Privacy Policy

Pretoria Health (“we”, “us”, “the Practice”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we use and protect it, and your rights under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

Last updated: 16 July 2026

1. Who we are

The responsible party for your personal information is:

Pretoria Health — Dr Michelle Murray
Room 1, 155 Soutpansberg Road, Rietondale, Pretoria, 0084
Phone: 012 051 7030
Email: [email protected]

Our Information Officer can be contacted using the details above.

2. The information we collect

Identity and contact details — your name, phone number, email address, and anything else you choose to share when you contact us, book an appointment, or message us on WhatsApp.
Health information — symptoms, medical history, and clinical information you share during a consultation or through our online Symptom Guide. Health information is “special personal information” under POPIA and is treated with extra care.
Appointment and billing details — the service you book, your medical aid details where applicable, and payment information.
Website information — pages visited, approximate location, and device and browser information collected through cookies and analytics (see section 9).

3. Why we process your information

To provide medical care and advice, and to manage your treatment.
To respond to your enquiries and manage appointments and bookings.
To operate the Symptom Guide and give you general health guidance (see section 6).
To process medical aid claims and payments.
To keep medical records as required by law and professional guidelines.
To maintain, secure, and improve our website.

4. Our legal basis

We process your information where: you have given consent; it is necessary to provide the healthcare you have requested (performance of a contract); we have a legal obligation (for example, keeping medical records under the National Health Act and Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) guidelines); or we have a legitimate interest that does not override your rights.

5. Health information

As a medical practice, we process health information in order to provide you with care. POPIA permits medical professionals to process health information where it is necessary for treatment and where they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. All clinical information is kept confidential in accordance with HPCSA ethical rules and POPIA, and is shared only with your consent or where the law requires or permits it.

6. The Symptom Guide

Our website offers an optional Symptom Guide that gives general, plain-language information about symptoms and how urgently to seek care. Please note:

It does not provide a diagnosis and is not a substitute for a consultation with a doctor.
When you use it, the symptom description you type is sent to a third-party artificial-intelligence provider that processes it to generate guidance. That provider’s servers are located outside South Africa, so your symptom information is transferred and processed across borders (see section 8). We rely on your consent for this.
We apply data minimisation: by default we do not store the raw symptom text you enter. Any information we keep about how the tool is used is limited to non-identifying website analytics (see section 9) and does not identify you.
To keep the service secure and prevent abuse, limited technical information such as your IP address may be processed briefly; it is not linked to your symptom description.
In an emergency the tool directs you to emergency care. Always call 10177 or 112 in an emergency.

7. Who we share your information with

We share personal information only where necessary, with:

Our service providers (“operators”) who process information on our behalf under confidentiality obligations — for example, our appointment-booking provider, our email and notification provider, our website-analytics provider, and the artificial-intelligence provider that powers the Symptom Guide.
Your medical aid scheme, where you use medical aid, to process claims.
Other healthcare providers (such as specialists) where we refer you, with your knowledge.
Authorities or other third parties where we are required or permitted to do so by law.

We do not sell your personal information.

8. Cross-border transfers

Some of our service providers process information on servers located outside South Africa (for example, our website analytics, email delivery, and the Symptom Guide’s artificial-intelligence provider). If you choose to contact us via WhatsApp, your message is transmitted and processed by Meta (WhatsApp) on servers outside South Africa under WhatsApp’s own terms; you are welcome to use the phone, email, or an in-person visit instead for sensitive information. Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, we do so on the basis of your consent and/or where the recipient is subject to laws, binding rules, or agreements that provide an adequate level of protection, as permitted by section 72 of POPIA.

9. Cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies and Google Analytics (through Google Tag Manager) to understand how the site is used and to improve it. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect how parts of the site work.

10. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described above, or as required by law. Medical records are retained in line with HPCSA guidelines — generally for at least six years from the date of your last consultation, and longer for minors and certain records. Symptom Guide raw text is not stored by default.

11. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against loss, unauthorised access, and misuse. While no method of transmission or storage over the internet is completely secure, we work to safeguard your information appropriately.

12. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to: be told what personal information we hold about you and to access it; ask us to correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, or no longer needed; object to the processing of your information in certain circumstances; withdraw your consent where we rely on it; and lodge a complaint. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected] or 012 051 7030.

13. Children’s information

We provide paediatric care. Where we process a child’s personal information, we do so with the consent of a parent or guardian, except where the law allows an adolescent to consent to their own care.

14. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first so that we can help. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator:

The Information Regulator (South Africa)
JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2001
Email: [email protected]
Website: inforegulator.org.za

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page, with the “last updated” date shown at the top.

16. Contact us

Pretoria Health — Dr Michelle Murray
Room 1, 155 Soutpansberg Road, Rietondale, Pretoria, 0084
Phone: 012 051 7030
Email: [email protected]