Privacy notice

Last updated: 27 October 2026

This notice explains how we use personal information when you browse this website, contact us, request an appointment or use our appointment assistant. You can contact reception to ask about information held in your patient record as well.

Who is responsible for your information?

FOOT AND ANKLE CENTRE (LONDON) LLP, trading as Foot & Ankle Centre, is the data controller for website enquiries and appointment requests. We are a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales, number OC367234. Our registered office is 66 Station Road, North Chingford, London, E4 7BA.

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email enquiries@footandanklecentre.com, call 020 8524 4516, or write to our registered office marked “Privacy enquiry”.

What we collect and why

• Enquiries: your name, email, phone number, message and the page from which you contact us, so reception can respond.
• Appointment requests: your chosen service, clinic, preferred date and time, patient status and notes. New-patient forms also request date of birth and address to help identify you and arrange care. A request is not a confirmed appointment.
• Optional photographs: images and information about a procedure you are considering, so the clinical team can review your enquiry. You can request an in-person consultation instead. Avoid including faces, documents or other people in photographs.
• Assistant: questions you choose to send, recent conversation context and appointment preferences. Free-text AI questions go to OpenAI through our hosted backend only after you select the assistant’s agreement box. Request forms send your contact details to reception separately.
• Technical data: IP address, browser/request details and security verification information needed to deliver the site and prevent abuse. Optional analytics is explained in our cookie policy.

Information about symptoms, treatment choices or photographs of a medical concern can be health information, which has additional protection under data protection law. Include only information needed for your request. Please keep detailed medical history and identifying information out of AI chat.

Our lawful bases

We use information needed to respond to appointment enquiries and arrange services at your request under Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR (steps before a contract or providing contracted services). For general correspondence, site security and preventing misuse, we rely on our legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f). Where a legal obligation requires information to be kept or disclosed, Article 6(1)(c) applies.

Health information necessary to assess, arrange or provide care is processed for healthcare under Article 9(2)(h), with the confidentiality safeguards required by the Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 1, paragraph 2. Optional analytics and optional AI message processing rely on consent under Article 6(1)(a). AI chat is for general appointment information; it is not a clinical assessment.

You can withdraw analytics consent using Cookie settings. Untick the assistant agreement box to stop further AI messages and use Clear chat to remove its conversation from this browser tab. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out lawfully or records we need to retain on another lawful basis. We do not use website enquiries as consent to marketing.

Who receives your information?

Reception and the clinical team use information needed to deal with your request and care. The website’s current integrations include:

• IONOS: website hosting and the website enquiry relay.
• Google Apps Script, Google Sheets and email services: receiving and recording form submissions, handling optional attachments, and notifying reception. A copy may remain in the enquiry spreadsheet, notification email and associated attachment storage.
• HomeData: if you choose Find address, your postcode is used for an address lookup through our form service. You can enter your address manually.
• Cloudflare Turnstile: browser and request information used to prevent automated spam.
• Amazon Web Services and OpenAI: hosting and processing the assistant’s optional AI questions.
• Google Analytics and Google Maps: optional measurement after analytics consent, and an interactive map only when you choose Load Google Map.

We may also need to disclose relevant information to professional advisers, insurers, regulators or public authorities where legally required or necessary for care or legal claims. Please ask reception about providers involved in your individual treatment.

International processing

Some of these providers operate internationally and may process information outside the UK. Applicable safeguards can include UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards. Contact us for details of the arrangements that apply to your information or to request information about safeguards.

How long information is kept

Enquiry records, emails and photographs are kept for the time needed to respond, arrange care and address relevant complaints or legal obligations. Information that becomes part of a patient’s clinical record must be considered under the clinical record retention schedule, including the patient’s age and relevant professional and legal requirements. The same retention review needs to cover copies in spreadsheets, email, attachment storage and backups.

Contact reception for the retention period applicable to your enquiry or patient record. Closing this website does not delete a submitted request. Browser storage durations are listed in the cookie policy; providers may retain security and processing records under their own service arrangements.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access or correct your information, have it erased, restrict its use, object to processing based on legitimate interests, or receive eligible information in a portable format. You may withdraw consent at any time. These rights have exceptions, including where we must retain clinical records. We may need to check your identity before responding. We normally respond within one month; we will explain if a lawful extension is needed.

Contact us using the details above. You can also complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Security and automated assistance

The website uses HTTPS, spam verification and restricted submission endpoints. No internet service can guarantee complete security. Please contact reception if you need another way to provide sensitive information.

The assistant provides automated information and appointment guidance. It does not make a clinical diagnosis or a decision about eligibility for treatment. Reception and clinicians handle appointment confirmation and clinical decisions.

Changes to this notice

We update this notice when the website or its processing changes. The date above shows when it was last updated.