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Privacy Statement

Protecting your Privacy

Burnside Hospital is committed to providing individuals with the highest standards of health care and service. This includes respecting and upholding their rights to privacy protection in compliance with the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which amends the Privacy Act 1988. This Privacy Statement aims to provide a brief summary of how Burnside Hospital manages the personal information it holds in accordance with the APPs.

In this Policy, ‘personal information’ and ‘health information’ have the same meaning as under the Privacy Act 1988 (as amended).

Privacy for LGBTQ+ Patients

Burnside Hospital recognises that LGBTQ+ patients may experience higher levels of stigma when accessing healthcare.

We recognise that personal information should only be collected when necessary, and this especially relates to members of the LGBTQ+ community. Therefore, we undertake to ensure that:

  • Any personal information collected from LGBTQ+ individuals must be necessary for, or directly related to, a relevant health service
  • LGBTQ+ individuals must be aware of the purpose for which their personal information is being collected and stored
  • Conversations requiring LGBTQ+ individual to disclose personal information are always confidential
  • LGBTQ+ individuals must give consent if there is a need to share their personal information

We can assure you that:

  • Our staff will be trained on how to communicate the privacy policy, how patient data is shared and stored, and who else has access to it, and
  • Staff privacy policy training will continue on an ongoing basis for new and current staff

Additionally:

  • Only those staff that are required to access a service user's medical records will have access to those records
  • Test results remain confidential, and will only be disclosed to other parties with the express permission of the client or their authorised representative
  • We will always tell you when, why and how information is shared with other companies, such as other health professionals or insurance companies
  • Your personal information would only be shared without your consent where we have reasonable grounds to believe that your life is in danger or you need urgent medical assistance, or where there is a statutory requirement to disclose information.

Your Personal Information

We collect personal information from patients so that we can provide appropriate treatment and care, and for administrative purposes.

This may include: name, date of birth, next of kin, address, telephone number(s), occupation, religion, health information (which may sometimes be provided by others associated with their health care), treating specialist and general doctor practitioner/referring doctor.

We also hold transaction details associated with services we have provided, and any other information given to us, including through patient surveys.

Storing Personal Information

We aim to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Burnside Hospital stores, uses and, where necessary, transfers personal health information contained in hard-copy, paper-based and electronic records in a secure manner.

We will retain information after a patient's last contact with us for as long as is legally required or to reasonably meet our administrative needs.

Use and Disclosure

Personal information is used or disclosed by Burnside Hospital to enable us to:

  • Provide optimal medical treatment and care in conjunction with the patient’s health care team.
  • Help individuals with their enquiries and administer the services we provide.
  • Deal with private health funds/insurers concerning the treatment of patients.
  • Share information with Medical Practitioners, Registered Nurses / Midwives service providers such as pathologists and radiographers, and allied health professionals who provide necessary follow-up treatment and ongoing care.
  • Participate in quality assurance, accreditation and audit programs.
  • Benchmark and report patient care data to hospital committees.
  • Meet Statutory/State Government reporting requirements.
  • Render accounts and collect payment from patients and service providers.
  • Notify relevant Disease Registers.
  • Advise Debt recovery agencies.
  • Inform future health care providers.

We will not disclose personal information about patients to any person except on a confidential basis to agents used in the ordinary operation of our business, such as for data processing, printing or mailing.

Accessing Personal Information

Individuals may request access to personal information held by Burnside Hospital, and ask us to supplement or correct information they believe is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate. These requests must be made in writing. We may charge a fee to cover the cost of searching for and providing access to information we hold. In circumstances in which access is restricted, the reasons for denying access will be explained.

Individuals can request that their health information held by us, be made available to another health service provider.

More detailed information about accessing and amending personal information is outlined in our Privacy Policy.

Marketing Information

We will seek a patient’s prior written consent to use their personal information to send information about the hospital’s services and facilities or its fundrasing activities. Permission to use personal information for these purposes may be withdrawn at any time.

Individuals may ‘opt out’ of receiving any communications from us (other than as required for the operation of our business, eg. account payment), by advising us in writing, by telephone or email.

Individuals can be dealt with anonymously, provided this is lawful and practical. However, this is not practical or possible for Medicare or insurance rebate purposes and, most importantly, could compromise our ability to provide optimal health care.

Complaints

If you believe that Burnside Hospital has breached your privacy rights in any way or you wish to discuss any issues about the hospital’s Privacy Policy, you can contact the Privacy Officer of the hospital who will try and satisfy any questions and correct any errors on Burside Hospital’s part.

If the Privacy Officer is not able to satisfactorily answer an individual’s concerns, an individual has the right to make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner by telephone 1300 363 992 or in writing to:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions about our privacy and information management practices, or any complaint regarding the treatment of your privacy by Burnside War Memorial Hospital, please contact us as follows:

Privacy Officer
Burnside War Memorial Hospital Inc.
120 Kensington Road
TOORAK GARDENS SA 5065

Further information

If you would like a copy of the hospital’s Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer.

(08) 8202 7222
[email protected]

Burnside Hospital Privacy Statement

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Download our Privacy Statement

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