We believe in respecting and maintaining your confidentiality. Your contact with us will be stored in a secure service specific database and there may be some professional contact between us and your GP. There may be some exceptions to your confidentiality – your therapist will be able to explain these fully.
Privacy and Cookies
This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Talk Liverpool (part of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust) collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected from users (each, a “User”) of the http://www.talkliverpool.nhs.uk/ website (“Site”).
This privacy statement only covers the Talk Liverpool website. It does not cover all sites that can be linked to from this Site, so you should always be aware when you are moving to another site and read the privacy statement on that site.
What information do we collect?
Mersey Care is responsible for the management of this website and takes the privacy of information provided by visitors to this website extremely seriously. There are two main types of information (personal and non-personal identification information) we may collect about you when you’re using our Site, both of which are detailed further below:
Personal identification information
We do not capture or store personal identification information about individuals who browse this website, except where this information is given voluntarily to us, such as through our online referral form or other contact forms. In these instances, users may be asked for, as appropriate, name, email address, mailing address, phone number, GP information, as well as some health-related questions. Users may, however, visit our Site anonymously.
Users can also refuse to supply personal identification information, however in doing so it may prevent them from engaging in certain Site related activities such as getting in touch with us by filling out a website contact form or referring themselves to our services directly, as we need certain details in order to be able to process queries and referrals appropriately.
Non-personal identification information
We do collect non-personal identification information about Users whenever they interact with our Site, such as the number of times they visit our website. Non-personal identification information may include the browser name, the type of computer and technical information about Users means of connection to our Site, such as the operating system and the Internet service providers’ utilised and other similar information.
How we use collected information
Mersey Care may collect and store the following information each time you visit our Site: the date and time, the originating IP, the type of browser and operating system used, the URL of the referring page, the object requested, and the completion status of the request.
Visitors to our public website remain anonymous as none of the data collected is linked to any personal information. The information allows us to assess the popularity of the pages on the website, so that we can continue to improve our Site and access to information.
The Data Protection Act
Under the Data Protection Act, we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you.
Any information you provide to Talk Liverpool will be held securely and will only be used by us, our agents and service providers. Information you provide is strictly confidential and will not be disclosed unless we are concerned about your safety and/or the safety of other people connected to you, and need to let other people know, such as your GP.
We may also have to disclose information you provide us with if we are obliged or permitted to do so by law.
Cookies
When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone.
These include small files known as ‘cookies’ to enhance User experience. A User’s web browser places cookies on their hard drive for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track information about them. Users may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert them when cookies are being sent. If they do so however, it may impact negatively on and impede the overall functionality of the Site.
Cookies cannot be used to identify you personally and the pieces of information they collect are only used to improve services for you through, for example:
• enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
• recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
• measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there's enough capacity to ensure they are fast
If you’d like to find out more information about what cookies are and how you can manage them please click HERE.
Current cookies
We use the following cookies on our website –
Google Analytics
Cookie: Google Analytics
Name: _utma, _utmb, _utmc, _utmz, GAPS, LSID, LSOSID, OTZ
Purpose: These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our Site, which we use to help improve it. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the Site, where visitors have come to the Site from and the pages they visited.
Name: _utma
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 2 years
Name: _utmb
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: 30 minutes
Name: _utmc
Typical content: randomly generated number
Expires: when user exits browser
Name: _utmz
Typical content: randomly generated number + info on how the Site was reached (e.g. directly or via a link, organic search or paid search)
Expires: 6 months
For further details on the cookies set by Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Code website.
https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsTrackingOverview
Third party websites
Users may find advertising or other content on our Site that links to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our Site. In addition, these sites or services, including their content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies. Browsing and interaction on any other website, including websites which have a link to our Site, is subject to that website’s own terms and policies.
Changes to this privacy policy
Mersey Care has the discretion to update this privacy policy at any time. When we do, we will revise the updated date at the bottom of this page. We encourage Users to frequently check this page for any changes to stay informed about how we are helping to protect any personal and non-personal identification information we collect. You acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to review this privacy policy periodically and become aware of modifications.
Your acceptance of these terms
By using this Site, you signify your acceptance of this policy and terms of service. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our Site. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes to this policy will be deemed your acceptance of those changes.
Contacting us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Site, please contact us at:
Talk Liverpool,
7 New Hall, Fazakerley, Liverpool, L10 1LD
0151 228 2300
talkliverpool@merseycare.nhs.uk
This document was last updated on March 21st, 2017
