Introduction

Manchester Anaesthesia Group is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of the personal information we hold. We follow all applicable laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This notice explains how we collect, use, store and protect your information when you visit our website or contact us.

By using this website, you agree to the terms outlined in this policy.

Who we are

We are Manchester Anaesthesia Group, an independent team of Consultant Anaesthetists providing specialist anaesthetic care and clinical support services. This website is operated and managed by our organisation, and we are responsible as the Data Controller for any personal information you share with us.

If you have any questions regarding how your personal data is handled, you may contact us using the details below:

Address: Manchester Anaesthesia Group, Manchester, United Kingdom

Email: info@manchesteranaesthesia.co.uk

Phone: +44 000 000 0000

What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect the following information when you use our website or contact us:

Information You Provide Directly

• Name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Enquiry or message content
• Appointment or clinical information if voluntarily provided

Technical & Website Usage Data

• IP address, approximate location and device information
• Browser type and operating system
• Pages visited and duration of visit
• Access time and referring website
• Cookies or analytics data used to improve website performance

Special Category (Medical) Information

We do not intentionally collect medical or clinical information via this website, unless you explicitly provide it within an enquiry message. Any such information is treated confidentially and used only to respond to your request and to provide appropriate clinical advice or onward referral, where relevant.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so. We may process your information for the following purposes:

• To respond to your enquiries, questions or requests submitted via the website.
• To arrange consultations, appointments or provide clinical services where requested.
• To manage and improve our website, including monitoring its performance and security.
• To maintain records for administration, audit and quality assurance purposes.
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations applicable to healthcare professionals and organisations.
• With your consent, to send you relevant information about our services or updates.

Lawful Bases for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases to process your personal data:

• Consent: where you have clearly agreed to us processing your information for a specific purpose (for example, when you ask us to contact you).
• Contract: where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract for clinical or related services.
• Legitimate Interests: where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (such as running and improving our website and services), and your rights and freedoms are not overridden.
• Legal Obligation: where we must process your data to meet legal or regulatory requirements, professional guidelines, or reporting obligations.
• Vital Interests / Healthcare Provision: in limited cases, where processing is necessary to protect your vital interests or provide appropriate healthcare.

Cookies and similar technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to ensure it functions correctly and to help us understand how visitors use it. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website.

We may use:

• Strictly necessary cookies – required for the website to operate and provide core functionality.
• Performance / analytics cookies – to collect anonymous statistics about how our website is used, so that we can improve it.

Where cookies are not strictly necessary, we will seek your consent before enabling them. You can change your browser settings at any time to block or delete cookies, although this may affect how the website works for you.

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or trade your personal information. We may share your data only where necessary and appropriate, for example:

• With members of Manchester Anaesthesia Group involved in your enquiry or care.
• With hospitals or healthcare providers where we have practising privileges and where sharing is necessary to arrange or provide your care.
• With trusted third-party service providers who support our website, email, IT or administration systems, under appropriate confidentiality and data-processing agreements.
• With regulators, professional bodies or legal authorities where we are required to do so by law, or to protect our rights or the safety of others.

If your data is transferred outside the UK (for example, by a third-party IT provider), we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in line with UK data-protection law.

How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep your personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, and to meet legal, regulatory and professional requirements.

• Enquiry and contact data is generally kept for a limited period so that we can respond and maintain a record of our communications.
• If your enquiry leads to ongoing clinical care, information may form part of a clinical record and be retained in line with NHS and professional guidelines on medical records.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, anonymised or archived in accordance with our retention policies and legal obligations.

How We Protect Your Information

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure. These measures may include secure servers, access controls, encryption where appropriate, regular monitoring of our systems and staff training on data protection obligations.

However, no method of transmission over the internet can be guaranteed as completely secure. While we strive to protect your information, you submit data at your own risk.

Your Rights

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These include:

• Right to be informed – to know how and why we use your data.
• Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure – in certain circumstances, to request that we delete your data.
• Right to restrict processing – to ask us to limit how we use your information in particular situations.
• Right to object – to object to processing where our lawful basis is legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to data portability – in some cases, to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format and transfer it to another provider.
• Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect any processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the Who we are section above. We may need to verify your identity before we can act on your request.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The updated version will be posted on this page and will take effect as soon as it is published.

We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.