Privacy Policy – Queensview Professional Services

Privacy of personal information is an important principle in our practice. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services we provide. Each service provider is in independent practice and will provide any special privacy information which applies in a particular situation.

What is Personal Information? Personal information includes information that relates to a person’s characteristics (e.g., gender, age, income, address or phone number); health; capacity to make decisions; activities and views (e.g., religion, opinions expressed by an individual).

Reasons for Collecting Information: We collect, use and disclose personal information in order to serve our clients. The primary reason for collecting personal information is to provide clinical or professional services.

Protecting Personal Information – Confidentiality: With the exceptions below, personal information is not revealed to anyone without your consent. Below are the situations in which we may be required to release information without consent.

children at risk of abuse or neglect or who have experienced abuse or neglect
risk of suicide or serious harm to others
sexual abuse by another regulated health professional
a subpoena by the court
Resident of long-term care home or retirement home who is at risk of harm or has experienced harm
professional quality assurance evaluations
at the request of the College regulating our professional practice

Retention and Destruction of Files: Psychologists are required to keep files for 10 years, or for 10 years after the 18th birthday of a child under the age of 18 at the time of the provision of service.

You Can Review the Information in Your File: With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see the information in your file. Before information is provided by mail, we may need to confirm your identity. We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for requests which incur costs such as photocopying. We may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, why we cannot give you access.

If you believe there is a mistake in your file, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent the information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will include in the file a brief statement from you and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.

Raising a Concern: If you have a concern about our services or a privacy issue, we would ask you to discuss it with us. If we cannot satisfy your concerns, you may contact the College which regulates the services of the professional you have consulted.

The College of Psychologists of Ontario

110 Eglinton St West, Suite 500

Toronto ON M4R 1A3

Tel: 416-961-8817

Toll free: 1-800-489-8388

Web Site http://cpo.on.ca

Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

250 Bloor St East, Suite 1000

Toronto ON M4W 1E6

Tel: 416-972-9882

Toll free: 877-828-9380

Web Site http://www.ocswssw.org