Skip to content Welcome to https://drsarabentwood.co.uk (the “Website”), operated by Dr Sara Bentwood (“we”, “us”, “our”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data when you visit our Website or engage with our psychological services.
Your privacy is very important to us, and we are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Dr Sara Bentwood is a registered and accredited psychologist offering counselling and psychological services in London. For the purposes of UK GDPR, we are the “data controller” of your personal information.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this policy or your personal data, please contact:
Email: drsarabentwood@gmail.com
We may collect the following types of personal information:
Identity Data: Full name, date of birth, and gender.
Contact Data: Email address, telephone number, and postal address.
Health Data: Information about your mental and physical health (only where necessary for our services).
Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information, and browsing behaviour.
Communication Data: Enquiries you submit via our contact form or email, including details shared in those communications.
Usage Data: How you use the Website, including page views, duration, and referral source.
We collect your personal data through:
Our contact forms and direct emails.
Phone calls, text messages, or other communications with you.
Your use of our Website (via cookies and analytics).
Any forms you may complete as part of your therapy or assessment.
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To respond to your enquiries and provide psychological services.
To assess your suitability for therapy or psychological intervention.
To maintain accurate clinical records (in line with professional and legal obligations).
To comply with legal or regulatory requirements.
To improve our Website and user experience via analytics.
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to, including:
Where it is necessary to perform our contract with you.
Where we have your explicit consent (e.g. for processing special category data).
To comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.
Where it is in our legitimate interest and does not override your privacy rights.
Under the UK GDPR, the lawful bases we rely on include:
Consent – for processing special category data (e.g. health information).
Contract – where processing is necessary for a service you have requested.
Legal obligation – to comply with laws and professional practice guidelines.
Legitimate interests – for general communication or website improvement.
Your data is stored securely in encrypted systems that comply with NHS and HCPC standards. All personal data is:
Protected by firewalls and strong password controls.
Accessed only by authorised professionals.
Retained only as long as necessary – clinical records are kept for a minimum of 7 years in accordance with guidance from the British Psychological Society (BPS).
We will never sell or rent your personal data. We may share your data with:
Medical or mental health professionals where necessary (and only with your consent unless required by law).
Legal authorities, if required by court order or law.
Professional advisers such as accountants or insurers (anonymised unless legally required).
You have rights under UK GDPR, including:
Right to access – request a copy of the personal data we hold.
Right to rectification – correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – request deletion of your data (where applicable).
Right to restrict processing – ask us to pause data processing.
Right to data portability – request transfer of your data to another provider.
Right to object – object to data processing under legitimate interests.
Right to withdraw consent – at any time (for data processed on consent).
To exercise any of these rights, please email sara@drsarabentwood.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.
Our Website uses cookies to enhance user experience and understand usage patterns.
These may collect anonymous information such as browser type, pages visited, and session duration.
You can disable cookies through your browser settings.
We may use tools like Google Analytics to help improve our website. No personally identifiable information is collected for this purpose.
Our Website may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies separately.
If a child under the age of 13 uses our services, we require parental or guardian consent. We take extra care when handling children’s data in compliance with the Children’s Code and ICO guidelines.
We may update this Privacy Policy occasionally. The updated version will be posted on this page with the revised date. Please check back regularly.
Contact
If you have any concerns or wish to lodge a complaint, please contact us at:
📧 Email: drsarabentwood@gmail.com
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can also lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/
