Privacy Policy
Allergy Cork wants to ensure the highest standard of medical care for our patients. We understand that our clinic is a trusted community governed by an ethic of privacy and confidentiality. Our approach is consistent with the Medical Council guidelines and the privacy principles of the Data Protection Regulations. It is not possible to undertake medical care without collecting and processing personal data and data concerning health. In fact, to
do so would be in breach of the Medical Council’s ‘Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics
for Doctors’. This privacy policy is about advising you of our policies and practices on dealing with
your medical information.
What data do we collect?
Allergy Cork collects/processes the following data:
- Personal identification information
Which can include name, address, telephone or mobile number, fax number, email address, information concerning family, lifestyle and social circumstances including age, date of birth, marital status, number of children and name(s) of spouse and/or children.
- Medical Data
Which can include physical or mental health condition and sexual life, notes, prescriptions, maternity, lab results and other medical data.
How do we collect your data?
You directly provide Allergy Cork with most of the data we collect. We collect data and process data when you:
- Voluntarily self-refer online
- Voluntarily sent data via email
- Use or view our website via your browser’s cookies
- Get referred to us by another healthcare provider
How will we use your data?
Allergy Cork collects your data so we can:
- Provide for your care. To do this effectively we need to collect and keep information about you and your health on our records.
- Communicate with you in the interests of your own healthcare.
Your information is shared with other health professionals involved in your care; this can include but is not limited to GP practices, other hospitals, other hospital departments who are involved in providing you with your care.
Depending on your circumstances we may also need to share your information with external organisations to provide you with your treatment or drugs such as pharmacies.
Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed, to the extent needed for the provision of medical care and to comply with all applicable statutory, regulatory, contractual and/or professional duties.
Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step will be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay.
We will explain the need for any information we ask for if you are not sure why it is needed.
All persons in the practice are covered by a professional confidentiality code.
We retain your information securely.
How do we store your data?
Allergy Cork securely stores data with Clanwilliam Health (IMEDOC) Ltd, managed by Amazon AWS cloud computing services to provide the iMedDoc environment leveraging the latest Web technologies using the Load balanced EC2 Application servers, Replicated RDS for the Database and S3 for storing the files with the strong web application firewall and the S3 backup technologies for the backups.
Allergy Cork will keep your medical and personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed. Once this period has expired , we will destroy your data.
The retention periods for medical records are taken from the HSE ‘National Hospitals Office, Code of Practice for Healthcare Records Management”. These periods are also in line with the recommendations of Medical Indemnity Agencies and the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
| Type of Healthcare Record | Retention Period |
| Adult | 8 years after last contact, unless in the interest of the Data Subject to retain * |
| Children and young people (all types of records relating to children and young people) | Retain until the patient’s 25th birthday or 26th if young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment, or 8 years after death. If the illness or death could have potential relevance to adult conditions or have genetic implications, the advice of clinicians should be sought as to whether to retain the records for a longer period |
| Deceased persons | 8 years after death |
| Patients included in clinical trials | 20 years |
* At all times the interest of the patient must be to the forefront. If it is not in the interest of the data subject, then the medical records should not be deleted.
What are your data protection rights?
Allergy Cork would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
- The right to access: you have the right to request Allergy Cork for copies of your personal data.
Under Article 15 of GDPR, the patient, has a right to access a copy of their medical record. Allergy Cork shall provide a copy of the patient’s medical record on receipt of a request or authorisation form. The request or authorisation form to satisfy these individual rights should be in writing or by email and should be signed by the Data Subject or legal guardian.
Allergy Cork will provide a copy of the patient’s medical record no later than 30 days after the access request.
It is important for Allergy Cork to verify the identity of the person making an access request or providing an access authorisation.
An individual can only make an Access Request for their own personal data. Legal guardians can also make an access request on behalf of a child. However, once a child is capable of understanding their rights to privacy and data protection, the child should normally decide for themselves whether to request access to data and make the request in their own name.
This is not age dependent. It would also be important in such a case that Allergy Cork is satisfied that the person was genuinely acting on behalf of, and in the best interests of, the child whose data was being requested.
Revealing of medical information of a child who is capable of making decisions themselves will in most situations constitute a breach of the Data Protection Acts if undertaken without the consent of the child capable of making their own decisions.
The right to access may be restricted, as per Section 60 (5) of the Data Protection Act 2018, if the disclosure of the record to the patient ‘would be likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the data subject’. In any situation where access is denied, the general practitioner must advise the patient of the reason invoked for the restriction either at the time access is denied or as soon as is advisable thereafter. In addition, only the part of the medical record likely to cause harm can be withheld, the rest of the medical record should be released in the usual way. The patient has a right to appeal the restriction to the
Data Protection Commissioner.
- The right to rectification: you have the right to request that Allergy Cork correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request Allergy Cork to complete information you believe is incomplete.
Under Article 16 of GDPR, the patient has the right to obtain rectification of inaccurate patient data which is factually inaccurate. However, this is not an unqualified right and depends on the circumstances of each case (reference Irish Data Protection Commissioner case study 1 of 2007). A relevant dispute resolution may be addressed by the addition of a supplementary statement in the patient record. Inaccurate patient data should be noted as such.
- The right to erasure: you have the right to request that Allergy Cork erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
Article 17 of GDPR deals with the right to erasure. Because the consultant has a requirement (Section 33 of Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners, 8thEdition 2016) under Medical Council rules to keep medical records and also has a right to defend medico-legal claims, under Article 23.1(g) the right to erasure of medical records is not an absolute right and restrictions may apply. This would need to be examined on a case[1]by-case basis.
- The right to restrict processing: you have the right to request that Allergy Cork restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
Article 18 of GDPR deals with the right to restriction of processing. Where a patient is in dispute with a consultant, they may request that their medical record be locked or archived so that further processing of, or changes to, the record do not occur. The patient needs to be made aware that continuing medical care by the consultant cannot take place while the medical record is locked. Requests from patients to restrict processing should be in writing and signed.
- The right to object processing: Individuals have a right to object at any time to processing of personal data for direct marketing purposes, in which case the personal data shall no longer be processed for such purposes. Other objections must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
- The right to data portability: you have the right to request that Allergy Cork transfer the data that we have collected to another organisation, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
The right to data portability, under Article 20 of GDPR, relates to circumstances where the processing is based on consent or a contract. Although this is not the case in Allergy Cork, the patient is entitled to receive a copy of their medical record in a format that allows them to transmit the data to another health care provider. Allergy Cork will facilitate patients moving to another practice by providing their medical record in an electronic format where technically feasible or in a format which could be used by other health care providers.
- Automated Individual Decision-making, Including Profiling: Consultants do not base decisions solely on automated processing, and the point of view of the patient is central to any decision making in the provision of medical care.
If you make a request we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us
at our email: info@allergycork.ie
or write to us: Allergy Cork, Suite 1.1, Consultants Private Clinic, CUH, Bishopstown Rd, Wilton, Co Cork
What are cookies?
Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. When you visit our website, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology.
For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org
How do we use cookies?
Allergy cork uses cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our website, including:
- Keeping you signed in
- Understanding how you use our website
What type of cookies do we use?
There are a number of different types of cookies, however, our website uses:
- Functionality: Allergy Cork uses these cookies so that we recognise you on our website and remember your previously selected preferences. These could include what language you prefer and location you are in. A mix of first party and third party cookies are used.
How to manage cookies
You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and the above website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our website features may not function as a result.
Privacy policies from other websites
Allergy Cork website contains links to our websites. Our privacy policy applies only to our website, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy.
Changes to our privacy policy
Allergy Cork keeps its privacy policy under regular review and places any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 20 January 2023.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about Allergy Cork’s privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Email us at: info@allergycork.ie
Or write to us at: Allergy Cork, Suite 1.1, Consultants Private Clinic, CUH, Bishopstown Rd, Wilton, Co Cork
How to contact the appropriate authority
Should you wish to report a complaint or if you feel that Allergy Cork has not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Email: info@oic.ie
Address: The Office of the Information Commissioner, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773.s