We have updated our privacy policy to meet the needs of our new practice arrangements. Where not otherwise specified, "your" medical recordsalso includes that of your baby.
Select Midwifery is committed to providing quality woman-centred care for every client. As a fundamental part of this commitment, the team recognises the importance of ensuring that our clients are fully informed and involved in their health care.
SelectvMidwifery is a private provider based in New South Wales,, bound by the Health Records and Information Privacy Act (2002) and the Privacy Act 1988, which includes both the Australian Privacy Principles and the NSW Health Privacy Principles. These principles set the standards by which we handle personal information collected from our clients. A copy of these Principles may be found at www.oaic.gov.au and www.ipc.nsw.gov.au.
As a part of our commitment to providing quality care it is necessary for us to maintain files containing your health information that you have provided to us. These files contain the following types of information:
Personal details (your name, address, date of birth, contact details), and those of your baby;
Your and your baby's medical history;
Notes made during the course of your midwifery care and consultations, for yourself and your baby;
Referrals to other health service providers for yourself and your baby;
Results and reports received from other health service providers for yourself and your baby.
The information held about you is provided by you or arises as a consequence of information provided by you.
Your medical file is handled with utmost respect for your privacy. The file will be accessed by your midwife, and when necessary,, by other midwives in the practice, or referred to the General Practitioner. It may also be necessary for our staff to handle your file from time to time to address the administrative requirements of running a health care practice. Our staff members are bound by strict confidentiality requirements as a condition of their employment and these requirements will be observed if it is necessary for them to view your records.
At times, to ensure the function of our practice, it may also be necessary to allow external organisations to access our practice and possibly, to view the medical records. Any external organisation that provides service or advice to this practice will be aware of the need to preserve the requirement of state and federal privacy legislation and will be bound by a confidentiality agreement.
Select Midwifery does not intend to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
Ordinarily we will not release the contents of your health care files without your consent. However, we advise that there may be occasions where we will be required to release the details of your file irrespective of whether you consent to the disclosure of the information is given.
We advise that as a client of this practice you have rights of access to any information we hold concerning you and/or your baby. Should you wish to access this information we will ask you to complete a standard form to access this information in accordance with the Health Records and Information Privacy Act (2002) and the Privacy Act 1988.
As part of our commitment to preserving the confidentiality of the information contained in your medical record we advise that strict storage policies are observed in this practice. All reasonable steps are taken to prevent any unlawful interference with your electronic records, which are accessible only by staff of this practice and are protected by security password. Any paper records are uploaded to your digital account and the paper copy is securely stored in house. Each member of staff is well versed in the principles and importance of practitioner-client confidentiality.
Should you, at any time, have a query or complaint in relation to the privacy policies in place at this practice please contact us via our email address selectmidwifery@gmail.com, and we will be happy to address any concerns you may have. We advise that this is the practice’s policy that any complaint is required to be made in writing and marked private and confidential. We advise that we will make our best endeavour to address complaints within 30 days of receipt of your complaint.
Should you be unsatisfied with our response to your privacy complaint, you may lodge a written complaint with the NSW Privacy Commissioner or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
