Soho Psychology London

Therapy Terms

 

These Therapy Terms are the standard terms which apply to the services we provide to you or your child (known as the “Services”), by us, Soho Psychology London (trading name of Dr Nick Wakefield Psychology Services Ltd. Company No. 15649442) whose business address is:  

 

Suite 5

The Willows Ransom Wood Business Park Southwell Road West

RAINWORTH, MANSFIELD

NG21 0HJ

United Kingdom

 

The practice address is Room 14 56-58 Broadwick St  Soho London W1F 7AH United Kingdom (known as the “Practice”, also referred to as us/we/our).   

 

Please read these Therapy Terms carefully and sign at the end to indicate your acknowledgement and acceptance.   If you have any questions on any part of this document, please do not hesitate to ask before signing.

 

Professional Information:

 

•  All Psychologists and therapist (known as “therapists”) working at the Practice are registered with the United Kingdom’s Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapies (UKCP).  All therapists practising within the practice must be registered with the above bodies. In order to maintain their practising registration, all therapists must continue to demonstrate compliance with a range of professional body minimum standards of conduct, performance and ethics. www.hcpc-uk.org / bacp.co.uk / www.psychotherapy.org.uk/.

 

• All Services offered by the Practice are delivered under the regulations in law as specified by the HCPC in the United Kingdom.

 

• All of our therapists abide by their code of Ethics and Conduct, https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/report-guideline/bpsrep.2021.inf94 / https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/ukcp-members/standards-guidance-and-policies/  / https://www.bacp.co.uk/events-and-resources/ethics-and-standards/ethical-framework-for-the-counselling-professions/

 

Consultations and Appointments:

 

• Consultations shall be by appointment only.   Details of the consultation timings, length and fees shall be made available to you in advance of the consultation.

 

• Initial appointments can be made by emailing or telephoning the practice.

 

• Subsequent appointments can be made during your consultation with us or by telephone, email.

 

• If you know you are going to be late for an appointment, you should contact us to tell us.  If you arrive later than 15 minutes after an appointment time, we will try to provide the Services you have booked but if we decide that we cannot, the appointment will be treated as cancelled without notice by you and you may be charged (See Cancellations below). This is the case no matter whether the appointment is for a face to face, online, or telephone session.

 

• For international clients - The UK operates daylight savings time and the clocks change by an hour twice per year (March and October). Your session time will remain the same in the UK and therefore you will have to make adjustments to your schedule in your local time. You may request a change of time but this is dependent on other clients being willing to swap.

 

 

Online Sessions:

 

• Sessions may be provided online via a pre-agreed livestream service (for example Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, Skype).

 

• When using a third-party supplier for online sessions your personal and special category data will be treated in accordance with our Privacy Policy, and may be subject to the privacy policy of the third-party supplier.  We will not be liable to you for any costs or losses incurred by you as a result of using any third-party online provider for the purposes of attending a session virtually with us.  You should make yourself familiar with such providers own terms and conditions and privacy policy.

 

• If we provide any of our Services as a livestream, we will use all reasonable endeavours to start at the time scheduled. If the start is delayed by circumstances beyond our control, we will not be liable for any such delay.

 

• In some limited circumstances, we may need to suspend the provision of an online session for one or more of the following reasons:

(i)      To fix technical problems or to make necessary technical changes; or

(ii)     In the event of illness or other circumstances beyond our control.

 

• In the event of any of the circumstances listed above occurring, then we will use reasonable endeavours to give as much notice as possible to you.

 

• Ahead of your online session, we ask you to plan where in your location you will sit for the meeting. It is important that the connection to the internet is as strong as possible.

 

• It is important that you ensure the space is private and that you cannot be interrupted or overheard. You are strongly encouraged to make any necessary arrangements with anyone you may normally share the location with to ensure that your protected space can be achieved.

 

• Wearing earphones attached to your mobile, laptop or tablet device is helpful in blocking out “feedback” noise and ensuring extra privacy.

 

Recording of sessions:         

 

• To maintain our high-level professional accreditations, we are required to audio or video record some therapy sessions to be discussed within our clinical supervision. It is important to note that there is no expectation or requirement for you to agree to this, but please let us know if you would feel happy for your session to be recorded for this purpose.

 

• We are occasionally asked by clients if they can record our session to listen again in their own time. In most circumstances this will be fine, but please note that you must gain our written consent in advance. Clients are not permitted to record sessions without receiving our written consent. This applies to any form of recording device including phones and live Skype/Facetime/Zoom/WhatsApp/Teams etc.

 

• You must not record the session without discussing and agreeing this with us first.  It is not permitted, under any circumstances, that any agreed recording is shared with others or in any social media platform.

 

Cancellations:

 

• You have the right to cancel your appointment within 14 days of booking if it was arranged online, in compliance with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. If your appointment is scheduled to begin within this 14-day period and you request immediate provision of services, you acknowledge that your right to cancel will end once the service has commenced.

 

• For cancellations made after 12pm the day before your session, a full session charge will apply. This policy applies to face-to-face, online, or telephone sessions. If you cannot attend your session you must cancel  before 12pm the day prior to your scheduled session to allow for another use of that time.  However, In a 20 session period you will not be charged for the first late cancellations (late cancellation is anything after 12pm the day before your session).  After this time late cancellations will be charged at your usual session rate.  Your right to one late cancellation without charge will reset after every 20 sessions.

 

• Please note that if you cancel within the 14-day cooling-off period and the service has not yet commenced, no cancellation fee will apply.

 

• If, due to exceptional circumstances you cancel an appointment after 12pm the day prior to your session we will consider the circumstances and in our discretion decide whether to waive any charges.

 

• Missed sessions (not attending or cancelling after 12pm the day before your session) are likely to be counted as one of your designated appointments, where funding is via a health insurance company, your employer or is provided as part of a legal process. You should check with your health insurance policy to ensure you know when they will and will not cover your costs.

 

• We may cancel an appointment booked by you at any time before the time and date of that appointment in the following circumstances:

 

1. The required personnel and/or required materials necessary for the provision of the Services are not available; or

2. An event outside of our reasonable control occurs.

 

• If we cancel an appointment in such circumstances, we will refund to you in full any advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.

 

• We will use all reasonable endeavours to start appointments at the time you have booked, but the start may be delayed by the overrun of a previous appointment or by other circumstances.  If the start is delayed by 30 minutes or more you may cancel the appointment and we will refund you in full any deposit or other advance payment that you have made to us for that appointment.

 

• If we are prevented from or delayed in performing our obligations by your act or omission or by any circumstance outside our control, we will not be liable to you for any costs, charges or losses sustained or incurred by you that arise directly or indirectly from such prevention or delay.

 

Third-party venues:

• If Sessions are held in person at a third-party venue, you agree to comply at all times with that venue’s policies and rules about that venue (particularly fire safety and health and safety rules).

 

• You are responsible for your own belongings that you take to a Session. We will not be liable for any loss, damage, theft or destruction of any of your belongings.

 

 

Fees & Payment:

 

• You must pay for all Services in accordance with our current price list either before or upon completion of provision of those Services.

 

• Invoices and payment links are issued on the day of the session. Please ensure you make payment for your session or charged missed session the same day unless otherwise agreed. Failure to make full agreed payment after an initial reminder may result in the use of all legal means necessary to retrieve the owed amount.  Payment links are provided by Stripe.  Please see their terms and conditions regarding use of their payment service and the date they may hold.

 

• All prices of Services shown in the price list are exclusive of VAT (which is not chargeable unless we notify you otherwise).

 

• We may alter our prices without prior notice. Increases made between the time when you book an appointment and the date of the appointment will not apply to your appointment on that date.

 

• Chasing unpaid invoices can attract an administration and interest charge of 8% above the Bank of England base rate from the due date until the final settlement date.  We may suspend the provision of our Services to you in the event that any due fees remain unpaid.

 

Medico-Legal Funding:

 

• For clients attending therapy as a result of a personal injury or medical negligence claims process, funding will normally be provided via their legal representative. We will invoice and collect payment from the legal representative unless otherwise agreed.

 

• We will invoice for missed or late-cancelled (after 12pm the day before your session) appointments unless under exceptional circumstances. Payment for cancelled appointments or for any failure to attend without prior notice may be the client’s own responsibility. We advise Medico-Legal clients to check with their legal representative what the arrangements for payment are in the event of missed or late-cancelled sessions.

 

Funding via Employer/Access to Work (or other statutory service funding):

 

• For clients attending therapy through a direct arrangement with their employer or the employer’s representative, we normally invoice and collect payment from the employer or the representative unless otherwise agreed. 

 

• Invoices are sent monthly to the employer or representative. Payment for cancelled appointments or for any failure to attend without prior notice may be the client’s own responsibility. We advise clients to check with their employer or their representative what the arrangements for payment are in the event of missed or late-cancelled sessions.]

 

 

Private healthcare funding

 

• Our Psychologists are registered as clinical practitioners with a number of healthcare providers including BUPA, Aviva, AXA, Allianze and Vitality.  Each provider and every healthcare plan has different rules and regulations of engagement. As the insurance policy holder, you are responsible for checking with the insurer how many sessions will be funded and whether you have the responsibility to part-pay the fee.

 

• If the Services are being covered by your private healthcare insurance (e.g. AXA, Aviva, BUPA, etc.) please provide the name of the insurance company, your policy number and authorisation code on the client information form prior to your first session.

 

• We are not party to any contract between you and your insurance provider.

 

• Please note that some insurance companies will not pay for any missed/cancelled appointments, and in such circumstances, you will be fully liable to pay the full costs to us (see above).  You should check your health insurance policy to ensure you know when they will and will not cover your costs.

 

• If you are obliged to pay any excess or part payments as part of your health insurance policy, then these will be paid by you directly to us as per the terms set out in the Fees & Payment section above.

 

• You will be responsible for payment of all outstanding charges on your account regardless of the cover you have.  It shall be your responsibility to pay all sums due to us and to reclaim such sums from your insurance provider. You should keep track of the number of sessions that have been agreed by your insurance company and to alert them if any treatment session is needed.

 

Confidentiality:

 

• The information discussed in our consultations and appointments with you are of a confidential nature.  We provide a safe place in which you and/or your child] can share your feelings and thoughts with us.

 

• Our commitment to client confidentiality is not affected by who pays for the service provided by us.

 

• We will ensure that any confidential information you and/or your child disclose to us shall not be disclosed to any person except as permitted in this section.

 

• We may disclose confidential information relating to you and/or your child: (i) to our employees, advisers, other healthcare professionals or social agencies who need to know such information for the purposes of carrying out our Services to you; (ii) as may be required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or any governmental or regulatory authority; and/or (iii) if we believe that you [or your child] are at risk of harming yourself [or themselves] or others, in which case we are entitled to report this to the relevant organisation.  Where possible any breach of confidentiality related to risk of harm will be discussed with you [and/or your child] first.

 

• Couples/Family therapy – confidentiality to relevant agencies outside of the joint therapy session remains the same as individual therapy (see above).  Specific confidentiality considerations between parties within the therapy will be discussed by your therapist and dependent on the therapy model you agree to.

 

• We shall not use your confidential information for any purpose other than to perform our obligations under these Therapy Terms.

 

• We shall ensure that any person to whom we disclose your confidential information to in this section also comply with these confidentiality obligations.

 

• It is a requirement for all therapist to have regular Clinical Supervision sessions in which they discuss their work in a safe and confidential space with an equally or more experienced colleague. All work that is discussed in these sessions is completely anonymised.  Supervisors are bound by the same professional and ethical regulations as our practitioners and do not discuss clinical material outside of the supervisory context.

 

Referrer/Insurance Report

 

• We may be obliged to inform your referrer (if applicable) of your progress, but the details disclosed will be discussed with you beforehand. We also recommend that you inform your GP about our sessions.  We require your GP’s name and surgery address and details of your next of kin/emergency contact person.

 

• If a medical or legal professional or social worker requests information from us, we will not release this without your consent unless there is a legal obligation to do so.

 

How We Use Your/the Patient’s Personal Information (Data Protection)

• We will only use your personal information as set out in our Privacy Policy on our website at www.psychologylondon.uk.  If you do not have access to the internet we can provide you with a printed version of our Privacy Policy.

 

• We are registered as Data Controllers with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as required by the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018.

 

• In certain circumstances, we may be required to share your personal and sensitive data for medico-legal purposes. This includes instances where your therapy is part of a legal process, such as personal injury or medical negligence claims, or if required by a court order. In such cases, consent may not be necessary. We will ensure that any data shared for these purposes will be done in accordance with applicable data protection laws and only to the extent necessary for the medico-legal purposes.

 

Use of Artificial Intelligence

 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI refers to the use of computer systems, software, or applications that are designed to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. This includes, but is not limited to, capabilities such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, language understanding, and interaction.

• We integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies into our service offerings to enhance efficiency, productivity, and the quality of our services. These AI tools may assist with a variety of our business tasks.

• We ensure that the use of AI is transparent, and that clients are informed about the extent to which AI tools are used in the course of delivering our services. The tools we are using are listed below. Where the tool is provided by a third party provider, they will be acting as a data processor for us, and you should read their privacy policy to check you are comfortable with their use of your data.

 

AI Tool Name: ChatGPT

Provider: OpenAI

Purpose: To assist in drafting and reviewing documents and reports

 

AI Tool Name: Gemini 2.0

Provider: Google

Purpose: To assist in drafting and reviewing documents and reports. Summary research.

 

• Any data processed by AI tools will be handled in compliance with applicable data protection legislation.

 

Please see our Privacy Policy here ww.sohopsychologylondon.uk for further information about the data we are collecting and processing when using these AI systems. We will ensure that all AI tools used are configured to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of client data. Please be assured that we implement security safeguards to protect any data input into these AI systems.

 

• Limitations of AI: Although we strive to ensure accuracy and reliability in our AI tools, they are not without limitations, and we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness, or suitability. It is important that you independently verify your satisfaction with AI-generated outputs before relying on them in any capacity.

 

Your Rights: 

1. Request Information: You have the right to request further details regarding our use of AI in your particular case. 

2. Object to Automated Decision-Making: In accordance with the UK GDPR, you may object to decisions made solely by AI that have a legal or similarly significant impact on you.

3. Access and Amend Data: You may ask us to review how your personal data is processed by AI tools and request corrections if necessary.

 

Please contact us at info@sohopsychologylondon.uk if you would like to exercise any of the above rights.

 

 

Note keeping

 

• We will keep an electronic copy of notes from each of the sessions. We will also keep a copy of your contact details. 

 

•  We will not keep paper copies of any documents

 

• Your contact details, and brief session notes and any other documents relevant to your care such as letters and questionnaires are stored in Cliniko (https://www.cliniko.com/policies/privacy/)  health practice management software.  This a secure facility specifically designed for managing client data.  Only clinicians contracted to the practice have access to the clinical notes on this system.

 

• The practice virtual assistant has access to your personal information for purposes of administration, booking, and invoicing. They are bound by contractual confidentiality.

 

• We retain ownership of notes but we are happy to discuss their contents with you and you also have a right to access them formally. Should you wish to do this, please contact us in accordance with the Your Rights section of our Privacy Policy.

 

• It is possible for the courts to access notes should they need to in relation to a matter of public interest. In this unlikely event, you will be informed before the notes are released.

 

• If we need to send emails that contain detailed information about you or your child’s care (for example to yourself or to your GP), we will attach the information as a password protected word document, with the password sent separately. We encourage you to do the same if you need to email us detailed information.

 

Limitation of Liability:

 

• We will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these Therapy Terms or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of our breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when a contract with you is created.  We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable.

 

• We provide all Services only for your personal and private use/purposes.  We will not be liable to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or for any loss of business opportunity.

 

• Nothing in these Therapy Terms is intended to or will exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

• Furthermore, if you are a “consumer” as defined by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, or a consumer for the purposes of any other consumer protection legislation, nothing in these Therapy Terms is intended to or will exclude, limit, prejudice, or otherwise affect any of our duties or obligations to you, or your rights or remedies, or our liability to you, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015; the Consumer Contracts (Information and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013; the Consumer Protection Act 1987; and any other consumer protection legislation.

 

• For more details of your legal rights, please refer to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.

 

• The Practice does not recommend or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability of any treatments, services or opinions. We cannot guarantee any outcome nor promise to provide a diagnosis.

 

Changes to these Therapy Terms:

 

• We may from time to time change these Therapy Terms without giving you notice, but we will use our reasonable endeavours to inform you as soon as is reasonably possible of any such change.

 

Complaints and Standards:

 

• We are committed to providing as helpful and compassionate a service as possible to meet the needs of all our clients.

 

• We always welcome feedback from our clients and, whilst we shall use all reasonable endeavours to provide a high standard of service, care and treatment to all clients and patients, we nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. If you have any complaint about our Services or any other complaint about us, please raise the matter with Dr Nick Wakefield (Director) who can be contacted at Drnick@sohopsychologylondon.uk.

 

• If this is not possible, or should you feel you would like to take the matter further, you can contact the British Psychological Society for further advice. https://www.bps.org.uk/submitting-complaint

 

• You may wish to raise your concern directly with the Health and Care Professions Council, should you feel you have encountered an issue of fitness to practise. This can be done by following this link: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/concerns/raising-concerns/

 

Crisis management and emergencies

 

• The type of psychological work offered is not suited to managing emergencies or crisis. If you require urgent help between appointments then please contact your GP, use the NHS 111 service for advice, phone 999 or attend A&E. You can also contact the Samaritans’ anonymous helpline on 116 123 or Childline on 0800 1111 (for those under 19 years).

 

General

 

• We reserve the right, at any time, to withdraw therapy and our Services to you based on clinical judgement.  In such circumstances, any advance payments will be refunded for any Services not provided.

 

• We will not undertake any procedure that is in conflict with any law in force, any voluntary or mandatory code or practice, or any similar rules, regulations or codes.

 

• We insist that we do not meet you or your child face to face if you are experiencing symptoms of an infectious illness, e.g. Covid, influenza or chest infection. Online or telephone sessions can be arranged in lieu, should you or your child be well enough.

 

• Appointment times or other queries can be clarified by contacting info@sohopsychologylondon.uk

 

• If you need to contact us between appointments please do so by email or telephone.  We do not provide therapeutic support outside of therapy sessions. Each therapist sets their own working hours and should be clarified with them when you start therapy.  We aim to respond to emails/voicemails within with 48 hours.

 

• We are required to ensure that certain information is given or made available to you as a Consumer before we make our contract with you except where that information is already apparent.  This information is included in these Therapy Terms or will be made available to you before we accept a booking from you.  All of that information will be part of the terms of our contract with you.

 

• If you have any questions regarding these Therapy Terms, please do not hesitate to discuss with us, either in a session or by contacting us.

 

No Waiver

• If a party fails to enforce a right under this Agreement, that is not a waiver of that right.

 

Severance

 

• If any provision of these Therapy Terms is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of these Therapy Terms and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.

 

Governing law and jurisdiction

 

• These Therapy Terms are subject to the laws of England & Wales and the jurisdiction of the English Courts.

 

• If you are not based/resident in the UK understand that the practice is based in the UK and subject to UK legal and regulatory frameworks. In the unlikely event that any issues arise that require legal or regulatory reporting you understand that this will be through the UK systems.

 

• As a consumer, you will benefit from any mandatory provisions of the law in your country of residency.