Cookies and privacy notice

Privacy notice

Who we are and what we do

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of eye health services in the UK and a world-class centre of excellence for ophthalmic research and education. We have a reputation, developed over two centuries, for providing the highest quality of ophthalmic care. Our 2,300 staff are committed to sustaining and building on our pioneering legacy and ensuring we remain at the cutting edge of developments in ophthalmology.

Why we collect personally identifiable information

We need the information so that we can:- 

  • Make sure that decisions about  your care and treatment are always based on the best possible information
  • Make sure that we use your information to best effect, for example by pooling the information we have with other care providers to spot problems or concerns
  • Share information with other care providers so we have complete, accurate and up to date records
  • Investigate any concerns or complaints raised by you or your family.
  • Measure the quality of your treatment and ensure the service/care provided to you is excellent
  • Investigate any incidents
  • Provide assurance to the Care Quality Commission that the care we provide is of good quality.
  • If you have a carer, we will also maintain a record of their contact details and liaise with them about your care and treatment in accordance with your care plan.

For general information about how your data is used in health and social care see  https://understandingpatientdata.org.uk/what-you-need-know 

What information do we collect?

  • We keep a record of your care and treatment, this includes:-
    Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details)
  • Information relating to you past and current care

How we get the personal information

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us by you, either directly to us or by the person that referred you to us (for example your GP or optometrist), or another person caring for you (for example, a community nurse, social worker, or carer).

We use the information that you have given us in order to provide quality care. 

We may share some of this information with other people supporting your care (such as your GP or carer) in accordance with the care plan we have agreed with you.

Under the UK Data Protection Act the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information is to perform work relating to your contract.

How you can help us to keep your health record up to date

  • Let us know when you change address, telephone number, email,  or name
  • Tell us about any other care your are receiving from others
  • Keep a note of your unique NHS number
  • Tell us if any information in your record is incorrect
  • Tell us if the contact details of your carer or next of kin change

How we store your personal information 

Your information is securely stored.  We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting, or reporting requirements.  

You can find details of how long we keep information for in the  Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016.

Improving care quality and clinical services

We will only use your personal information for the purposes set out above unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose or where there is another lawful basis for processing.  

The quality of care that your enjoy is based on evidence derived from research.  As a national and international centre of excellence, we undertake a lot of research at Moorfields so the care of tomorrow is the best it can be.  We might invite you to take part in research, but we will never use your personally identifiable data in research without your permission.  To find out more, Research opportunities at Moorfields (ROAM) | Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.  

We do not share you data with insurance companies or use it for marketing purposes.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.  However, where information is part of your health record, we are obliged to keep records of any changes, and so the incorrect information may not be erased, but instead would be crossed out with the correct information entered with a note.

Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.  but as we cannot provide care if we cannot process your information, it is unlikely that we will be able to comply with your request.  

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at the address below if you wish to make a request.

 

Last updated: November 2023

Last reviewed: June 2024

How to contact us

Health Records Department

If you wish to receive a copy of the information we have, then please write to:-

 

Health Records Department

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

162 City Road

London

EC1V 2PD

 

Call us Email the Health Records Department

Data Protection Officer

If you have any queries or concerns about our use of your personal information then please write to:-

 

Data Protection Officer

Information Governance Department

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

162 City Road

London

EC1V 2PD

 

Call us Email the Data Protection Officer

Information Commissioner's Office

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

Call the ICO helpline

About cookies

 Cookies are small digital text files that are used to store pieces of information. They are stored on your digital device, as a form of digital memory, when the website is loaded on your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge etc). These cookies remember bits of information about your use of the Moorfields Eye Hospital / Moorfields Private Care website. They then help us make the website function properly, make it more secure, provide a better user experience, and understand how the website performs and to analyse what works and where it needs improvement. Cookies are not viruses or computer programs. They are very small so do not take up much space.

 

Cookie function

  • Performance Cookies: Performance cookies monitor site performance and follow user actions, but they do not collect identifiable information – they collect data anonymously and use it to improve the website. Performance cookies can count page visits, examine how much time a user has spent on a website, as well as analyse loading speeds to improve performance.
  • Functional Cookies: Functional cookies are used to enhance the performance of a website as without them certain functions may not be available. Functional cookies are not vital for a website to run, but they allow one to remember user preferences and settings.
  • Targeting Cookies: Also known as advertising cookies are used to target ads to the interests of users, based upon previous web browsing activity.

 

Cookie duration

  • Session cookies are temporary and only last for the duration of the visit to the site. When the browser closes the cookie session ends.
  • Persistent cookies are stored on the visitor’s digital device until deleted, or until they reach their expiry date.

 

Types of cookies

  • First-party cookies are created by the host domain and are collected from visitors directly, enabling a better experience on the site. They are supported by all browsers and can be blocked or deleted by the user.
  • Second party cookies include first-party data that one company creates and transfers to another as part of a data-sharing partnership, typically for advertising. Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust do not use second party cookies.
  • Third-party cookies can be set by another entity, a third-party server, via code loaded on the host website. A third-party cookie is accessible on any website that loads the third-party server’s code. They are supported by all browsers, but many are blocking the creation of third-party cookies by default. These cookies track the same information as first-party cookies, sometimes more, and are also called tracking cookies or targeting cookies.

 

You can opt-out of the additional cookies by choosing 'Reject additional cookies' using the cookie pop-up banner that appears the first time you visit the website.  If you have previously consented to additional cookies, and would like to change your mind, you can click on the 'C' cookie icon in the left-hand corner of the page and update your preferences.

Preferences for essential cookies can only be managed via your own browser; further information on how to manage cookies more generally is detailed below.

You can also learn more about cookies and how to manage them yourself at www.aboutcookies.org.

 

What cookies do we place?

In addition to the cookies set by our website, a visit to this site will also set cookies from other services that we have decided to use in order to help improve our site.  These services are described below.

 

All Response Media Ltd.

We use All Response Media Ltd. for our analysis and optimisation and they utilise your non-personal data to plan and optimise media campaigns to most effectively deliver our marketing strategies and ensure the ads that you receive from us are relevant to you. They do this through Analysis and Targeting cookies. https://www.allresponsemedia.com/cookie-policy/#clientcookies

  • Analysis cookies are used to profile user behaviour and optimise marketing campaigns e.g. we may track which creative and medium has more resonance with the target audience. This is designed to ensure relevant ads are served to you, to deliver a better experience with the brand.
  • Targeting cookies use the insight from the analysis to match the user with the relevant product and services. This includes re-targeting a user as part of a digital audience (a grouping of cookies with similar interests based on the insight - not an individual) after they visited our publisher’s websites. 

We use the Tag4ARM to measure site visits and conversions and overlay this with offline advertising to measure the impact of the media. This tag might activate cookies from Carbon, Neilson and DoubleClick Bid Manager to build digital audiences related to offline advertising (dependent on agreed engagement). We use this data to produce results that measure and optimise the media effectiveness. Digital audiences might be used for re-targeting (dependent on agreed engagement).

 

Google Analytics

We use this service to track and monitor website usage. We have chosen to enable features of this service known as 'advertiser features'. These features benefit us by allowing us to see more information about how this website is used. By enabling these features we enable Google Analytics to collect data about site traffic via Google advertising cookies and anonymous identifiers.

If you would rather that your visits to this website are not recorded then please consider looking at Google Analytics' currently available opt-outs.

 

YouTube

Certain videos on our site are embedded from YouTube. YouTube sets cookies when a user visits our pages with video embeds. 

Learn more about YouTube’s data usage  https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en-US#

 

Meta (Facebook)

The specific cookies used by the Facebook pixel can vary over time as Facebook updates its technology and privacy policies. 

 

Soundcloud

We may embed Soundcloud tracks to offer audio versions of pages including our news, blogs, Moorfields Magazine and events. Soundcloud and their  service providers may use cookies and other tracking technologies for storing information, including pixels (also known as a “web beacon” or “clear GIFs”), local storage, and device identifiers, to help provide, protect and improve the Platform.  

Read for more information about Soundcloud's cookie policy

 

Hotjar

We use this service to help us better understand how you are using our website and how we can make it better through a range of tools such as heatmaps, feedback polls and surveys.

You can read Hotjar's cookie information for further information.

 

Crazy Egg

We use this service to help us better understand how you are using our website and how we can make it better through a range of tools such as usage patterns, A/B performance testing and for assessing the website’s performance.

You can read Crazy Egg's cookie information for further information.

 

Microsoft Clarity

We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

How to manage your browser cookie settings

If you would like to prevent cookies from being set by this site, or any other, the following links will assist in that aim:

General information on how to manage your choices online

http://www.aboutads.info/choices and http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/

Data Protection Act 2018 https://www.gov.uk/data-protection 

 

Opt out of cookies

If you would like to opt out of cookies please follow the links below:

 

Opt of out of seeing personalised ads

 

 

Changes to this statement

We reserve the right to make changes to this statement without notice and at our sole discretion.

We recommend you check this page regularly to make sure you are familiar with these changes. 

 

 

Forms

Any information submitted through forms on the website is transferred to us by email, and will be dealt with by us in accordance with data protection legislation. Emails are not encrypted before being sent to us and, as the internet is not always totally secure, users are sending the information at their own risk.

 

Copyright

Content on this website is subject to Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Moorfields Private copyright.

protection unless otherwise stated. Where copyright applies, visitors can download material for private research, study or in-house use only. Visitors must not copy, distribute, or publish any material from this website. Any other use of copyright material requires the permission of the trust. If you wish to use this information for commercial purposes then, in accordance with the Regulations on the Re-use of Public Sector Information 2005, you must first ask our permission. Such re-use may or may not involve the granting of a licence and the application of a fee.

Where images of people appear on this site, those people have given their consent for the use of the images for this site. The use of those images for any other purpose would constitute a breach of confidentiality on the part of the person using them for that other purpose.

If you have any questions about copyright, please contact us.

 

Email disclaimer

The following information relates to email sent by Moorfields Private.

Please note as recipient of this email:

This email is intended solely for the addressee. If you are not the addressee please do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any attachments. Instead, please email it back to the sender and then immediately permanently delete it.

Unless otherwise expressly agreed by the sender of this email, this communication may contain privileged or confidential information which is exempt from disclosure under English law and this information may not be used or disclosed except for the purpose for which it has been sent.

Contracts may only be concluded on behalf of Moorfields Private by authorised signatories and not by email communication. No employee or agent of Moorfields Private is authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of Moorfields Private with another party by email without the express written confirmation of an authorised signatory.

Any views expressed by the sender of this email are not necessarily those of Moorfields Private. Moorfields Private employees are expressly requested, among other things, not to make any defamatory, threatening or obscene statements and not to infringe any legal right (including any infringement of copyright) by email communication. Any such communication is contrary to Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundations Trust Internet and email policy (see below) and outside the scope of the employment of the individual concerned. Moorfields Private and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will not accept any liability in respect of such a communication, and the employee responsible will be personally liable for any damages or other liabilities arising.

The information contained in this email and any reply may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Warning: computer viruses can be transmitted by email and you should be aware that emails may be intercepted by third parties. Any attachments to this email will be received as separate, the subject line of which will be the file name. You are advised to check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses as neither Moorfields Private nor the sender accept responsibility for any viruses transmitted by this email and/or any attachments.

Please note: Moorfields Private does not generally engage in systematic monitoring activities although it reserves the right to do so where there is reason to believe that misuse of its computing facilities is occurring.