Terms and Conditions for Clinical Psychology/Paediatric Neuropsychology Assessment and Intervention
My current terms of engagement are:
1. My charge for all time and activity spent on the case is £150.00 per hour, with the exception of travel. This includes direct contacts, attendance at meetings, preparation of tailored resources and client email and telephone consultations. An itemized invoice will be released with the assessment report and then on a monthly basis. An itemised quotation can also be provided to outline projected costs.
2. In the event of cancellation of meetings, direct contacts or telephone consultation appointments by your client, then I reserve the right to charge the following percentages depending on the notice received:
· Less than one working day: 100%
· Between one and two working days: 66.6%
· Between two and five working days: 33.3%
If I am able to undertake other paid work during time allocated no charge will be made.
3. In the event of the client failing to attend an agreed appointment then 100% of the fee for the time set aside for the appointment will be charged.
4. My travel time from my home is charged at £80.00ph when I travel by car. Costs for any consultation room hire will be added to the monthly invoice however where possible this will be avoided.
5. For any psychometric assessment, an administration charge may be incurred. Prices will be discussed prior to undertaking any formal assessment. An itemised quotation can also be provided to outline projected costs.
6. A charge will be incurred for the supervision of clinical work undertaken. As per The British Psychological Society Professional Guidelines (Division of Clinical Psychology, 2016), all clinical psychologists, at all stages of their career and in all work contexts should engage in clinical supervision to ensure the safety and quality of their practice. My supervision is provided by a Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychologist registered with the Health Care Professions Council as a Practitioner Clinical Psychologist and listed on the Specialist Register for Clinical Neuropsychologists hosted by the British Psychological Society. The hourly supervision rate is £150/hour. The number of supervision hours required will be dependent on the complexity of the case. An estimate of supervision needs can be provided, on request.
7. Payment of invoices is due within 30 days of the date of invoice.
8. In the event of accounts not being settled within this 30 day period I reserve the right to charge a late payment fee of £70 in addition to charging interest at 8% plus base rate on any unpaid amounts until full settlement is received (Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998).
9. Any documents and reports are held for a minimum of seven years. All electronic notes, reports and documents are held securely in a private Office 365 account. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and am compliant with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. To engage with my services, it is required that the child’s legal guardian read and agree to the GDPR section outlined below.
10. A consent sheet will be discussed and completed with the child’s legal guardian/parent at the initial meeting to ascertain whether informed consent is given for care, and the sharing of assessment and intervention information with relevant professionals involved.
11. I will fulfil your instructions to the best of my ability. Please provide your full instructions, together with any further relevant information, and confirm your agreement to the above terms by signing and returning this sheet.
12. If I have not received your signed agreement by the time I notify you of my intended first contact with the client then I will assume that you have accepted my terms and conditions unless you contact me in writing to withdraw your instructions.
13. If a third party agency, such as an insurer or charity, will be making the payments on behalf of a child’s parent/legal guardian, a representative of that agency who is able to confirm their ability to pay should sign this agreement
14. I work on a Monday between the hours of 10:00-16:00, except for bank holidays and annual leave. Except in exceptional circumstances, with prior agreement, I will be uncontactable outside these hours. All appointments and clinical work will take place on a Monday.
15. I am not able to offer crisis or emergency support. Please contact your GP or call 111 if you need urgent care. In an emergency, please dial 999 or attend your local A&E, if it is safe for you to travel.
16. I work with an administrator who will perform certain admin duties (e.g. scanning in assessment records) and an Assistant Psychologist to support my clinical work (e.g. conducting behavioural observations or psychometric assessments under my clinical supervision).
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General Data Protection Regulation Agreement
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is concerned with the personal information about you that is collected, stored, used and shared. This section details the GDPR policy.
Personal Information I Collect and Store
· Name, Age, Date of Birth, Gender, NHS number, Address and contact details of child and individuals with parental responsibility.
· Telephone/SMS number (plus permission to send SMS & leave voicemail).
· Email address
· Access to Care Form
· Developmental, neuropsychological and medical history, alongside any prescribed medication(s).
· Current school details, academic history and current academic functioning
· Relationships, Family Structure, Support Networks.
· Presenting Difficulties and Issues.
· Neuropsychological test data and questionnaire data
· Details of other professionals and services involved in your care
· Brief Case Notes.
How I Store Your Personal Information
Storage Methods.
Clinix.Digital is a digital patient record platform. Your child’s patient record will be stored here.
Paper: written notes (described below).
Smartphone: I will store your contact information in my contacts that backs up to my private outlook account. The Smartphone is passcode protected. This allows me to contact you in case of emergencies.
Email/SMS: your email address and correspondence will be stored in my email account (currently outlook) by nature of you contacting me. My e-mail server is hosted by GoDaddy. Your telephone number may be stored in my SMS or app should we exchange messages this way. Electronic correspondence will also be held by the corresponding app (Outlook, Phone’s SMS).
reMarkable Tablet: I may make process and clinical notes on a reMarkable tablet that is passcode protected and linked with my onedrive account
Website: None of your personal information is stored on my website, other than to momentarily collect & send it to my Outlook account for the purposes of contact and form completion.
Analytics: My website is built by Wix and the domain host is GoDaddy. The server collects patterns of website visitors. This does not identify individual visitors but shows me the number of visitors and the device used i.e. mobile, desktop, laptop.
Website and Google Analytics also show website usage, number of visits, number of calls but does not identify individual visitors. This is restricted by their own terms and conditions.
Information Storage
· Your child’s patient record is primarily stored within the Clinix.Digital Platform
· Process notes are kept temporarily during an episode of care. These documents are stored in a locked filing cabinet in between clinical contacts. At the end of an episode of care, these are then scanned and stored on the electronic record. The paper notes are then destroyed.
· Access to Care agreement form – stored within Microsoft 365 Onedrive and Clinix.Digital
· Neuropsychological test data and questionnaire data – stored within Microsoft 365 Office Suite (e.g. Onedrive, Teams, MS Forms) and Clinix.Digital, which are GDPR compliant services. Additionally, digitalised test data will be stored within GDPR compliant third-party services when digital platforms (i.e. Pearson Q-Interactive, Pearson Q-Global, WPS, Par Inc etc.) are used. You will receive a virtual invite to complete virtual questionnaires and this will include the information about the third party platform being used. Your neuropsychology report will also include the platforms used to administer the assessments.
· Assessment Record & Brief Session Notes
· Telephone/SMS number/Whats App/Email contact details and messages- stored on Outlook and Smartphone
· Appointment bookings and timings – stored within Microsoft Office 365 (e.g. Outlook, Teams, etc) and Clinix.Digital
· Invoicing is conducted via quickbooks and payments are through BACS. Any references you include will be recorded on my bank statements.
How I may Process/Share your Personal Information.
Legitimate interests
Your/your child’s information is collected as you are a client or patient of Dr Marsh. There are a number of lawful reasons to use / process your and your child’s personal data. It is a Legitimate Interests as a Clinical Psychologist to collect this information. This information is needed to carry out assessments, interventions and / or to provide expert advice.
As a patient or client, the lawful reason for processing ‘special category data’ is that it is necessary for the purposes of the Provision of Health or Social Care Treatment.
Another lawful reason for is to collect and process this information may be Legal Obligation. If ‘special category data’ about you or your child is processed, this is our second lawful reason to do so.
Your data may be also processed by an administrator working for me and/or an Assistant Psychologist working with me to support my duties, as detailed above. Both individuals have signed a data processing agreement and agreed to comply with GDPR principles.
Shared Care with GP
As part of your child’s care, I request permission to share information with your GP. This will include a letter stating the reason for commencing services and a letter briefly summarising the care you have received at the end of your child’s care. By providing your GP’s details below, you consent to this shared care.
Communication with your GP may also include interim reports, such as a cognitive assessment report, however sharing of interim reports will be discussed with you prior to it being sent. This is to ensure your child’s GP is informed of the care they are receiving to best fulfil their role as your family doctor. You can withdraw your consent for shared care with the GP at any time via written e-mail to dralexmarsh@neuro-psych.co.uk
If I am unable to contact you (i.e. attempt made by both phone and email, on separate occasions, over a period of two weeks without response), I will write to both you and your GP to inform them I have been unable to reach you and have therefore discharged you. This letter will contain information about any outstanding care needs of the child that I have been unable to discuss with you.
Supervision
As per The British Psychological Society Professional Guidelines (Division of Clinical Psychology, 2016), all clinical psychologists, at all stages of their career and in all work contexts should engage in clinical supervision to ensure the safety and quality of their practice. I receive clinical supervision from a Paediatric Neuropsychologist registered on the British Psychological Society Specialist Register of Neuropsychologists and on the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC)’s register as a Practitioner Clinical Psychologist. During these sessions, information about you and your child’s care will be shared to ensure safe and effective clinical practice, as per The British Psychological Society Professional Guidelines.
Emergencies
If your child is in risk of harm, I may contact your GP or an emergency healthcare service (e.g. Mental Health Crisis Team). I will always attempt to contact you prior to making this contact, however in circumstances where this may cause a delay that would potentially result in harm to your child or in the instance where this may increase the likelihood of harm to your child, the law may require me to contact the GP, safeguarding children services, or emergency services without your consent in your child’s best interest to ensure their welfare.
If I have become aware of any intent to cause harm to another person/organisation (e.g. terrorism or Child Protection & Safeguarding), the law may require that I inform an authority without seeking your permission. In such a situation, the law may require that I share your personal information without your knowledge.
Legal Obligation
I may have to share information with a court of law if I am issued with a court order.
I keep clinical notes of each session in line with the requirements of my professional insurance.
This is also to keep records where processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.
I keep financial records for 7 years according to legal requirement.
Consent
If you have requested that I share information with another professional or professional body.
Erasing your Information.
I will hold onto the information outlined in this agreement for up to seven years past the end of our working together. For under 18’s this will be 7 years from their 18th birthday.
This is in line with professional guidance on health care record keeping. It is also so that I have a reference of our work in situations such as you returning to work with me in the future. After this time has passed, I will delete them.
Your Rights
You have the following rights…
· To be informed what information your clinical psychologist holds (i.e. to be given or have access to their individual privacy policy document)
· To see the demographic information your clinical psychologist has about you/your child (free of charge for the initial request)
· To make a ‘subject access request’ (SAR) to your clinical psychologist for copies of your child’s records. There may be an administrative charge for this and these will be provided within one calendar month of the request being made.
· To rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
· To withdraw consent to your clinical psychologist using you and your child’s personal information
· To request personal information be erased (though your clinical psychologist can decline whilst the information is needed for them to practice within their own professional code of ethics and conduct).
If you wish to assert any of these rights you should contact your clinical psychologist.
Dr Marsh reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time. If you are currently receiving clinical care, I will send you notice of any updates to this agreement.