Privacy Policy

Who we are.

This website is operated by Dr Luke Bennetto, Consultant Neurologist (GMC 4422662). Dr Bennetto practises as an individual and is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. You can contact him through his secretary at secretary@bristolneurology.com, or by post at the address on our Contact page.

Spire Bristol Hospital, and any NHS or other organisations involved in your care, are separate controllers for the records they keep. Their own privacy notices apply to those records.

What we collect.

When you contact us by email, telephone or post, we collect the information you choose to provide, such as your name, contact details and the content of your enquiry. Please do not include detailed clinical information in your first email.

Clinical care: if you become a patient, we collect and create information needed for your care. This includes referral letters from your GP or other clinicians, information you give during your consultation, examination findings, test results, clinical correspondence, and billing and insurance details.
Medico-legal work: if you are the subject of a medico-legal instruction, we receive information about you from the instructing solicitors or other parties. This includes medical records, witness statements and other documents relevant to the case. We also create information when we examine you and prepare a report.
Website visitors: when you visit this website, our hosting provider, Wix, automatically processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, to deliver the site, keep it secure and detect faults. We do not use this information to identify you.

You are not legally required to provide information to us, but we need certain information to provide your care or prepare a report. Without it, we may be unable to do so.

Why we use it and our legal basis.

Clinical care: we use your information to assess, diagnose and treat you, to communicate with you and your other clinicians, and to arrange payment.
- Our lawful basis is that processing is necessary for a contract with you, or to take steps at your request before entering into one (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).
- Health information is "special category" data. We process it because it is necessary for the provision of health care by a health professional bound by a duty of confidentiality (Article 9(2)(h), and Schedule 1 paragraph 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018).
Medico-legal work: we use your information to prepare independent expert evidence.
- Our lawful basis is our legitimate interests, and those of the parties, in obtaining and providing independent expert evidence (Article 6(1)(f)).
- Health information is processed because it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (Article 9(2)(f)).
Website operation: technical information about visitors is processed to run the website and keep it secure. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in operating a secure website (Article 6(1)(f)). This information is kept only for as long as needed to deliver the website, keep it secure, and investigate faults or security incidents, taking into account any legal requirements. It is then deleted or anonymised by Wix. It is not used for any other purpose.
Legal and regulatory obligations: we may also process information where we must do so to meet legal, regulatory or professional obligations, such as keeping clinical records or responding to a regulator (Article 6(1)(c)).

Who sees it.
Your information is seen only by Dr Bennetto and his secretary, Sharon Barnett. She provides secretarial services under contract, acts only on Dr Bennetto's instructions and is bound by a duty of confidentiality.

We use a small number of service providers who process information on our behalf and only on our instructions: Wix.com (website hosting) and Microsoft 365 (email).

Where necessary for your care or for an instruction, we may share relevant information with:

your GP or other treating clinicians
Spire Bristol Hospital, where your consultation or tests take place
your medical insurer, if you are an insured patient
for medico-legal work: the instructing solicitors, other parties' experts and the court, as required by the relevant procedure rules.

We may also disclose information where required by law or by a professional regulator. We do not sell your information, share it for advertising, or use it for marketing.

Transfers outside the UK.
Wix and Microsoft may process information outside the UK. Where they do, transfers are protected by UK adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards required under UK data protection law. You can request details from the secretary.

How long we keep it.

General enquiries that do not lead to clinical care or an instruction are normally deleted within 24 months of the last correspondence, as enquiries sometimes lead to an instruction at a later date.
Clinical records are kept for at least eight years after the last consultation, or longer where the NHS England Records Management Code of Practice requires it. They may be kept longer where needed for an unresolved complaint, investigation or legal claim.
Medico-legal files are kept for as long as needed in light of the proceedings, including any appeals, applicable limitation periods for claims relating to the work, and any court or investigation requirements. Retention is reviewed when the case closes.

Information is then securely deleted or destroyed.

Your rights.
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

access the personal information we hold about you
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
ask us to delete it or restrict how we use it
receive information you have provided in a portable format, where applicable.

Your right to object: where we rely on legitimate interests (medico-legal work and website operation), you have the right to object to our processing. We will consider your objection. We may need to continue where there are compelling legitimate grounds, or where the processing is needed for legal proceedings.

Some rights are limited in certain circumstances, for example where we must keep medical records for a minimum period, or where information forms part of legal proceedings or is legally privileged. We will explain if a limitation applies. We do not make decisions about you by automated means.

Questions and complaints.
To exercise your rights, or if you have a concern about how we have handled your information, contact the secretary at secretary@bristolneurology.com or by post at the address on our Contact page. We will acknowledge complaints within 30 days and normally respond to requests within one month.

If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.

ICO registration.
Dr Bennetto is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration number Z215331X.

Electronic communication.
Email is not a fully secure method of communication. If you would prefer not to send information electronically, please contact us by post.

Cookies.
This website is hosted on Wix. Wix sets a small number of cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to work, to keep it secure and to detect faults. We do not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and we do not use third-party tracking pixels, so no cookie banner is shown. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, although parts of the site may then not work correctly.

Updates.

This policy was last updated on 30/09/2026.