Privacy Policy

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I, Suzanne Jane John (registered and endorsed midwife) trading as Northern Beaches Midwifery ABN 23 125 819 069, am committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of your personal information.

I will collect, use, store and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles and in an open and transparent way.

The kind of personal information I will collect and hold about you

I will collect personal and sensitive information about you including your name, date of birth, contact details, details of medical conditions and medical history, next of kin name and contact details, details of your general medical practitioner, details of the hospital you are attending for the birth,  and sometimes details of other providers of health services to you, details of your current health status, your Medicare status and number and financial information such as credit or other payment card/account details. This information is reasonably necessary for me to provide midwifery services to you.

How I will collect and hold your personal information

I will collect your personal information directly from you or from your other health service providers with your consent. I will hold your personal information on my specialist medical practice management software from time to time and your personal information will be retained to meet with the relevant legislation governing the retention of medical records and in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

The purposes for which I will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information

I will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes of providing health services (including midwifery services) to you, or for the purposes of others providing health services to you (such as any third party health practitioner to which you are referred).

I may use your personal information to contact you about the range of services I can offer, and to communicate with you and other health practitioners providing services to you about your health, test results and health services which have been or will be provided to you.

I may collect, use and store your personal information in order to comply with any legal, regulatory or professional obligations I have from time to time.

I may disclose your personal information (including your sensitive health information) to other health providers involved in your health care (past and future) including to specialist obstetric and gynaecology medical practitioners, health care providers at your nominated hospital, emergency services in the event of an emergency, and to your general practitioner where appropriate to ensure high quality and consistent services to you.

I may disclose your personal information in the presence of any person who accompanies you to appointments with me (unless you tell me otherwise).

I may disclose your personal information to a responsible person such as your spouse, partner, parent, sibling or guardian if you cannot communicate or do not have capacity (or appear to not have capacity) at any time to communicate with me. 

I may disclose your personal information to Dr Lisa Robinson (Obstetrician & Gynaecologist) for the purposes of Dr Robinson contacting you regarding the medical services she offers and which may be relevant to you.

How you can access information I hold about you and complain about a breach of privacy

You can contact me on suzanne@northernbeachesmidwifery.com to access personal information I hold about you.

If you believe that any of the personal information I hold about you is incorrect or out of date, you can ask me to amend or update that information using the above email address.

If you wish to complain about any breach of your privacy rights, you can contact me on the above email address and I will investigate your complaint and respond to you within 14 business days of receipt of your complaint.

Disclosure of your personal information to overseas recipients

I will disclose your personal information to such of your health care providers (if any) who are overseas where you have provided their contact details to me and where it would reasonably be expected that I would provide them with information about your medical status, medical conditions and treatment.

Except as mentioned above, I will not transfer or disclose your personal information to overseas recipients. However, my practice management software provider and its partners may transfer your personal information to overseas recipients, for example by hosting your personal information on a server based outside Australia. Countries to which my software provider might transfer your personal information include (but not limited to) the United States of America and countries in the European Union. 

Consent

By providing your personal information or using my services you consent to the use of your personal information as set out in this privacy policy. 

Changes to this policy

I may make changes to this policy from time to time and a current copy of this privacy policy will be maintained on my website www.northernbeachesmidwifery.com