Music therapy
in Sheffield

Privacy notice

Last updated October 2026Who I amThomas Kerr MA, Music Therapist. HCPC registered, number AS019647. Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, number ZC245596. [email protected] · 07714 888817I work for myself, which makes me responsible for your information and the person to come to about it. I rent my room from Finale Music School. They are my landlord and nothing more: they are not involved in the therapy, hold no records, and are never told who my clients are.What I holdYour contact details, your GP and emergency contact, our signed agreement with its pre assessment questions, brief notes after each session, any emails or texts between us, and payment records. If you are a parent, your details and your child’s.I do not ask for developmental history, school or SEN details, or a history of previous therapy. If those matter, they come up in the room.Without the pre assessment questions I cannot begin safely, so that part is a condition of working together. Everything beyond it is optional.Why I hold it, and what allows me toYour enquiry. Before we have agreed anything, I use your details to reply to you and arrange our first chat, because you have asked me to (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).Your therapy. I need your information to do what we have agreed (Article 6(1)(b)), and I am a registered health professional providing care under a duty of confidentiality (Article 9(2)(h), with paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018).Keeping people safe. In an emergency where someone’s life is at risk, I may act without asking first (Articles 6(1)(d) and 9(2)(c)). For a safeguarding concern about a child or an adult at risk, I may disclose without consent (Article 9(2)(g), paragraph 18 of Schedule 1).Complaints, claims and regulation. If there were ever a complaint or a claim, I would need my records to answer it (Article 9(2)(f)). This is why records outlive the therapy.Tax. HM Revenue and Customs requires me to keep financial records.Things you opt into. Recording a session, or my contacting your GP or anyone else, happen only with your separate written consent (Article 9(2)(a)). You can decline, and you can change your mind later.Who else sees it, and where it is keptMy clinical supervisor. Every registered therapist discusses their work with one. I do so without identifying you, and they are bound by the same confidentiality I am.Your GP, emergency services, or social care, but only in the circumstances set out in your agreement. Wherever it is safe and possible, I will talk to you first.Anyone you have asked me to contact, and only after you have said so in writing.My accountant, who sees payments and no clinical information.The companies I use. Proton, a Swiss company, holds my email and files, encrypted. Tally, a Belgian company, runs the enquiry form on this website and stores what you send in the European Union. Switzerland and the European Union are both covered by the United Kingdom’s adequacy regulations, so your information has the same legal protection there as here. Carrd hosts the website itself. Tally sends me a copy of each enquiry by email, using SendGrid, a US company. Tally’s contract covers this with the standard protections for sending information abroad.Your agreement is filled in and signed on paper and handed to me at our first session, so your answers never travel by email. Any paper is kept locked. Nobody at the music school has access to any of it.I do not sell your information or use it for marketing. If it were ever lost or seen by someone who should not have seen it, I would tell you, and report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours where the law requires.This websiteThis website uses no analytics or tracking cookies, and its fonts load from the site itself rather than from Google.How long I keep itAdults: eight years after our final session.Children and young people: until their 25th birthday, or their 26th if they were 17 when therapy ended.Enquiries that do not become therapy: three months. That includes form responses, emails and texts. Tally clears deleted responses from its backups within 90 days.Texts during therapy: deleted once they have been dealt with. Anything important goes into your notes.Recordings: deleted once they have served the purpose you agreed to, and sooner if you ask.Payment records: the period HM Revenue and Customs requires.Then they are securely destroyed. I am not bound by the NHS rules on this, but I follow them.Your rightsYou can ask to see what I hold, have anything wrong corrected, object to how I am using it, withdraw consent for anything you opted into, and complain. There is no charge and I will normally reply within a month.Two things work differently here, and I would rather say so now than when you ask.Deleting records. While I am professionally obliged to keep clinical records, and while they might be needed to answer a complaint or a claim, I cannot delete them on request. Once the period above has passed, they go.Seeing your records. I may have to hold back anything likely to cause serious harm to your health, and anything about other people who have not agreed to it being shared. If I hold anything back, I will tell you I have. Session notes are working notes rather than a report, so I would usually suggest going through them together.I make no automated decisions about you and do no profiling.If you are a parentYou can usually see your child’s records where your child is not old enough to decide for themselves and it is in their interests. Where a young person can understand the decision, their own view about what is shared carries weight and they can ask me not to disclose. A young person who believes their parent will read everything will not use the therapy. I will always tell you if I am worried about your child’s safety.If you are unhappyPlease tell me first. If that does not settle it, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office online at ico.org.uk, on 0303 123 1113, or at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Coming to me first does not affect that right.Concerns about my professional conduct rather than your information go to the Health and Care Professions Council, through their website or on 0300 500 6184.ChangesThe date at the top shows when this was last changed. I review it yearly and whenever something changes. If a change matters to you, I will tell you rather than quietly updating the website. If you would like a copy on paper, just ask.Back to the main page