Privacy Policy

What information we collect

Health information is treated as sensitive information under the Privacy Act, which means it is held to a higher standard than an ordinary customer record. We collect only what we need to care for you safely.

In the course of providing care, that usually includes:

• ✓Your name, date of birth, address, phone number and email address
• ✓Your Medicare number, and any concession, DVA, NDIS or health fund details relevant to billing
• ✓Your medical history, current concerns, symptoms and examination findings
• ✓Medicines you take, allergies and adverse reactions
• ✓Results of tests, imaging and screening we arrange
• ✓Letters and reports from specialists, hospitals and other health practitioners
• ✓Your next of kin or emergency contact, and any carer or guardian arrangements
• ✓Family medical history, where it is relevant to your care
• ✓Notes of appointments, including appointments you did not attend

We may also collect information about you from someone else — a hospital discharge summary, a specialist's letter, a previous practice, or a parent or carer speaking on your behalf. Where that happens and it is practical to do so, we will tell you.

You can ask to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym, but we will explain where that is not possible. Medicare claiming and safe prescribing both require us to know who you are.

Why we collect it, and how we use it

The main reason we hold your information is to provide you with health care. That is the purpose you would reasonably expect, and it covers consultations, examinations, prescribing, referrals, care planning and follow-up.

We also use it to:

• ✓Communicate with you about your care, including recalls and reminders for tests or reviews
• ✓Claim Medicare benefits and process payments
• ✓Meet our legal and professional obligations, including mandatory reporting where the law requires it
• ✓Manage the practice — training our staff, handling complaints, and reviewing the quality and safety of the care we give
• ✓Take part in accreditation, where our records may be reviewed by an accreditation surveyor bound by confidentiality

We do not sell your information, and we do not use your health information for marketing.

Who we share your information with

Most sharing happens because your care needs it. When you are referred or tested, the practitioner receiving the referral needs enough of your history to treat you properly.

We may disclose your information to:

• ✓Specialists, allied health practitioners and hospitals involved in your care
• ✓Pathology and imaging providers, to arrange and receive your results
• ✓Other practitioners inside this practice who are involved in your care
• ✓Services Australia, for Medicare, DVA and PBS claiming
• ✓Your health fund, insurer, employer or a compensation scheme, where you have asked us to or where a claim requires it
• ✓A person responsible for you — such as a parent, guardian or carer — where you cannot consent yourself and the disclosure is needed for your care
• ✓Our contracted service providers, such as our clinical software and secure IT support, who are bound to protect it
• ✓Anyone the law requires or authorises us to tell, including a court order or subpoena, or where there is a serious and imminent threat to someone's life, health or safety

Outside those situations we ask your consent before disclosing your health information. If you would prefer information not to be shared with a particular person or provider, tell reception or your doctor and we will note it on your record.

Seeing and correcting your record

You have a right to ask for access to the health information we hold about you, and to ask us to correct it if it is wrong, out of date or incomplete. You do not need to give a reason for asking.

Put your request in writing to reception, or email reception@thorpestreethealth.com.au. We will need to confirm your identity before releasing anything. We aim to respond within 30 days.

In some cases we may only give partial access, or none — for example where releasing the information would put someone else's safety or privacy at risk. If that happens we will explain why in writing and tell you how to have the decision reviewed.

A fee may apply for copying or for the practitioner's time in preparing a summary. We will tell you the cost before we do the work, and there is no charge for simply asking.

If you are moving to another practice, we can transfer a summary of your record to your new doctor at your request. We keep the original.

How we keep your information safe

Your records are held electronically in clinical software with access limited to staff who need it for your care, and access is tied to individual logins rather than shared ones. Any paper records are kept in an area patients cannot access.

Our staff are trained in their confidentiality obligations and sign a confidentiality agreement. Access to records is on a need-to-know basis — being able to open a record is not the same as being entitled to.

If we ever have a data breach that is likely to cause you serious harm, we are required to notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, and we will.

How long we keep it

We are required to keep medical records for a minimum period, and we do not delete a record simply because you have asked us to — that limit exists to protect your future care and is not ours to waive.

For an adult, records are kept for at least seven years from the last time we provided you a service. For a patient who was under 18 at their last visit, records are kept until they turn 25.

When records are destroyed at the end of that period, it is done securely.

This website

This site does not require you to create an account, and it does not ask for health information. If you contact us through the site, we use what you send only to respond to you.

Please do not send us clinical details, symptoms or anything urgent by email or web form. Those channels are not monitored continuously and are not a safe way to raise something that needs attention today — ring us on (08) 6147 6547 instead.

We use basic analytics to understand how the site is used, such as which pages are visited and roughly where visitors are located. That information is aggregated and is not used to identify you.

Concerns and complaints

If you are worried about how we have handled your information, please tell us first. Most problems can be sorted out quickly once we know about them, and we would rather hear it directly.

Contact us at reception@thorpestreethealth.com.au, ring (08) 6147 6547, or write to us at 57 Thorpe Street, Rockingham WA 6168. We will acknowledge your complaint and tell you who is looking into it.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can take a privacy complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner on 1300 363 992 or at oaic.gov.au. You can also contact the WA Health and Disability Services Complaints Office on 1800 813 583.

Complaining costs you nothing and will not affect the care you receive here.

Changes to this policy

We review this policy periodically and will update it when our practices change or the law does. The current version is always the one on this page, and the date it was last updated is shown at the top.

We are open Monday to Friday, 8:00am – 5:30pm, if you would like to discuss any of this with us in person.