Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Poku Memorial Dental Clinic (“the Clinic”, “we”, “us”) collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you use this website, contact us, book an appointment or receive care from us.

We are the data controller for this information. We process it in line with the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) of Ghana, any law that amends or replaces it, the professional duty of confidentiality that applies to healthcare practitioners, and the rules of our health regulators.

Contact: Dansoman High Street, same building as the NHIS District Office, Dansoman, Accra. Phone 024 214 1059 or 0256 966 804.

Information you give us

• Identity and contact details: name, phone number, email address, and for children, a parent or guardian's details.
• Appointment details: the treatment you are interested in, preferred date and time, and any notes you add.
• Health information: symptoms, medical and dental history, medicines, allergies, examination findings, X-rays, treatment records and anything you choose to tell us in a form or message.
• Account details if you create a patient portal account, including your login email and an encrypted password (we never see your password).
• Reviews you post, including the name you choose to show, your rating and comments.
• Privacy requests and other messages you send us.
• Payment and insurance details when you pay for treatment or claim through an insurer or scheme. These are handled at the clinic, not through this website.

Information collected automatically

• Technical information that our hosting provider records when you visit, such as IP address, browser type, pages requested and the date and time. This is used for security and to keep the site running.
• Small items saved in your browser (local storage) that are needed for the site to work, such as keeping you signed in. See our Cookie Policy.

Information from others

We may receive information about you from another doctor, dentist or hospital that refers you, from a parent or guardian, or from your insurer or health scheme when we process a claim.

Health information is special (sensitive) personal data. We collect only what we need to care for you safely, keep it confidential, and limit access to the people involved in your care and the staff who administer it.

We process it to provide diagnosis and treatment, with your consent, and where the law requires or allows it. Please do not put detailed medical information in a public review. If you include it in a booking note, we will treat it as part of your confidential record.

• To provide care: assessing, diagnosing and treating you, and keeping accurate clinical records. Basis: your consent and our professional and legal duties.
• To manage appointments: confirming, rescheduling and reminding you by phone, SMS, WhatsApp or email. Basis: taking steps at your request before and during treatment.
• To run your patient account and keep it secure. Basis: our agreement with you.
• To publish your review on this website. Basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• For billing, insurance and scheme claims. Basis: our agreement with you and legal obligations.
• To meet legal and regulatory duties, such as record-keeping, infection control, public-health reporting and responding to lawful requests. Basis: legal obligation.
• To protect you or others in an emergency. Basis: vital interests.
• To keep the website secure and improve our services. Basis: our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not send you marketing messages unless you have agreed to them. You can opt out at any time.

We share personal information only where necessary, and only as much as is needed:

• Service providers who process data for us under contract and confidentiality obligations: Supabase (secure database and account login), Vercel (website hosting), and Google (the embedded map, only if you allow it).
• Other healthcare professionals, laboratories or hospitals involved in your care, for example when we refer you. We do this with your consent unless it is an emergency.
• Insurers and health schemes when you ask us to make a claim on your behalf.
• Regulators, courts and public authorities where the law requires us to.
• A successor practice if the Clinic is reorganised or transferred, subject to the same protections.

If you contact us on WhatsApp, your messages are also handled under WhatsApp's own terms and privacy policy.

Our database provider stores website data on servers in the European Union, and our hosting provider may process requests in other countries. Where data leaves Ghana, we use providers that apply strong security measures and contractual protections, so that your information keeps a level of protection consistent with Ghanaian law.

• Clinical records: for as long as health regulations and professional guidance require. Records of children are kept until at least the period required after they reach adulthood.
• Appointment requests that do not lead to a visit: up to 24 months, then deleted.
• Patient portal accounts: until you ask us to close the account. Clinical records are then kept as above.
• Reviews: until you ask us to remove them, or we remove them under our moderation rules.
• Privacy requests and related correspondence: up to 3 years, so we can show how we handled them.

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls that limit each staff member to the records they need, database rules that stop the public from reading patient data, encrypted password storage, and confidentiality obligations for staff. No system is completely secure. If a breach affects your information and is likely to harm you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Commission as required by law.

Subject to the law, you have the right to:

• be told how your information is used (this policy);
• get a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to delete information we no longer have a valid reason to keep;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, processing that causes you unwarranted damage or distress;
• withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect what we did before you withdrew it);
• stop us using your information for direct marketing;
• complain to the Data Protection Commission of Ghana (dataprotection.org.gh).

Some rights are limited for clinical records. For example, we may need to keep treatment records even if you ask us to delete them, because health regulations require it. If so, we will explain why. Use the form below or contact the clinic to make a request. It is free in most cases.

We treat children with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian. Online forms and accounts are intended for people aged 18 and over. A parent or guardian should book on behalf of a child and give consent for their care and for any processing of their information.

Reviews you post are public. Anyone can see the name you enter, your rating, the treatment you select and your comment. Use a first name or initials if you prefer. We may remove reviews that contain personal or health details of others, abuse, or spam. To remove your own review, contact us or use the form below.

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make significant changes, we will highlight them on this website and, where appropriate, ask for your consent again.

For any privacy question, call 024 214 1059, message us on WhatsApp, visit us at Dansoman High Street, same building as the NHIS District Office, Dansoman, Accra, or use the request form below.