Last Updated: December 2025

Introduction

BHS Dental (“we”, “us”, or “our”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our dental services or visit our website.

BHS Dental is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and operates in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other relevant data protection legislation.

Who We Are

• Practice Name: BHS Dental
• Address: 80 Kirkgate, Bradford BD1 1TH
  Website: bhsdental.co.uk
• BHS Dental is Bradford’s community-first dental practice, offering an honest and straightforward alternative to traditional NHS dentistry. We operate on a Monthly Commitment Fee (MCF) model that secures your registration and provides NHS-like care access for you and your family, with clear costs and no fuss.

We are the data controller for the personal information we hold about you. This means we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use your personal data.

What Information We Collect

We collect and process various types of personal information to provide you with dental care services. This includes:

Patient Information

• Full name, date of birth, and gender
• Contact details (address, telephone number, email address)
• NHS number (where applicable)
• Medical history and dental records
• Treatment notes and clinical observations
• Radiographs (X-rays) and photographs
• Prescriptions and laboratory work
• Correspondence relating to your care

Financial Information

• Payment details for our Monthly Commitment Fee (MCF) (£9.95/month for adults)
• Bank details for Direct Debit arrangements
  Payment history and billing information
• Information about NHS charge exemptions
• Records of your 24-month minimum registration contract

Special Category Data
Under UK GDPR, health information is considered “special category” personal data. We process this sensitive information because it is necessary for:

• The provision of health or social care treatment
• The management of health or social care systems and services
• Preventive or occupational medicine
• Public health purposes

Other Information

• Appointment records and attendance history
• Communication preferences
• Emergency contact details
  Information about your next of kin or legal guardian (where relevant)
  CCTV footage (if present at our premises for security purposes)

How We Collect Your Information

We collect personal information in the following ways:

• Directly from you when you register with us or complete forms
• During consultations, examinations, and treatment
• From your previous dental practitioner when you transfer to our care
• From other healthcare professionals involved in your care (e.g., your GP or hospital)
• Through our website when you book appointments online Via telephone or email correspondence
• Through automated systems such as appointment reminders

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Contract: Processing is necessary for us to fulfil our contract with you to provide dental services.
• Legal Obligation: We are required by law to keep accurate dental records and maintain them for specified periods.
• Vital Interests: In emergency situations, we may need to process your data to protect your life or someone else’s life.
• Legitimate Interests: We may process data where it is in our legitimate interests to do so, such as preventing fraud, maintaining the security of our systems, or improving our services, provided this does not override your rights.
• Consent: In some cases, we will ask for your explicit consent to process your data, which you may withdraw at any time.
• Public Interest: We process data for public health purposes and the provision of healthcare services.

 

How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Direct Patient Care
• To provide dental treatment and care
• To diagnose conditions and plan appropriate treatment
• To refer you to other healthcare professionals when necessary
• To communicate with you about your treatment
• To provide continuity of care
• To respond to emergency situations
• Practice Administration
• To manage appointments (online booking and telephone) and send reminders
• To process payments and manage your Monthly Commitment Fee (MCF) of £9.95/month for adults
• To administer your minimum 24-month registration contract
• To maintain accurate patient records
• To contact you about changes to our services
• To handle complaints and enquiries
• To manage urgent and same/next-day appointment slots for registered patients
• To arrange out-of-hours emergency dental appointments
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
• Service Improvement
• To monitor and improve the quality of care we provide
• To train staff and students (only with your specific consent)
• To conduct audits and research (using anonymised or pseudonymised data)
• To participate in NHS dental commissioning arrangements
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• To comply with CQC requirements and inspections
• To respond to requests from NHS England or other regulatory bodies
• To defend legal claims
• To prevent and detect fraud

Who We Share Your Information With

We may share your personal information with the following parties when necessary:

Healthcare Professionals

• Other dentists or specialists to whom we refer you
• Your GP (where relevant to your treatment)
• Hospital services
• Laboratory technicians for dental work
• Dental hygienists and therapists
• NHS and Regulatory Bodies
• NHS England (for NHS treatment records and payments)
• Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• General Dental Council (GDC)
• Local authorities (for safeguarding or public health purposes)
• Third-Party Service Providers
• Payment processing providers
• Appointment management systems
• IT support and software providers
• Practice management software suppliers
• Debt collection agencies (only for unpaid fees)
• Legal and professional advisers
• Other Parties
• Police or other law enforcement agencies (where legally required)
• Courts and tribunals
• Insurance companies (with your explicit consent)
• Solicitors (with your explicit consent for legal claims)

We ensure that any third parties who process your data on our behalf are bound by confidentiality obligations and comply with UK GDPR requirements. We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

How Long We Keep Your Information
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal obligations.

Retention Periods

• Adult dental records: Minimum of 10 years from the date of last treatment
• Children’s dental records: Until the patient’s 25th birthday, or 10 years after their last treatment, whichever is longer
• Radiographs (X-rays): Same retention period as clinical records
• Financial records: 7 years from the end of the financial year
• Appointment records: 3 years from the date of the appointment
• After these retention periods, we will securely destroy or anonymise your personal information.

 

Your Rights
Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights:

Right of Access
You have the right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. This is commonly known as a “subject access request”.

Right to Rectification
You have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

Right to Erasure
In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal information. However, this right is limited where we have legal obligations to retain records.

Right to Restrict Processing
You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Right to Data Portability
You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another data controller.

Right to Object
You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.

Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making
We do not use automated decision-making or profiling in relation to your dental care.

How to Exercise Your Rights
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the “Contact Us” section below. We will respond to your request within one month, although this may be extended in complex cases.

Please note that some rights may be limited by law or by our professional obligations. For example, we cannot erase your dental records if we have a legal obligation to retain them.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously and have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Security Measures Include:

• Secure, password-protected IT systems
• Encryption of sensitive data
• Regular backups of electronic records
• Secure storage of paper records in locked cabinets
• Restricted access to patient records (staff access only on a need-to-know basis)
• Staff training on data protection and confidentiality
• Secure disposal of confidential waste
• Regular security audits and updates
• Secure communication channels for sensitive information

 

Data Breaches
In the unlikely event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and, where appropriate, notify affected individuals.

International Transfers
We do not routinely transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom. If we need to do so (for example, if you require treatment abroad or for specialist consultations), we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

Cookies and Website Usage
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to improve your browsing experience. For detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage them, please refer to our separate Cookie Policy.

We may collect the following information through our website:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring website
• Device information

This information helps us understand how visitors use our website and improve its functionality.

Children’s Privacy

If you are under 16 years of age, we will usually seek consent from a parent or guardian before processing your personal data, except where the processing is necessary for your dental care or is required by law.

Young people aged 13 and over may be deemed competent to consent to certain treatments and to the use of their personal information, depending on their level of understanding.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or relevant laws. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the updated policy on our website and, where appropriate, by email. Please check this page periodically for updates.

The “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last revised.

Your Right to Complain

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, so please contact us first using the details below.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us:

BHS Dental
80 Kirkgate, Bradford BD1 1TH

Website: bhsdental.co.uk
Email: info@bhsdental.co.uk
Telephone: 01274 350935

Online Booking: Available for registered patients via our website.

For data protection enquiries, please mark your correspondence “Data Protection Query” or ask to speak to our Data Protection Lead.

Acknowledgement

By registering with BHS Dental and using our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the terms set out in this Privacy Policy.