Optometry Students have access to a large amount of patient information that is private and confidential. In order to maintain the confidentiality of our patients you will be asked to sign a data protection form each year.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may a patient record be:

  1. Removed from reception without the permission of the receptionists. If you require a patient record then you must fill in the book at reception with the patient’s name, date the record was taken and your name beside it. You must sign the book to say the record has been returned. You will be held personally responsible for the record when it has been signed out under your name. This record MUST NOT be passed on to other students (either as the original or as a photocopy).
  2. Removed from the building AT ALL.
  3. Left anywhere where there is the possibility of staff, students or patients viewing it. Do not leave records unattended in the rooms.
  4. Any records that are not formal eye examinations must be treated in the same way, for example if you examine the eyes of another student or any of the volunteer patients. This cannot leave the building with a name on it. You may wish to just write Mrs M.C. or Mr X. If you decide you do not want to keep a copy then DO NOT just throw it in the bin, it MUST be shredded to allow confidentiality to be maintained. Please ask at Carys Bannister reception if you would like anything to be shredded.

Any student who breaches the above protocol will be held personally liable and will be subject to disciplinary action from the University.

Any student who requires further information or clarification of this policy can contact the Programme Director.

Data Protection Principles
Personal data must be processed following these principles so that data is:

  1. processed fairly and lawfully;
  2. obtained for specified and lawful purposes;
  3. adequate, relevant and not excessive;
  4. accurate and, where necessary, kept up-to-date;
  5. not kept for longer than necessary;
  6. processed in accordance with the subject’s rights;
  7. kept secure;
  8. not transferred abroad without adequate protection.