About this privacy statement

WHS is committed to safeguarding the privacy of personal information and complying with legislation. More information about these laws is available from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
WHS’s purpose is to provide high quality occupational health care and assessment to New Zealanders. To achieve this, we need to collect, use and share information about people receiving our services.

What personal and health information we collect

We collect your name, date of birth, NHI (if available), address, phone number, email address and contact details to identify and reach you as needed. We also gather health information relevant to your care and assessment, including current symptoms and medical history. We aim to collect only what is necessary for our lawful purposes.

How we collect personal information

Whenever it is practical to do so, we will collect your information directly from you. This may take place when you send us information or communications, through clinic visits (in person or virtual) and consultations, or over the telephone.
Sometimes we may need to collect information from third parties such as a whānau member, power of attorney, your insurance provider, superannuation scheme, or another health service provider if it is unreasonable or impractical to collect it from you. For more details on what personal and health information we collect about you from others, how we use that information, and where we share that information, please see the “indirectly collected information” section of this privacy statement.

How we use information

We collect personal and health information from people who use our services to deliver appropriate medical care and advice or assessment and opinions.

We use this information to

Provide the required service and advice
Administer and manage those services including charging, billing and debt collection
Contact you to provide advice or information relating to your treatment or assessment and advice
Conduct appropriate health insurance or superannuation scheme eligibility checks
Monitor the quality of our services.

Indirectly collected information

By accepting health services from us, you agree we can collect information about you from other agencies for the purpose of maintaining an up-to-date health record and providing safe and quality health care and medical opinions. This may include:

From other health providers and shared health records

Receipt of laboratory, radiology, or other results.
Accessing authorised national or regional health information systems to support your care by checking your medical history, laboratory or radiology results and current prescribing.
Receipt of correspondence from hospitals, specialists, GP’s, nurses, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals, emergency departments, after-hours providers, specialist services, allied health providers, or other secondary and community care providers – including discharge summaries, outpatient, or specialist letters.
Receipt of correspondence from organisations such as ACC, insurance companies, superannuation scheme providers, NZTA, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
Proactively contacting a hospital or specialist service to follow up on a referral or seek advice or an update on your care, where that contact results in information about you being shared with us.
Receipt of letters from screening programmes (such as bowel, breast, or cervical screening), including results, or notifications regarding attendance or non-attendance.

From non-health agencies and organisations

Contact from or correspondence with Police, legal representatives, Oranga Tamariki, insurance companies, superannuation scheme providers, Ministry of Social Development (Work and Income New Zealand), and the Accident Compensation Corporation.
Receipt of correspondence and other information from employers regarding, for example, your health status or fitness to work.
Receipt of correspondence from other third parties (for example, friends / family / neighbors / colleagues)
Information from the New Zealand Police regarding firearms licences.

Pre-Specialist appointment

Before you can book in an appointment with one of our specialists at our clinics, our doctors and staff will review your referral and may access additional health and biographic information from your referrer and your medical file
We use this information to assess your request for an appointment, to contact you to arrange your appointment, and to enable our doctors and clinical staff to prepare for your appointment.

Your rights of access and correction

Under rules 6 and 7 of the Health Information Privacy Code, you have the right to request access to the health information this practice holds about you, and request correction of that information, if you believe it to be inaccurate.
In limited circumstances where we may decline access, (such as where giving access would put your health or the privacy or safety of another person at risk); we will explain the reason in writing.

Retention and disposal of information

We generally retain personal and health information on a permanent basis.

Privacy breaches and notifications

If we experience a privacy breach that has caused or is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals as soon as practicable and take steps to contain, assess and remediate the breach.

Complaints

If concerns are raised about the care or services we provide, we may disclose relevant health information to our regulators, insurers, indemnity providers, or legal advisers for the purpose of managing and responding to the concerns. If you make a complaint about the care or services we provide, we may disclose relevant health information to our insurers, indemnity providers, or legal advisers for the purpose of managing and responding to the complaint.