Privacy Policy

Updated September 2026

At Foot Corner, we respect your privacy and take our responsibility to protect your personal information seriously. This policy explains what information we collect, why we use it, who may receive it and the choices available to you.

It covers our patients, people enquiring about our services and visitors to our website.

Who is responsible for your information?

Foot Corner is the trading name of Simply Feet Ltd. Simply Feet Ltd is the data controller, which means it is responsible for deciding how and why your information is used.

For questions about this policy or your personal information, please contact the practice manager:

Foot Corner
15 Church Parade, Church Road
Ashford, Surrey, TW15 2TX
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01784 250 781
Website: www.footcorner.co.uk

What information do we collect?

We collect information relevant to your care and our services. This may include:

Your name, date of birth, address, telephone number and email address.
Relevant medical history, medication, allergies and information about your symptoms.
Assessment findings, treatment plans, clinical notes, consent records and referrals.
Clinical photographs, videos and consultation recordings, where you have agreed to these.
Appointment details, invoices, payment records and product purchases.
Emails, messages, letters, enquiries, feedback and complaints.
Relevant details of a parent, guardian, carer or person authorised to act on your behalf.
Your communication preferences and information about your use of our website, such as your IP address, browser and cookies.

We usually collect information directly from you, including through appointments, forms, telephone calls and online bookings. We may also receive relevant information from a referring healthcare professional or someone authorised to act on your behalf.

Please let us know if your contact details, medical history, medication or allergies change. Without essential health information, we may be unable to provide a particular treatment safely; we will explain this if it applies.

How do we use your information?

We use your information to:

Assess your needs, provide treatment and monitor your progress.
Maintain clinical records and support continuity of care.
Arrange appointments, send reminders and provide aftercare information.
Communicate with you and other healthcare professionals where appropriate.
Process payments, manage accounts and fulfil product orders.
Respond to enquiries, feedback and complaints.
Meet legal obligations, manage claims and protect our systems.
Send permitted marketing communications and understand website use, subject to your choices where required.

Correspondence relevant to your care is documented and retained in your patient record.

Our legal reasons for using information

Data-protection law requires us to have a lawful reason for using your information. The reason depends on what we are doing:

Providing our services: we use information needed to arrange and deliver the services you request under our contract with you, including steps taken before you book.
Running the practice: we have legitimate interests in handling enquiries, managing our business, protecting our systems and responding to complaints. We must balance these interests against your privacy rights.
Legal obligations: we use information where necessary to meet applicable legal requirements, such as tax and accounting obligations.
Your consent: we rely on consent for optional uses where required, including promotional use of identifiable patient photographs or stories. You can withdraw consent for those uses by contacting us.

Health information has additional protection. We use the healthcare condition in Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR, together with the relevant safeguards in the Data Protection Act 2018, for information necessary to provide healthcare and maintain clinical records. This takes place under the responsibility of healthcare professionals with duties of confidentiality.

Agreement to treatment or recording is separate from our lawful reason for retaining necessary clinical records. Declining recording does not prevent us from taking written notes. Where we rely on data-protection consent, withdrawing it does not make earlier lawful use unlawful.

AI-assisted clinical note-taking

We use Clinic Notes AI, also known as Arlo, to help prepare clinical notes. The system records and transcribes the consultation and uses artificial intelligence to produce draft notes. This involves processing your voice and the personal and health information discussed through an external service provider.

We explain this before recording begins and ask for your agreement. You can decline recording or ask us to stop at any time. We will take notes manually instead, and your choice will not affect your care.

Your clinician checks and, where necessary, corrects the draft notes before adding them to your clinical record. The clinician remains responsible for the record and decisions about your care.

The supplier states that audio recordings are stored only for as long as necessary to complete a note or letter. This is separate from the final clinical notes, which we retain in Cliniko as part of your patient record. Please contact us if you need further information about the processing of your consultation recording.

Agreement to note-taking is not permission to use your consultation for advertising or publicity. Asking us to stop recording does not automatically require deletion of an existing clinical record that we have a lawful reason to retain.

Clinical photographs and videos

With your agreement, we may take photographs or videos to help assess your condition, plan treatment or monitor progress. We explain their purpose and record your choice. You can decline or ask for recording to stop.

Clinical images form part of your patient record and are handled with the same care as other health information. We would ask for separate, specific permission before using identifiable images or patient stories for marketing, social media, teaching or other purposes outside your care.

How we store and share information

We use Cliniko to store and manage patient records. Information may also be handled through the systems used for our website, bookings, email, messaging, payments and practice administration.

We restrict access to people who need information for an authorised purpose. Depending on the circumstances, relevant information may be shared with:

Clinicians and authorised administrative staff supporting your care.
Healthcare professionals involved in your treatment or a referral.
Service providers supporting our records, communications, payments, IT and AI-assisted note-taking.
Professional advisers, insurers, regulators or public authorities where there is an appropriate legal reason.

We share only what is needed for the relevant purpose. Providers acting on our behalf must be subject to appropriate data-protection and confidentiality arrangements. We do not sell your personal information.

If ownership of the practice changes, patient records may be transferred where lawful to support continuity of care. We will provide relevant information about changes affecting your records.

Some technology providers may process information outside the UK. Where this involves a restricted international transfer, appropriate protection is required, such as applicable UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards. You can contact us for information about the arrangements applying to your data and how to obtain details of relevant safeguards.

How long we keep information

Foot Corner currently retains clinical records in Cliniko without a fixed deletion date. This includes relevant care correspondence and clinical images. This does not mean we have an unrestricted right to keep information forever.

The need to retain records must be assessed against their purpose, continuity of care, professional guidance, insurance requirements, relevant legal obligations and the handling of claims. Different considerations apply to children's records. Records should be securely deleted or anonymised when there is no longer a justified need to retain them.

For other information, retention depends on its purpose. Enquiries need to be kept long enough to resolve the matter and any related dispute; financial records are subject to applicable accounting and tax requirements. Where you opt out of marketing, we may retain a minimal record of your choice to avoid contacting you again.

Consultation audio is distinct from the clinical record and is subject to the supplier's processing arrangements described above. You may contact us to ask about retention of your information or request deletion. We will explain if we have a lawful reason to retain it.

Protecting your information

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect information against unauthorised access, loss or misuse. These include access controls, confidentiality procedures and appropriate safeguards for our records and service providers.

No electronic system can be guaranteed completely secure. This does not remove our responsibility to protect your information and respond appropriately to any security incident.

Appointment communications and marketing

We may contact you by telephone, email, text or post about your appointments, treatment, forms, invoices or other matters relating to your care.

Marketing is separate. We send promotional emails or texts where you have agreed, or where the law permits us to contact existing customers about our own similar services and the required opt-out opportunities have been provided.

You can unsubscribe using the link in a marketing email or contact [email protected]. Opting out of marketing does not stop necessary communications about your care.

Website cookies and email tracking

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support its functions, understand visits and measure marketing activity. Cookies can collect information about your device and how you use the website.

Our email platform may also record whether emails are opened or links are clicked, helping us understand engagement with our communications. Where consent is required for cookies or tracking, we must obtain it before that technology is used.

You can manage cookies through your browser and any cookie controls provided on the website. Disabling essential cookies may affect some website functions. Please contact us if you need information about the technologies used or help with your preferences.

Other websites reached through links have their own privacy policies.

Children and people acting on a patient's behalf

When treating children, we collect information relevant to their care and appropriate parent or guardian details. We consider the child's understanding, confidentiality and the authority of anyone acting on their behalf.

We may need to verify a person's authority before discussing a patient's information or providing access to records. A family relationship alone does not automatically give access to confidential information.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask us to:

Provide access to your personal information.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Delete information or restrict its use.
Provide certain information in a portable format.
Stop uses to which you have a right to object.

You can object to direct marketing at any time. Where processing relies on your consent, you can withdraw that consent.

These rights are subject to legal limits. We may need to keep clinical records or other information for a justified reason even if deletion is requested. We will explain our response and may ask for information to verify your identity.

To make a request, email [email protected], telephone 01784 250 781, or write to the clinic.

Questions and complaints

Please contact the practice manager if you have concerns about how we handle your information.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our services, systems or legal responsibilities change. The latest version will be available on our website. We will draw significant changes to your attention where appropriate. Continued use of our website does not itself amount to consent to new optional uses of your information.