Pharmacy Privacy Statement
Vautier Pharmacy privacy statement
Introduction
We are a community pharmacy. Our pharmacists are registered and qualified health care professionals. They work to ensure that you have:
• equitable access to high quality health care services and support
• access to your prescribed medicines, dispensed accurately and you know how to take them correctly.
As a community pharmacy, we work with Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand (Health NZ), Pharmac, other pharmacies, pharmacy service providers and a range of other stakeholders. This is to ensure that community pharmacy services are provided in an integrated manner that is fit for everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Last updated
We may update this privacy statement from time to time. This privacy statement was last updated on 1 December 2024.
Privacy Statement
This privacy statement outlines how we collect, store, use, disclose and dispose of information as part of providing you with our services. We operate in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and other relevant legislation.
The sources of the information we hold or access
Some of the information we hold about you is collected from Health NZ systems, applications and tools where it is already stored. This includes the National Health Index (NHI) register, the National Enrolment System (NES), the New Zealand electronic Prescription Service (NZePS), clinical information sharing services; TestSafe, Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR), and the Health NZ ProClaim payments system. Your information will have previously been entered into those systems as part of you accessing health care in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Some information may be collected from your general practitioner (GP) or another health service provider if they issue you a prescription form or the pharmacy or the provider contact us about the pharmacy health care service you need. Information is collected directly from you when we dispense and consult with you on your prescribed medicines, or through other pharmacy services, such as blood pressure testing, contraception, ear piercing, CPAMS, our loyalty card, etc.
Some of the information we hold may have been given to us by a family or whānau member. This may be the case where they have accessed services on your behalf or where they have an entitlement that also extends to you, like Prescription Subsidy Card (PSC).
The types of information we hold about you
The information we hold includes demographic details, such as your name, date of birth, sex at birth, gender, ethnicity and contact details. We may also include information about your eligibility for exemption from prescription co-payments through a Community Services Card (CSC), Prescription Subsidy Card (PSC), or other publicly funded health care services. We may also hold information about members of your family and whānau.
We hold information about the medicines we have provided to you, in particular, those that have been dispensed to you on a prescription form or supplied as a Pharmacist- Only medicine at our pharmacy. We also hold information about some of the health services we provide to you, in particular, those that are regulated or publicly funded by the government, or health service you pay for privately.
The use of the information we hold about you
We keep your information secure and only use it for purposes related to our provision of high- quality health care services and support. We will always respect your privacy and confidentiality.
Your information may be used and disclosed for the purposes of:
• identifying you and any family or whānau members you represent
• confirming your eligibility for regulated and publicly funded health services (eg, exemption from paying prescription co-payments, funded vaccinations)
• communicating with you about the health services we provide
• delivering health services to you, including providing you with medicines
• recording the details of the health services we provide and if a follow up is required
• providing you and your GP with information about the health services we have provided
• reporting to Health NZ and other regulatory bodies about the health services we have provided
• claiming from Health NZ payments for publicly funded health services provided by our pharmacy.
• recording any known intolerances, allergies and medical warnings you have.
If you do not enable us to collect, store, use and disclosure information about you, you may not be able to access some of our services, in particular, our regulated and publicly funded services.
We may also provide de-identified information to Health NZ for planning, improving and funding health services and anonymised information to be used for statistical or research purposes.
Where your information is held
Your information is held by us in our Pharmacy Management System Toniq, we also receive information via our Ministry of Health approved e-prescription systems ReCare and MediMap. Our system is securely hosted on the premises with encrypted off-site backups held on secure servers https://toniq.nz/products/toniq-vault/
Where your information is disclosed to other agencies, such as Health NZ, they are also required to hold it securely in compliance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
How long your records are kept
We keep your information as:
• required by the Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 1996.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/1996/0343/latest/DLM225616.html
• enabled by the Privacy Act 2020
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0031/latest/LMS23223.html
• also enabled by the Health Information Privacy Code 2020
https://www.privacy.org.nz/privacy-act-2020/codes-of-practice/hipc2020/
At a minimum, we will keep your health information for ten years. It may be retained after this period as part of your pharmacy record to support the provision of high quality and safe health services.
Accessing and correcting your personal information
The Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 give you the right to ask:
• if we hold any personal information about you
• for access to your personal information including health information and medical records
• that we correct your personal information.
Please ask us if you would like to make a request for a copy of your personal information or to correct your personal health information. We will help you with your request and this may include asking you to put this request in writing.
We will undertake our best efforts to provide all the information you request. In some cases, we may lawfully decline all or part of your access request. If we do this, we will let you know why.
In some cases, we may also decline to correct your information. We might do this, for example, where we have a record of a known drug reaction or allergy that it is important we retain.
If we decline your correction request, you are entitled to:
• provide us, in writing, with a statement setting out the correction you sought
• ask us to attach the statement of correction to the information we did not correct.
When we correct your information, or attach a statement of correction, we will endeavour to advise other agencies who also use this information.
Queries or concerns
If you have any queries or concerns about how your personal information has been collected, stored, used or disclosed, please talk with us.
Call: The Privacy Officer Ph 06 3558173
Email: summerhilldispensary@vautierpharmacy.co.nz
Write to: The Privacy Officer, Vautier Pharmacy, 198 Ruapehu Drive, Plamerston North 4410
If you are not satisfied with our response to any of your concerns, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. For more information see the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website.
You can also learn more about your rights as a health service consumer under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights by visiting the Health and Disability Commissioner website.
