1. General:

This website (the "Website") and any information obtained through the Website or from other sources is stored on servers operated and maintained by or on behalf of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and its group companies ("SLaM", "we" or "us").

SLaM is committed to protecting your privacy and we take our responsibilities regarding the security of information you provide to us very seriously. The purpose of this privacy policy is to inform you, as a visitor of this Website, what kinds of information we may gather about you when you visit the Website and subsequently join our Membership, how we may use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone, the choices you have regarding our use of that information and how you can correct that information. If you have any concerns, questions or comments about this privacy policy or the Website you can contact us by following the instructions set out in paragraph 12 of this privacy policy.

2. SLaM’s use of Information:

In order to make use of certain services provided through the Website such as the forums, email newsletters, news articles, you will need to register an account with us thereby joining our site and our Membership. When you do so, you will provide us with information about yourself. We will not use your information in such a manner that breaches Trust Information Governance Policy.

You can update your personal details at any time by following the instructions to amend your details in the Membership section. We will only use your information in accordance with your instructions and as set out in this privacy policy.

If you ask us to provide goods or services to you, we will use your information to provide those goods or services to you and to monitor our provision of those goods or services. We may contact you by mail, telephone, fax, email or by other electronic means with offers of goods and services or information that may be of interest to you. By providing us with your, telephone numbers or email address you consent to being contacted by these methods for these purposes. If you do not want to be contacted by these methods then please notify us. Don’t worry – we won’t bombard you with lots of irrelevant information. You can stop receiving this information at any time by notifying membership@slam.nhs.uk. Moreover, by contacting the same email address you can request to be removed as a member of SLaM.

By providing us with your personal information, you consent to us processing your information as set out in this privacy policy.

If you wish to take part in any poll or survey run through the Website, we will also use your information for the purposes specified in the poll or survey. We may also disclose non-personal, aggregated information we collect through the poll or survey to third parties.

If you wish to take part in any promotion or competition run through the Website, we will also use your information for the purposes specified in the promotion or competition, to make sure you are eligible to enter the promotion or competition, to contact you if you have won a prize and for publicity purposes.

3. Disclosure to third parties:

We will only pass your information on to associated third parties for the purpose of enabling them to send you information which may be of interest to you if you have indicated you are happy for us to do so. Don’t worry – we only ever pass on your contact details to third parties with your permission.

4. Maintenance and storage of information:

Your information is collected and stored on servers which are owned and maintained by or on behalf of SLaM and its group companies. We may keep your information for a reasonable period for the purposes set out in this privacy policy.

5. Our email newsletters:

If you subscribe to receive one or more of our email newsletters you will need to register an account with us. We will provide those newsletter(s) to you free of charge, unless otherwise stated.

6. Forums, chat rooms, blogs, message boards:

Please be aware that when you post public information to any forums, chat rooms, blogs, or message boards on or through the Website, that information can be accessed by the other members.

7. Cookies:

The Website automatically gathers certain information such as IP addresses and the number and frequency of visitors to the Website and individual web pages. This is collected using cookies and is used by us, for security and monitoring purposes, to manage the Website, to track usage, to improve the Website and to ensure the Website is as appealing to visitors as possible. Cookies are pieces of information that are stored by the browser on the hard drive of your computer. The Website also uses cookies to enable us and any person who advertises on the Website to provide features such as remembering certain information about you and your preferences so that we and they can deliver targeted advertisements which will be of most interest to you. Cookies can be deleted from your hard drive or you can configure your web browser so that it rejects cookies. To learn more about cookies and how to reject them, visit www.aboutcookies.org. Rejection of cookies will not prevent you from using most of the features on the Website. If you experience any problems having deleted cookies, you should contact the supplier of your web browser.

8. Security:

In accordance with our requirements under the Data Protection Act 1998, we will adopt appropriate security procedures to help prevent unauthorised access to your information. SLaM shall be liable for any attempt to hack or crack or otherwise gain access to any part of this Website including any of your information.

9. Usage of information:

We may use your information as set out in this privacy policy and in any other manner you expressly consent to us doing so, we may also use your information for any purpose if we are required to do so by any law or other regulatory or government authority, to enforce the terms of use or to enforce our rights, or to protect the safety of others. In particular, we may collect and use personal information for the purposes of investigating and, if necessary, removing any content about which we receive a complaint.

10. Policy changes:

By using the Website you agree to the terms of this privacy policy and our terms and conditions. We may amend this privacy policy and the terms of conditions from time to time. If we do so, we will post an updated version on the Website. You will be bound by the new terms upon your continued use of the Website.

11. Contact details:

You are entitled to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you. If you have any general questions about the Website, you can contact us at Membership Office, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AZ telephone 020 3228 2441, email membership@slam.nhs.uk.