Last updated 18 July 2026
Clir Eye is the private ophthalmology practice of Mr Sam Evans FRCOphth, based at Werndale Hospital, Carmarthen, serving patients across west Wales. This policy explains how we collect, use and protect your personal and medical information. For the purposes of UK data protection legislation, Sam Evans Ltd is the “data controller” for the information described in this notice.
Clir Eye is committed to protecting your personal data. The main data we collect from you through this website is on the contact and booking form, where we ask for your name, email address, phone number and the details of your enquiry. When you contact us via the online form we will use your data to reply to you, in any relevant correspondence, and in the management of our relationship with you.
We will only use your data for the purpose for which you gave it to us.
We will only keep your data for as long as is required to facilitate the management of our relationship with you, but we may retain data which is pertinent for legal or accounting purposes. We will not share your details with third parties without your prior consent, except where necessary to provide a service you have asked for (see “The Clir Eye patient app” below).
We are obliged to keep your data accurate, so we may contact you periodically to confirm that this is the case. If there are any changes to your personal data you can let us know at refer@clireye.com.
You have the right to ask Clir Eye to delete your data at any time.
We may give you access to a secure patient app to support you through your treatment. You are usually given access before your surgery, after your first appointment. The app helps you prepare for your procedure, keep track of your eye drops, follow your aftercare instructions, watch guidance videos, and find help if you need it.
The app is opened through a unique private web link that is specific to you, provided by our team — for example, printed on your letter as a QR code you can scan, or, with your consent, sent to you by text message. The general recovery information opens directly from this link.
Areas of the app that contain information identifying you personally — such as your clinical letters and videos recorded specifically for you — are further protected. To open these, you set up a password or a device passkey (for example Face ID or a fingerprint) the first time you use them, so that only you can view them.
To provide this service the app stores: your first name, the practice you are under, the type of procedure you had and the date, your eye-drop regimen and reminder times, relevant appointment details, and whether you have told us you are diabetic (as this affects aftercare). If you choose to receive your link by text message, we also store the mobile number you gave us and the date you consented to us using it. If you upload a photograph of a prescription through the app’s aftercare feature, that image is processed to read the medication details from it.
The app may also make available to you documents and content that identify you personally, such as your clinical letters and videos recorded specifically for you. This identifiable information is held in the password-protected area described above and can only be opened with your password or device passkey.
We use a small number of trusted technology providers to operate the app on our behalf. Each is bound by a contract requiring them to keep your information secure and to use it only to provide their service to us:
Some of these providers are based outside the UK. Where information is transferred outside the UK, it is protected by appropriate safeguards required under UK data protection law, such as International Data Transfer Agreements or Standard Contractual Clauses.
We keep the information in the app only for as long as it is needed to support your recovery and to meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations, in line with our Data Retention Schedule (available on request).
Using the app is optional. You can stop using it at any time and ask us to remove your information from it. Your rights over this information — including access, correction, and erasure — are the same as set out elsewhere in this notice.
If you would like your app link sent to you by text message, we will ask for your mobile number and confirm with you, by phone, that you are happy for us to use it for this purpose. We only store your mobile number and send you a text once you have given that consent, and we record the date you gave it.
We rely on your consent to store your mobile number and send you a text message. You can withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us, and we will delete your number.
A single text message containing your private app link. We do not use your number for marketing, and we do not share it with anyone other than the messaging provider (Twilio) that delivers the text on our behalf.
Sam Evans Ltd is committed to maintaining the privacy, dignity and confidentiality of patients and service users at all times. We adhere to the principles of current UK data protection legislation and the General Medical Council Code of Confidentiality. For the purposes of data protection legislation, Sam Evans Ltd is the “data controller” in respect of the information provided by patients and service users. Sam Evans Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a Data Controller (Registration number ZB079155).
Sam Evans Ltd will only use your personal information where the law allows us to, to advise and support you in accordance with your requirements and the consents you have given to us. Most commonly this will be:
Less commonly, we may need to use your information where it is necessary to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests), or where it is needed in the public interest.
Medical records are securely stored in line with UK data protection legislation and only accessible to Sam Evans Ltd employees. All employees adhere to a strict code of ethics in relation to the confidentiality of all consultations, telephone contact and the maintenance of medical records. No information is divulged to any third party, including your GP, without your informed consent.
Sam Evans Ltd will keep the personal information you provide to us whilst you are a patient or service user, and will retain your personal and medical information after the end of treatment where this is necessary to comply with legal obligations or to meet regulatory or professional requirements. A copy of the Data Retention Schedule is available upon request.
You can make a ‘subject access request’ to find out what personal information we hold about you. If we do hold information about you, we will describe it, tell you why we hold it and who it has been disclosed to, and give you a copy in an intelligible form. We will respond within one month.
You also have the right, in certain circumstances, to ask us to correct or delete your information, to restrict or object to our processing of it, and to have your information transmitted to another organisation. Where we process your information based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Some specific exceptions apply where we may be unable to act on a request. To exercise any of these rights, contact Mr Sam Evans, Director and Data Protection Officer, Sam Evans Ltd (details below).
Clir Eye has put in place appropriate security to protect your data from being lost or used in a way you have not consented to. We will notify you and the relevant regulator promptly if there is a personal data breach which affects you.
If you are not happy with how your data is held or processed, please let us know so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
You can contact us by email at refer@clireye.com, or by post at: Clir Eye, Werndale Hospital, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, SA33 5NT.
We may use cloud-based services, including patient record management, dictation and transcription, and bookkeeping services, in order to deliver your care. If you would like further details about which services we use, please contact us. All such services provide a privacy policy and are compliant with UK GDPR.