Terms and Conditions | Greenwood Clinical Psychology

Greenwood Clinical Psychology: Terms and Conditions

1. These terms

1.1 These are the terms and conditions on which we provide psychological assessment and therapy (the Services) to you.

1.2 Please read these terms carefully especially clause 8 (Cancellation) before you book an appointment for the Services with us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide Services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss.

2. Information about us and how to contact us

2.1 Greenwood Clinical Psychology provides private psychological assessment and therapy services.

2.2 Greenwood Clinical Psychology is not a service for people in crisis. If you are contemplating suicide or believe you are at risk of harming yourself or others please go to Accident & Emergency or contact your local emergency services. In England, you can call 999 or NHS 111 - Option 2. You could also book an urgent GP appointment. Free listening services offer confidential support from trained volunteers. Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, or email: jo@samaritans.org for a reply within 24 hours. Text "SHOUT" to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line, or text "YM" if you're under 19. Further information can be found here https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/

2.3 You can contact us by writing to us at greenwoodclinicalpsychology@protonmail.com

2.4 If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us.

2.5 "Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.

3. Our contract with you

3.1 Our acceptance of your order will take place when we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.

3.2 If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the Service. This might be because we have not got capacity to take on more clients at this time or because of other restrictions on our ability to perform the Services.

3.3 We will accept your typed full name as your signature on these terms.

4. Who we are and the standards we operate to

4.1. Greenwood Clinical Psychology’s clinical psychologist is Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry who has experience working with people with mental health difficulties in NHS mental health services. Please see Dr Hannah Greenwood Murry's therapeutic modalities and approach in 'About' on our website for more information.

4.2 Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (Registration No. PYL040232) (http://www.hpc-uk.org) and must comply with a range of standards of conduct, performance and ethics in order to maintain her practicing registration.

4.3 Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry abides by the Code of Ethics of the British Psychological Society (https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct) which focuses on four primary ethical principles:

Respect
Competence
Responsibility
Integrity

5. Confidentiality

5.1 Your clinical psychologist respects the boundaries of confidentiality and will not disclose information to a third party unless you have given your permission to do so. In rare cases, your information may be shared without your permission if there is a concern about your safety or the safety of someone else, including a child or a vulnerable adult. Information may also be shared without your permission if it is in the public interest, such as if it is necessary to protect public safety or prevent harm to other people, or if it is legally required (e.g. safeguarding concerns, court orders, information related to acts of terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering). In such cases the standards of the Health and Care Professions Council and the practice guidelines of the British Psychological Society will be followed (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/; https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/practice-guidelines).

5.2. We comply with all relevant data protection legislation (including the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Greenwood Clinical Psychology is DPA and GDPR compliant. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about how we protect your data.

5.3. What you say during an online therapy session is confidential. You also have your own responsibility to ensure confidentiality.

5.3.1. The clinical psychologist will make sure that the physical room used for the online sessions is confidential and that the sessions cannot be overheard by anyone else.

5.3.2. You are responsible for making sure that the physical place where you access online sessions is confidential. You are also responsible for the confidentiality of your computer and any other electronic equipment that you use.

5.3.3. You are not permitted to live stream or record or distribute any audio and visual images from the sessions without our agreement. We are not permitted to live stream or record or distribute any audio and visual images from the sessions without your agreement. If either party wish to record sessions then (i) both parties must have agreed to this in advance of the session and (ii) such agreement must be recorded in writing.

5.4 Notes taken by the clinical psychologist during sessions will be written digitally and stored in a encrypted secure cloud storage drive. If sent by email, files with sensitive personal information will be password protected.

5.5 Your psychological assessment and therapy notes will be kept for 7 years and then confidentially destroyed. Except in the circumstances outlined in clause 5.1, your data will not be used for anything other than our psychological work together. You have the right to access your notes at any time provided that a request is made in writing to us prior to their destruction.

5.6 In order for us to provide psychological assessment and therapy, we require you to provide your GP and Next of Kin details. However, your clinical psychologist will only pass on information to a third party when requested to do so by you and with your agreement (except in the circumstances outlined in clause 5.1). It is best practice to write to your GP in order to inform and involve them with your ongoing intervention plan.

5.7 If you request a report or letter to be written, your clinical psychologist will usually write this with your collaboration in order to promote transparency. If you require that certain information is not disclosed in the report you must make this clear to us in writing before the report is written.

6. Financing our Services

We currently only take clients who are self-funding for our Services.

6.1. Payment for each session should be made in advance no later than 48 hours prior to the appointment.

6.1.2. You can pay by bank transfer to Greenwood Clinical Psychology. Bank details will be provided to you by email. Please use your last name and date of the appointment as the reference, so that the payment can be easily identified.

(i) Please note that we will not send you a notice by email alone that our bank details have changed during the course of a transaction

(ii) Any such email you may receive will not have come from us and should be reported to the police and to us immediately.

(iii) Please be careful to check bank account details with us in person if in any doubt. We will not accept responsibility if you transfer money into an incorrect account.

7. Fees

7.1. The fees for therapy sessions vary depending on your needs. Please see 'Services' page on our website for further information, or contact Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry on greenwoodclinicalpsychology@protonmail.com for more detailed information.

7.2 Fees for appointments must be paid in full 48 hours prior to the scheduled session. Cancellation Fees must be paid within 5 working days of the date of cancelled or missed appointment.

7.3 We may suspend supply of the Services if you do not pay. If you do not pay us for the Services when you are supposed to, we may suspend your therapy sessions until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending your therapy sessions.

7.4 Additional services outside of planned assessment or therapy sessions will be charged at the same hourly rate as therapy sessions multiplied by the time spent. For example, this may include requests for reports, letters, or requested liaison with 3rd parties.

8. Cancellations

8.1. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you have a cancellation period of 14 days in which you can change your mind (this is known as the cooling off period). You have 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your order in which to cancel the contract. However, once we have completed the Services you cannot change your mind, even if the period is still running. If you cancel after we have started the Services, you must pay us for the Services provided up until the time you tell us that you have changed your mind. This means that if you request that the therapy starts during the 14 day cooling off period you can still cancel within the 14 day period but you will have to pay us for the therapy sessions which have taken place.

8.2. To ensure our high standards in our therapy for our clients, we recommend that therapy sessions occur on a regular basis. We will agree their frequency with you and we ask you to commit to this. If, after the initial contract cooling off period has expired, you wish to cancel an appointment you must give us at least 48 hours notice. Cancellations of appointments made with less than 48 hours notice, regardless of the reason, will result in a cancellation fee equal to the cost of the missed session (Cancellation Fee). If you fail to attend a therapy session without notice you will be charged the Cancellation Fee. For non-attendance without prior notice, it will be assumed that you no longer wish to continue with therapy and your session slot may be reallocated. Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry will wait for 3 working days after your non-attended session to hear from you before re-allocating your session.

8.3 If you arrive late for your session, the session will still end at the original time.

9. Online therapy sessions

9.1. The medium through which the therapy sessions are to take place are online video through Microsoft Teams. You can find out more about the way in which Microsoft Teams protects your personal information by reading Microsoft Teams’ privacy policy (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/privacy/privacystatement)

9.2. The contact details which you provide to Greenwood Clinical Psychology must be correct and you agree to promptly notify us of any changes to your contact details.

9.3. When you have a verified booking for an appointment, you will receive an email within 48 hours. In this email you receive confirmation of your booking on the agreed day and time, with a personal Microsoft Teams invitation via a link. You are responsible for saving this email and link. Please check your junk mail/spam folder, as links can often automatically be sent there. If you have not received the link in your junk mail/spam folder then please contact us.

9.4. In order to use Microsoft Teams properly, you must have the necessary hardware, software and reliable internet access. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have; (i) downloaded and have access to Microsoft Teams; and (ii) ensuring your internet connection will allow you to access Microsoft Teams and is sufficiently reliable for the duration of the session. We will not be responsible for delays in commencing sessions or interruptions to sessions caused by problems with Microsoft Teams. We will not extend a therapy session due to problems with your internet connection or hardware which affect your ability to connect to Microsoft Teams.

9.5. You are responsible for being on time to your therapy session. We recommend that you are connected to Microsoft Teams via the link you received in your confirmation email and have checked the image and sound at least 5-10 minutes before the session is due to commence. We will not extend a therapy session if you are late joining the session.

9.6. At times the session may be interrupted by technical glitches which are beyond the control of either you or us. If the session drops out the clinical psychologist will try to reconnect the session for the next 10 minutes. If they are unable to do so due to technical glitches they will contact you by telephone and attempt to resolve the issue.

10. Email and Telephone Policy

10.1. If necessary, your clinical psychologist can receive email communication in the form of confidential reports and letters, and/or additional information. Your clinical psychologist may also make or receive telephone calls related to your therapy or speak to you on the telephone.

10.2 Such additional work as is set out in clause 10.1 shall incur an additional fee. Such fees will be calculated as the hourly fee charged for your therapy (Hourly Fee) multiplied by the time spent. These additional charges must be paid by you. We will invoice these fees to you.

10.3. Your clinical psychologist cannot guarantee rapid responses to email communication due to operating on a part-time basis.

10.4 . It is important to be aware that communications of a clinical nature and especially clinical decision-making will not be encouraged or engaged in by your clinical psychologist via email. In our experience clinical conversations are best communicated face-to-face during your scheduled online appointment. Email communication should only be used to return required documents, and to communicate about appointment practicalities - i.e. bookings and cancellations.

11. Prior to your initial appointment

11.1. Prior to your first appointment we may send you a questionnaire to complete to help us more fully understand the background to your current concerns. This is a detailed document about your situation and we ask that it is completed and returned by email prior to your first appointment.

12. Anti-Discrimination Policy

12.1. Your clinical psychologist respects difference and diversity. Differences include sexuality, sexual preference or orientation, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity, disability, gender expression or age.

13. Health and Safety

13.1. Your clinical psychologist will take the utmost care and due diligence when working with you as a client and will adhere to all the health and safety regulations within the framework appropriate for online therapy.

14. Complaints

14.1. We hope you will never have to complain about the service provided by Greenwood Clinical Psychology but if you do have a concern please put it in writing to your clinical psychologist, Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry and send to greenwoodclinicalpsychology@protonmail.com. Alternatively you can make a complaint via the Health and Care Professions Council (website detailed in the beginning of this document).

15. Other important terms

15.1 This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

15.2 Each of the clauses of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

15.3 If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the Services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

15.4 These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.

If you have questions about any of the content of this document, please contact Dr Hannah Greenwood-Murry on greenwoodclinicalpsychology@protonmail.com who can provide clarification.