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Terms & Conditions

Last reviewed February 2025

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The following represent the terms of engagement for the client requesting the services of The Lotus Psychology Practice. If there is anything you do not understand, or wish to discuss further please contact us in advance of your first session. By accepting and attending your appointment, it is assumed that you agree to our terms and conditions and wish to proceed with our service. Please also refer to our privacy policy and safeguarding policy.

 

1. Services

Initial Assessment: An assessment typically lasts for up to 90 minutes with yourself/your child to explore current difficulties, how they developed and what may be maintaining them. Prior to the assessment you may be asked to complete questionnaire measures, which are used to inform the assessment. You are responsible for sharing any relevant previous reports. Following an assessment, you will receive a full report, which includes individualised therapeutic recommendations and resources. Please note that the initial assessment is not a guarantee that therapy sessions will be offered. It may be that following assessment, the clinician may feel that they are not the best person to help with your current difficulties due to their expertise, training, or timing. There is no obligation for you to see the clinician for further appointments.

 

Therapy Sessions: Sessions last 50 minutes. Regular informal reviews will take place during the process of therapy to ensure that clients are happy with the intervention and progress. Clients can end their engagement at any point.

 

Cognitive Assessments: an assessment can take up to 3 hours. Following an assessment, a report is written, with specific strategies and recommendations. A feedback session is offered to discuss the report and findings. It is your responsibility to inform your child’s school/university or your work prior to an assessment to ensure the report is acceptable.

 

Autism Assessments:  Assessments involve a minimum of two clinicians; gathering information from school/tutors/work, an interview with parents/carers/significant other and a standardised observation assessment with you or your child. A detailed report with recommendations is provided. A feedback session is included to discuss the report and findings. It is your responsibility to inform your child’s school/university or your work prior to an assessment to ensure the report is acceptable.

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Teleheath/remote appointments: The Lotus Psychology Practice use secure video platforms. We do not permit clients to use video or audio recording in session unless permission is granted. The Lotus Psychology Practice do not accept responsibility for technical issues arising through your technology or connection. We recommend ensuring devices are set up in advance with a stable and secure connection.

 

2. Fees

All fees are due 48 hours prior to each appointment. Sessions may be terminated if payment is not received. Please see our website for updated fees.

 

Please note, fees are reviewed annually in March.

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3. Cancellations

Appointments can be cancelled up until 48 hours before the planned appointment time. This applies to working days only. Cancellations for Monday appointments must be received on the Thursday before the appointment. After this time, appointments will be charged in full. We understand that unexpected circumstances can arise – please contact us directly to discuss.

 

4. Availability

The Lotus Psychology Practice is unable to offer crisis or emergency support, or out of hours service. Contact numbers and emails should only be used to communicate about appointment times or cancellations. Any message for your therapist will be passed on, but we cannot guarantee it will be received ahead of your appointment as emails are not monitored continuously. If you require additional support between sessions, please discuss with your clinician and you GP, who will be able to advise on appropriate services.

 

If you or your child are feeling overwhelmed and unsafe please use some of the crisis services below:

If you are in crisis or unsafe visit A&E – call 999 if you need an ambulance.

  1.  Lateness and non-attendance of appointments

Non-attendance will be charged the full fee. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late to your appointment, the appointment will be cancelled and treated as a non-attendance and a fee will be charged. Late appointments will end at the previously agreed time and will not be extended.

 

5. Health Insurance

You are required to inform us if you are paying via insurance at the point of booking an appointment. It is your responsibility to ensure appropriate cover and you are liable for any costs if appropriate cover is not provided.

 

6. Intellectual Property

Any and all intellectual property rights that may arise by virtue of provision of psychological services shall belong exclusively to The Lotus Psychology Practice. This includes any documents or files that may be shared with you.

 

7. Concerns & Complaints

If you have any concerns about the service received, we encourage you to raise them directly with your clinician in the first instance. If you feel unable to discuss with your clinician directly, we encourage you to contact the Director of The Lotus Psychology Practice, Dr Morvwen Duncan at admin@thelotuspsychologypractice.co.uk.  If issues remain unresolved, you may file a formal complaint with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

 

8. Professional Obligations

All clinicians at The Lotus Psychology Practice are required to be registered with the national regulatory body, the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), and they operate under their regulations. All clinicians at The Lotus Psychology Practice are required to be registered with the information commissioners office (ICO) and to have public indemnity insurance. As with all therapists, Clinical and Counselling Psychologists receive regular clinical supervision. This is required in our code of conduct. We will discuss clients in these sessions in order for the supervisor to support the therapy offered and to ensure clients are receiving the best possible care. 

 

9. Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a fundamental principle in psychological practice. All information discussed during your therapy is strictly confidential, however there are rare exceptions where confidentiality may be broken. This includes if the clinician thought that either you or another person was at risk of harm, or if you were to disclose information about a crime. In these circumstances, your clinician will initially encourage you to contact an appropriate source of support/help. However, if it is felt that you are unable to do so, your therapist has a duty of care to make this contact. This will be discussed with you first before passing any information on to others. Please see our safeguarding policy for further details.

 

You are advised and responsible for sharing assessment, update or discharge reports with your or your child’s GP. We may share a report with your GP or relevant professionals directly – you will always be informed.

 

In line with UK law, young people aged 16 and over are deemed capable of consenting to treatment and able to agree to the release of their confidential information. Where children are aged under 16, informed consent will be obtained on their behalf from a parent/carer holding parental responsibility. Attempts will be made to ensure children of all ages agree to their involvement with The Lotus Psychology Practice and understand their right to confidentiality. The Lotus Psychology Practice follows Gillick competency. We take into account the views of all children and young people who show capacity to make decisions about their care and treatment. This includes information sharing and the right to refuse access to others, including parents or carers. Usual limits to confidentiality apply and information will be shared in order to safeguard and protect children’s best interests.

 

We cannot be held responsible for breaches of confidentiality caused by software or platform failures beyond our control. In the event of a data protection breach, we will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours and take appropriate action to resolve the issue.

 

Note Keeping

We follow General Data Protection Regulations and further details about how we use and store your information can be found within our Privacy Policy.

 

In order to provide the safest care for you or your child, there is a minimum amount of data that will be collected, which includes an initial registration form. If a paper copy of this form is provided then this will be electronically scanned onto the note system. Any other notes in relation to sessions and reports (if necessary or requested) are stored in the same way, on the clinical note system used by The Lotus Psychology Practice. Please note that it is necessary to keep some brief notes in order to provide the best care and it is a requirement of the governing body.

 

Session notes, registration forms and identifiable information will be kept for a minimum period of 7 years after you (if you are the patient) or your child (if they are the patient) turns 18. After this period they will be deleted/destroyed.

 

If you require your registration forms returned or would like to see your session notes, please discuss this with your clinician, who may need to discuss this with the governing body (HCPC) or ICO.

 

If you wanted information held about your to be deleted this would also need to be discussed on a case by case basis and in correspondence with the HCPC and ICO as to whether this was legal.

 

If factual errors or omissions have been made in either the registration forms you have provided, or in reports/correspondence then you can request that this be amended. If this information has been shared (with your consent) with another agency (e.g. school) then the clinician will contact recipients to inform of them of these amendments.

 

When you finish sessions or if you put sessions on hold, notes will no longer be taken and no further liaison with other professionals about your case (except where there is serious risk).

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