccessful applicants, unless you agree to us keeping them longer.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- be told how we use your information – that is what this notice is for
- access the personal information we hold about you, and receive a copy
- have inaccurate information corrected
- ask us to delete information, where we no longer have a reason to keep it
- restrict how we use your information while a query or objection is resolved
- object to us using your information where we rely on legitimate interests
- portability – receive certain information in a machine-readable format
- withdraw consent at any time, where consent is our basis
- object to marketing at any time, with no need to give a reason
To exercise any of these, contact us using the details at the top of this notice. We will respond within one month. There is no charge unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Some limits apply. We cannot delete clinical or dispensing records that we are legally or professionally required to keep, and your animal's record is not solely your personal data – it may also contain the professional opinions of our veterinary surgeons, and information relating to previous keepers.
Cookies and this website
Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website.
Strictly necessary cookies keep the site working – page navigation, form security, and remembering your cookie choices. These are set automatically because the site cannot function without them, and the law does not require consent for them.
Analytics cookies tell us how many people visit, which pages they read and where they came from, so we can improve the site. These are not set unless you agree.
Marketing cookies allow us and advertising partners to measure and target advertising. These are not set unless you agree.
When you first visit the site you will see a banner allowing you to accept all cookies, reject all non-essential cookies, or choose which categories you are happy with. Rejecting is as easy as accepting, and no analytics or marketing cookies are placed before you choose. You can change your mind at any time through the cookie settings link in the footer, or by clearing cookies in your browser.
Keeping your information secure
We use access controls, encryption, secure hosting and staff training to protect your information, and our team are bound by professional duties of confidentiality. Access to clinical records is limited to those who need it to do their job.
No system is completely secure. If a breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and tell you where the law requires it.
Marketing
If you have agreed to hear from us, we may send occasional practice news, health campaigns and offers by email or text. Every message includes an unsubscribe link, or you can call the practice and ask to be taken off the list. We will action it straight away.
Changes to this notice
We review this notice regularly and will update it when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. Where a change is significant, we will tell you directly.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first – contact the practice manager on 01843 808344 or at enquiries@vintagevetpractice.co.uk. We would like the chance to put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
ico.org.uk