Privacy Policy

Dr Daniel Pearl - Consultant Gastroenterologist & General Physician - Private
Patients Unit, Parkside, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

1. Introduction
This website provides information about Dr Daniel Pearl’s private medical practice. It is an informational site only and does not itself collect clinical information from visitors. Private consultations are provided through the Private Patients Unit, Parkside, operated by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. This Privacy Policy explains how your personal data is handled in connection with this website and with your private consultation, and clarifies who is responsible for what.

2. Who Is Responsible for Your Data
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (the Trust) is the data controller for all clinical and administrative data relating to your private consultation and care at Parkside. The Trust determines how and why your personal data is processed, and is responsible for compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 in respect of that data. All clinical and administrative staff involved in your care — including Dr Pearl and the Parkside team — are employees of the Trust and process your data using Trust systems, in accordance with the Trust’s own data protection policies and the Trust Privacy Notice, available on request from the Trust. This website privacy policy supplements, but does not replace, the Trust’s privacy notice. Where there is any inconsistency, the Trust’s privacy notice takes precedence for matters concerning your clinical record. Dr Daniel Pearl, practising through Pearl Medical Consultancy Ltd, acts as data controller only for the limited, non-clinical correspondence handled outside Trust systems — specifically, email communication with you via the personal assistant’s Outlook account (see section 5). Pearl Medical Consultancy Ltd does not hold or control your clinical record.

3. Data Collected via This Website
This website does not include a form and does not knowingly collect personal data directly from visitors. Contact details (telephone and/or email) are provided so that you may get in touch with us; any information you choose to send us by contacting us (for example, your name and the content of your message) is received and handled as described in section 5 below. The website may be hosted using Wix.com. Wix may automatically collect limited technical data from visitors (such as IP address, browser type, and general usage analytics) for the purposes of operating and securing the site. This processing is carried out by Wix as part of its hosting service, and is governed by Wix’s own privacy policy, available at wix.com/about/privacy. We do not control this processing and recommend you review Wix’s policy if you wish to understand it further.

4. Data Collected as Part of Your Clinical Care
Once you are referred to, or contact, the Private Patients Unit at Parkside, your data is  processed by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust as data controller. This includes:
identity and contact details, medical history, clinical notes, test results, and correspondence, appointment, billing, and insurance-related administrative data. This data is collected, stored, and shared by Trust staff using Trust systems, in line with the Trust’s clinical governance, information security, and data protection policies. For full details of how the Trust processes your data, your rights, and how to make a subject access request, please refer to the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust Privacy Notice.

5. Email Correspondence with the Practice
Dr Pearl’s personal assistant communicates with patients by email using a Microsoft
Outlook account to coordinate appointments and practical arrangements. Clinical letters and results are not sent by plain email; they are sent as encrypted PDF attachments. When you first attend clinic, you are asked to sign a disclaimer confirming that you are willing to receive communications by email and accept the inherent risks of email communication. Email correspondence handled this way is administered by the personal assistant, who is responsible for the day-to-day workflow of this communication on Dr Pearl’s behalf. You may withdraw consent to email communication at any time by informing the practice; an alternative communication method (such as post or telephone) will then be used.

6. Data Sharing
Your clinical data may be shared by the Trust with other healthcare professionals involved in your care (such as your GP), diagnostic services, and — where relevant — your private medical insurer, strictly for the purposes of your treatment and in accordance with the Trust’s data sharing policies. Non-clinical email correspondence is not shared with third parties beyond what is necessary to arrange your care (for example, liaising with the Trust booking team). However, email correspondence (where relevant) could be added to the Trust's individual electronic patient record. This could be accessed by employees of the trust who have a legitimate reason to access your clinical files. The trust as data controller is accountable for data sharing / access within the organisation.

7. Data Retention
Clinical records are retained by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in accordance with the NHS Records Management Code of Practice. Please refer to the Trust’s privacy notice for specific retention periods. Email correspondence relating to appointment administration is retained by the personal assistant for as long as necessary to coordinate your care and to serve as an auditable log of communication.

8. Your Rights
You have rights under UK GDPR, including the right to access, correct, or in limited
circumstances request erasure of your personal data, and the right to object to certain processing. For any matter concerning your clinical record, please contact Somerset NHS Foundation Trust directly using the contact details in its privacy notice.
For any matter concerning non-clinical email correspondence with the practice,
please contact Dr Pearl’s practice using the details in section 10 below.

9. Complaints
If you have a concern about how your data has been handled by the Trust, you may raise this with the Trust directly, or with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Website: ico.org.uk Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF

10. Contact
For clinical or administrative matters relating to your care at Parkside: Private Patients
Unit, Parkside Somerset NHS Foundation Trust [parkside@somersetFT.nhs.uk]
For non-clinical correspondence with Dr Pearl's practice: [DrPearlPA@outlook.com]

11. Changes to This Policy
This policy may be updated from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.