Verdure Psychology Ltd
Service Agreement

Version 1.2 | Effective date: 19 June 2026 | Last updated: 26 June 2026

This agreement outlines the terms under which psychological assessment and therapy services are provided by Verdure Psychology Ltd (“Verdure Psychology”, “the Company”, “we”, “us”). By engaging in therapy, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to these terms. If you have any questions, please raise them before or during your first appointment.

1. Purpose, Scope and Provider

Verdure Psychology provides outpatient psychological assessment, formulation and therapy. Services are not a substitute for emergency, crisis, inpatient or multidisciplinary care where those are clinically required.

Services are provided by, or under arrangements made by, Verdure Psychology Ltd. If you are working with an independent therapist affiliated with Verdure Psychology, a separate agreement may apply.

Practitioners work within their professional competence and in line with relevant professional, ethical and legal standards, including HCPC standards where the practitioner is HCPC-registered.

2. Consent, Capacity and Young People

Therapy is voluntary and requires informed consent and capacity to engage. Consent is an ongoing process, and you can ask questions or withdraw from therapy at any time.

For young people, consent and involvement of parents or carers will be considered in line with legal and professional standards, the young person’s capacity, safeguarding duties and what is clinically appropriate.

3. Confidentiality

All information shared in therapy is treated as confidential. Information may be disclosed only where necessary and proportionate, including:

• with your consent;
• where required by law, such as a court order;
• where there are safeguarding concerns or a risk of serious harm to you or others;
• where information is needed for insurance administration, if applicable;
• for clinical supervision, normally in anonymised or minimally identifiable form;
• where needed to obtain professional, legal or regulatory advice.

Where possible and safe, disclosures will be discussed with you in advance. Only information that is necessary for the relevant purpose will be shared.

If you disengage from therapy and there are concerns about your wellbeing, reasonable attempts may be made to contact you. If we cannot contact you, we may contact your GP, emergency contact or another appropriate service where clinically justified.

4. Remote Sessions and Digital Communication

Remote sessions are delivered using secure digital technology, normally Cliniko Telehealth. You are responsible for ensuring privacy and a suitable environment at your location, including using a private room and avoiding shared or public Wi-Fi where possible.

Sessions are not routinely recorded by Verdure Psychology. Clients must not audio-record, video-record, screenshot or otherwise capture sessions without prior discussion and explicit agreement.

Email, text messages and other electronic communications are convenient but cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please consider this before sending highly sensitive information electronically.

5. Emergency Contact, GP Details and Crisis Support

We require your GP details as part of safe clinical practice. An emergency contact is optional but strongly recommended. These details will only be used where necessary, such as significant concern for your safety or an inability to contact you.

Verdure Psychology is not a crisis service and does not provide 24-hour monitoring. If you require urgent support, contact NHS 111 and select the mental health option, contact your local crisis service, attend A&E, or call 999 if there is immediate danger.

6. Information We Collect

We collect information necessary to provide safe and effective care, including:

• personal and contact details;
• GP and, where provided, emergency contact details;
• health, psychological and clinical information;
• relevant personal, developmental, family, educational or occupational history;
• risk, safeguarding and care-planning information;
• insurance, billing and payment information;
• communications with you and, where relevant, with other professionals.

7. How and Why We Use Your Information

Your information is used to:

• provide assessment, therapy and related clinical services;
• maintain full, clear and accurate clinical records;
• communicate with you about appointments and care;
• manage clinical risk and safeguarding responsibilities;
• liaise with your GP, insurer or other professionals where appropriate;
• administer the business, including invoicing, accounting and audit trails;
• meet legal, regulatory, tax and professional obligations.

8. Legal Basis for Processing

Verdure Psychology Ltd is the Data Controller for personal information processed in connection with the services it provides. We process personal data under UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b) where processing is necessary for a contract, Article 6(1)(c) where processing is necessary to meet legal obligations, and Article 6(1)(f) where necessary for legitimate interests such as safe service administration and professional record keeping.

We process special category health data primarily under UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h), where processing is necessary for the provision of health or social care. Where relevant, explicit consent may be sought for specific disclosures or optional uses, but consent is not usually the main legal basis for maintaining clinical records.

9. Use of AI-Assisted Technology

Verdure Psychology may use AI-assisted or automation-supported tools, including Heidi Health or similar systems, to support administrative and clinical workflow tasks such as session transcription or note drafting, document drafting, proofreading, summarising information and generating template text.

AI-assisted tools are not used to make sole automated clinical decisions about assessment, diagnosis, risk, treatment or discharge. Any AI-assisted output is reviewed by a qualified practitioner before it is relied upon or added to the clinical record.

Identifiable personal or clinical information will only be processed through AI-assisted systems where Verdure Psychology has assessed that appropriate confidentiality, data protection and security safeguards are in place. Where a tool records or transcribes a session, this will be explained to you and your agreement will be sought before it is used in that session. You can ask questions or object to the use of AI-assisted tools; this may affect the administrative way the service is delivered but will not prevent you from accessing therapy.

10. Data Storage, Processors and International Transfers

Your data is stored securely using trusted providers, which may include Cliniko, Healthcode, ProtonMail, Heidi Health, Stripe, Starling Bank, Xero and other secure professional systems used by Verdure Psychology.

These providers may act as data processors for Verdure Psychology or as independent controllers for some aspects of their own services. Some providers may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, Verdure Psychology will rely on appropriate safeguards, such as adequacy regulations, UK-approved contractual safeguards or equivalent protections.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including secure accounts, access controls and limiting access to information to those who need it for legitimate professional or administrative purposes.

11. Payments and Financial Data

Payments may be made by card or bank transfer. Card payments are processed via Stripe and we do not store full card details. Bank payments are processed via Starling Bank and may be accessed for accounting via Xero. Financial data is processed only as necessary for payment, accounting, tax and legal compliance.

12. Insurance-Funded Therapy

If therapy is funded through private health insurance, we will usually invoice your insurer directly. You remain personally responsible for all fees incurred, including:

• policy excess;
• shortfalls between our fees and insurer reimbursement;
• sessions not authorised, declined or retrospectively rejected by the insurer;
• fees incurred after policy limits, authorisation limits or renewal dates.

It is your responsibility to check your policy details and authorisation limits. If an insurer does not pay for any reason, you agree to settle the outstanding balance.

13. Data Retention

Clinical records are retained for the following periods unless a longer period is required by law, insurance, safeguarding, complaint handling or professional obligations:

• Adults: 7 years after last contact;
• Children and young people: until age 26, or 7 years after last contact if this is longer.

Financial and accounting records are normally retained for at least 6 years. Data is securely archived and deleted or anonymised in line with applicable retention periods.

14. Your Data Rights

You have rights under data protection law, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability. These rights are not absolute and may be limited where clinical, safeguarding, legal or professional record-keeping obligations apply.

Requests will normally be responded to within one month. This may be extended by up to a further two months for complex requests or multiple requests, in line with data protection law.

Clinical records may contain information about other people or information that could affect the rights and freedoms of others. Where necessary, information may be redacted before being disclosed.

15. Data Protection Complaints

You have the right to complain directly to Verdure Psychology Ltd about how your personal information is handled. You can raise a data protection complaint by email or in writing using the contact details provided on our website or in correspondence from us.

Verdure Psychology will acknowledge receipt of a data protection complaint within 30 days, take appropriate steps to investigate and respond without undue delay, keep you informed where necessary, and tell you the outcome.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk | 0303 123 1113.

16. Fees, Attendance and Cancellations

Self-funded sessions are charged at £140 per 60-minute session unless otherwise agreed in writing. Session fees are payable either before the appointment or within five working days of the invoice date. A working day means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales. Invoices will normally be issued on or shortly after the date of the appointment. Where sessions are funded by an insurer or another organisation, different payment arrangements may apply. Outstanding balances must normally be cleared before further sessions are offered.

Cancellations with at least 24 hours’ notice are not charged. Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice are charged at 50% of the session fee unless there are exceptional circumstances, at Verdure Psychology’s discretion.

17. Therapeutic Process and Limitations

Therapy requires active engagement and regular review. We may review, pause, refer on or discontinue therapy where it is not clinically appropriate, where risk cannot be safely managed within an outpatient service, where attendance is inconsistent, or where a different service would better meet your needs.

Outcomes cannot be guaranteed. Psychological therapy can involve discussing distressing or sensitive topics and may feel more difficult before improvement occurs.

18. Ending Therapy

You may end therapy at any time. A planned ending session is usually recommended so that progress, risk, relapse prevention and next steps can be reviewed.

If there is no contact for 6 weeks, therapy will be considered ended and your file closed unless risk concerns known to us justify further action. Closure of your file does not prevent you from contacting the service again in future, although availability cannot be guaranteed.

19. Behaviour, Boundaries and Professional Complaints

Therapy may be discontinued in cases of aggressive, abusive, discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour, attending under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or serious boundary concerns.

Concerns about the clinical service should usually be raised with Verdure Psychology first so they can be considered and responded to. If your concern relates to the fitness to practise of an HCPC-registered professional, you may also contact the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

20. Contact Preferences and Marketing

Your contact details will be used for purposes related to therapy, service administration, legal or professional obligations, and not for general marketing unless you have separately agreed to this.