Privacy policy

The booking form asks for your name, date of birth, phone number, email address, whether you are a new or existing patient, and a reason for the appointment. These fields are required to submit the online request. You can also choose contact and appointment preferences, and add brief notes.

Optional notes may contain health information. Keep them brief; do not include identity documents, detailed medical records or another person’s private information. If you prefer not to use the form, call reception to arrange a booking.

The form is for appointment requests. It is not monitored as an emergency service.

After you have booked, reception may send you a separate link to complete your patient registration. This is different from the appointment-request form on this website, which has no document-upload facility.

The registration form collects details needed for your care and administration. It also allows optional uploads, such as an ID or passport, medical-aid card or relevant referral documents. These can help the practice check your details, prepare your record and administer your account. Upload only what is relevant and requested.

Registration information is handled through the practice’s registration and clinical systems and may also be sent to reception by email for administration. Emailed information creates an additional copy. Ask reception if you would like to know how a particular document will be handled before providing it.

Care may involve contact and identification details, medical history, examination findings, test results, treatment plans, consent documents, correspondence and account information. Information can come from you and, where appropriate, from referring clinicians, laboratories, hospitals or someone authorised to assist you.

The practice uses clinical record, registration, documentation, hosting and communication service providers to support these tasks. Relevant information is handled by practice staff and providers supporting your care and administration. Email correspondence, including booking notifications, creates a separate copy of the information sent.

Why information is needed

We use relevant information to arrange and provide care, communicate with you, maintain clinical records, administer accounts and meet professional or legal duties. Information may need to be shared with staff and service providers supporting those tasks, or with clinicians, laboratories, hospitals and medical schemes involved in your care or account.

Consent is one possible legal basis for processing; care, contractual needs and legal duties may provide other grounds. Health information is subject to additional protection and duties of confidentiality under POPIA. If you are unsure why something is requested, please ask before providing it. Missing information may limit the care or administrative task we can complete.

Tell reception if a phone number, email address or shared device is not private, or if you need a different contact method. Check your details before submitting a request. The website sends an automatic acknowledgement to the email address you enter. If receiving an email from the practice is not safe for you, call reception instead of using the online form.

Secured access to the practice’s email account does not control who can read messages on your device or in your mailbox. Before sending detailed records or identity documents, ask reception which channel to use.

WhatsApp is available for booking and administrative enquiries. If you choose it, WhatsApp’s own privacy policy also applies. Please do not use email, the booking form or WhatsApp for urgent medical help.

Loading a website involves technical information such as an IP address, browser details and the pages requested. Website and hosting services may use this information for delivery, security and troubleshooting.

Clinical records need to remain available for continuity of care and relevant professional and legal duties. Retention depends on the type of record and circumstances; it is not simply the same period for every patient or every website enquiry.

The HPCSA’s record-keeping guidance includes a minimum of six years after a record becomes dormant, with longer periods in particular circumstances, including for children. Its preference is to retain clinical records indefinitely where practical. This is not a promise to delete a clinical record after six years.

Booking enquiries, registration documents, correspondence and clinical records can serve different purposes and need different retention periods. You can ask the practice what information is held about you, why it is still needed and whether unnecessary copies can be removed. Deletion requests must take account of any continuing clinical or legal need to retain a record.

Access restrictions help protect the practice’s clinical database and email accounts. No system can promise absolute security. If a concern is reported or identified, Dr Adlam will assess it, take appropriate steps to protect the information, and arrange notification to affected people and the Information Regulator where required. Please contact reception promptly if you suspect a problem.