Terms and Conditions, GDPR and Consent Policy for Clients

EPT Terms and Conditions for Clients

An explanation of how our clinic works!

 

 

 

1.    EPT Clinic’s Mission Statement

 

The EPT Clinic’s community of dedicated healthcare professionals strive to take care of each family’s unique set of needs. Our goal is to enable access to life’s opportunities by offering a range of services within ONE excellent team all under one roof. This includes psychology, psychotherapy/counselling, therapeutic play, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.

 

2.    Staff Values

 

In EPT Clinic we pride ourselves on our values. We feel this is what differentiates us from other services, both in the public and private sector. We strive to uphold these values every day we come to work. This helps us be the best we can be, and also creates a positive, vibrant, and fun work culture. Our values include:

  • Excellence – EPT Clinic values excellence, offering evidence- based, best practice assessments, therapy, and support. Our aim is to enable children and families to thrive.
  • Efficiency – EPT Clinic prioritises efficiency, working hard to minimise wait times, and sharing findings and reports with families in a timely manner.
  • Respectful – EPT Clinic’s community of healthcare professionals care deeply about the children and families we work with. Empathy, understanding, and connection are at the centre of everything we do.
  • Celebrating individual difference – EPT Clinic celebrate neurodiversity and the beauty of brain and body difference. We tailor assessments and therapy to suit individual families so that we can help foster progress, sustainability, and happiness.

 

3.    Getting in Touch

Email or Phone:

Due to the extremely high volume of calls we receive each day, it just isn’t possible to respond them all. As a result, we suggest that you email us on info@eptclinic.ie and we will do our very best to reply promptly.

 

4.    Financial Support Available

It is possible to claim tax back for many appointments offered by EPT Clinic such as therapy with a speech and language therapist, psychologist, psychotherapist and some psychological assessments. Allowances such as the Domiciliary Care Allowance and Disability Benefit may also apply to your family. To avail of these supports and check your eligibility, you can visit the Citizen’s Information and Revenue websites. It may be possible to claim a portion of appointment fees from private health insurance providers. We recommend that you consult with your insurance provider to see what you may be eligible for.

 

 

5.    EPT Clinic’s Booking and Cancellation Policy

5.1.  Booking Fee Terms and Conditions:

A 50% deposit is needed to secure initial appointments. This is because clinician’s time has been allocated to you and, without sufficient notice, another client cannot be offered the session which you have booked. With late cancellations, the clinicians often cannot recoup this loss. If paying for the deposit is a difficulty, please contact our team and we will do our best to help you.

 

5.2. Cancellations and Rescheduling Terms and Conditions:

  • Rescheduling of therapy or parental consultation appointments are subject to a fee of €25.
  • Rescheduling of assessment appointments are subject to a fee of €100 .

 

If you wish to reschedule an appointment, you must notify us 5 working days before the appointment is due to take place, otherwise, this appointment is classed as a cancellation and the relevant fees apply (see below). Your appointment can then be rebooked under a new booking.

  • Cancellation of the booking up to 5 working days before an appointment is subject to 25% payment (50% of the deposit is reimbursed).
  • Cancellation within 3-4 days before an appointment is subject to 50% payment (deposit is retained).

 

Cancellation within 48 hours of the appointment or no shows are subject to 100% payment.

Cancellations due to serious illness or Covid-19 are not subject to cancellation fees. To avail of this policy, one of the following must be supplied upon cancellation:

  1. Proof of PCR test appointment or result.
  2. A Doctor’s Certificate.
  3. Proof from HSE of close contact or advise notification to isolate/quarantine.

 

 

 

6.    What if separation or divorce is a complication?

You can still go ahead and access services if you are separating or separated. Please let us know how things are progressing and we will advise you on how best to proceed. We offer contracts for separating or separated parents to clarify consent and expectations.

 

7.    Consent and GDPR

 

7.1. Consent and GDPR Policy

The Education, Psychology and Therapy Clinic (EPT Clinic) is committed to ensuring that the privacy of everyone associated with the Clinic is protected, including, but not limited to clients, families, staff, trainees, website, and social media users. This policy explains how personal information is collected and stored, and the procedures that are in place for information to be safeguarded. The Clinic uses personal information in line with relevant legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation. Personal information is any information related to a person who can be identified either directly or indirectly through that information.

 

The GDPR applies to ‘controllers’ and ‘processors’. The controller says how and why the personal data is processed. The processor acts on the controller’s behalf. GDPR affords clients many rights including:

  • Having their personal data appropriately stored and protected.
  • Knowledge about how their personal data is being used.
  • Access to their own personal information, and other content that forms part of records that are related to them.
  • To ask that their personal information be updated, corrected, deleted, or supplemented.
  • To request that their information is transferred to another individual or company.
  • To know if their personal information is forwarded to any third-party (e.g. school).
  • Prevent further use (or processing) of their information.
  • Have their personal data deleted when no longer required to be held for legitimate purposes (e.g. to fulfil professional or legal obligations).

 

The Clinic complies with the above requests unless it considers that there are compelling reasons not to do so. In that case, the individual is informed of this decision and of the steps that they can take to appeal against the decision. Healthcare professionals within the EPT Clinic require personal details about clients including, but not limited to, name, age, gender, contact details, personal relationships, developmental and family history, significant life events and any involvement of other services and/or professionals. Families who are clients of the clinic are typically provided with a written report, summary or feedback following involvement with the EPT Clinic. Clients have the right to verify the accuracy of their own personal information or to ask for it to be supplemented, deleted, updated, or corrected.

 

 

7.2. What is the basis for holding personal information?

When an individual contacts the Clinic and shared personal information with us, explicit consent is assumed to be given by the individual for the information to be held. (The ‘consent’ basis.) The information relates to an individual with whom the Clinic has had a professional relationship with and there is a reasonable belief that the individual would expect that the relationship would include the holding of personal information (The ‘legitimate interest’ basis).

 

7.3. Children and parental consent

This policy applies both to children and to adults. Where consent is relied upon as the basis for processing personal information and the individual is under 18 years of age, then parental consent will be required.

 

7.4. How will the data be used?

Personal information is used for the purpose of providing therapy and intervention to the named client/s and for completing professional assessment reports. The clinic will also offer check in calls and emails from time to time, and the clinic will share various groups, courses, or updates with you.

 

  • As the EPT Clinic operates a multi-disciplinary team, information is shared amongst team members and relevant consultants where appropriate in order to ensure the family receives holistic support. In line with best practice guidelines, all members of the team engage in clinical supervision. This means that cases are discussed with a superior to ensure a high standard of healthcare. The clinic is also a training establishment working with DCU, UL, UCD and MIC 3rd level institutions. Any material used in case studies or training sessions will be adequately disguised, where appropriate, to ensure the client’s identity is protected. In line with best practice guidelines, clients will have the opportunity to participate in research to improve service provision. This will be indicated in their GDPR contract. Therapists usually keep brief notes for their own use while seeing a child and will usually maintain case notes, recording factual information, when the sessions come to an end.

 

  • Some or all of these notes and/or summary will be held until the child reaches the age of 25 unless a ‘mature’ child requests that they be deleted before then. At that point they will be securely destroyed. Parents do not typically have access to any notes or files in relation to the child’s therapy sessions.
  • Therapists work in accordance with the Children First Act 2015, legal requirements, and a code of ethics and are obliged to report any child protection concerns that arise in the course of their work.

 

 

7.5. Sharing information

With the exceptions noted below, the Clinic does not share personal information with any third party. However, the Clinic will share personal information with a third party if:

  • The individual requests this.
  • The Clinic has an immediate concern about an individual’s safety.
  • The Clinic has a safeguarding concern.
  • The Clinic requests and receives specific permission from the individual to share their personal information, for example, in order to process a referral, or in the case of informed consent for training or research purposes.
  • There is a requirement by law to share this information.
  • If a concern arises in the clinic regarding a client’s safety, in line with Children’s First guidelines, Gardai and a Social Worker may be contacted.
  • Wherever possible this will be discussed with the individual before this step is taken.

 

 

8.    Booking an Appointment or Paying Online

Some information needs to be collected when online bookings or payments are completed through the Clinic’s website using WordPress. For example, it is necessary to know the purchaser’s name, child’s name, date of birth (for assessment), credit or debit card number and expiry date, email address and telephone number. This information allows the transaction to be completed and the order fulfilled.

 

Bookings and payments are processed by the following third party agencies, Bank of Ireland, Stripe, WordPress and Fresha, and any necessary details are passed on so that the payment and bookings can be processed. These third parties have undertaken that they will protect that information. Consent is assumed when clients provide their details through these agencies. Responsibility for GDPR regarding these third parties’ rests with the third party themselves. The Clinic does not share customer details with any other third parties.

 

 

9.    Assessments – Important Things to Know!

 

How does it all work!
Developmental, Background and Clinical History This involves a review of referral forms, so please spend time filling them in. They are a vital source of information to us. We will chat to you about the content during the course of this assessment.
Cognitive or Developmental Assessment This involves evaluating the child, young person or adults thinking profile, and identifying thinking strengths and need. This takes 1-1.5 hours.
Academic Assessment This involves assessing the development of academic skills, including reading, writing and mathematical skills. This takes 1-1.5 hours.
Adaptive and Day to Day assessment to inform Learning Profile In line with best practice guidelines, we now know that there is more than one type of intelligence. As a result, we also evaluate how your child’s independence and practical skills are developing, and this information combines with cognitive results to create an overall “Learning Profile”. This is done by filling in a standardised assessment questionnaire/booklet which we score afterwards.

 

Diagnostic Assessment During a cognitive and learning assessment, we test for specific learning difficulties in: reading and spelling – dyslexia, writing – dysgraphia and maths – dyscalculia.

 

During holistic or team autism assessments, we look at autism, ADHD, mood, anxiety, behaviour, sensory processing, and a range of other social emotional and behavioural contributors. We sometimes explore school and family relationships as well and family or school systems.

 

During occupational therapy, motor coordination, fine motor, balance, and sensory needs are explored. During speech and language assessments, expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language is assessed.

Report, review, consultation, summary, and recommendations Following an assessment, the report will be completed, and clients will be offered a feedback appointment in order to discuss the results and recommendations. This is also an opportunity to ask questions, and make plans for the future.

 

 

 

10. Positive Communication and Complaint Reporting

 

a.         What should I do if I am unhappy with the service I receive?

If you are unhappy, do not hesitate in bringing your concerns to either your clinician or a member of our office team – or both! We are happy to listen and help as best we can. We want you get the best possible EPT experience.

b.         What happens then?

All complaints are evaluated by the EPT Clinic’s management team in line with professional best practice guidelines. Typically, a member of the management team will get back to you and try to resolve the issue as best they can. Submission, investigation, and decision on complaints shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the complainant.

The corrective action process is used to investigate the root cause of the complaint and to provide corrective action to prevent recurrence. Again, our aim is to support you, your family, and your child. We follow the following procedure.

c.          Formal complaints stages:

d.         Records

Records of all complaints, subsequent actions and evidence of implementation are retained by the EPT Clinic’s managerial team.

 

Begin your Neurodevelopmental Journey Now...

In EPT Clinic, we offer a neurodevelopmental service pathway, which is explained on the Specialist Neurodevelopmental Service page of our website. If you would like to begin this pathway and access support, please book either Step 1 or Step 2 here now: