Our terms and conditions

ProblemShared is the trading name of Teledoctor Limited. Teledoctor Limited isa company that provides access to mental health care services over its digitalplatform, that includes its website www.problemshared.net.

The Platform allows you access to a network of counsellors, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and auxiliary mental healthcare professionals (together “Practitioners”) who can provide mental health services and treatment to You remotely via online, real-time, video-link sessions over the same Platform.

Teledoctor is registered in England (Company number 10410380) at registered address 3 Frederick Street, London WC1X 0ND and includes any director, officer, employee, contractor, agent, and any successor or assign of the company.

For ease of reference, Teledoctor Limited is referred to as “us” or “we” and includes reference to “our”, and you are referred to as “you”, and includes references to “your”. Where a parent or guardian wishes to use the services for a child or adolescent, then references to you are to be interpreted as inclusive of the parent or guardian where relevant and necessary to give effect to the terms here. Where you have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment pathway, we may include or differentiate between you and that organisation or payor.

We are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (“C.Q.C”) which is a statutory board and is responsible for the independent regulation and oversight of health and social care in England.

These terms and conditions form the agreement between you and us. By making a Booking or signing up to the Platform, including via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, whether as a Private Client or a Referred Client you are asked whether you accept these Terms and Conditions. These terms govern the basis on which you and we interact in facilitating our provision of services to you, by us or by any Practitioner.  If you are a Referred Client, these terms set out what we expect of you and the scope and administration of our services in benefiting from the support that the Partner Organisation grants by way of subsidising the cost of services in referring you to us. Matters as to governance, liability and payment are separate matters that are governed by the contract for services that we have with that Partner Organisation in referring you to us. If you are an NHS patient who has been referred to us by your local NHS or our service is provided to you in association with our validation as a qualified provider to the NHS, then if there is any difference between these terms and the terms of service of the NHS, the latter shall prevail.

Finding your way around this Agreement: You can find an index of terms below. Each clause has an accompanying summary or explainer text under the heading.

Please understand: Our terms and conditions may seem long but we aim to address all parts of our relationship with you in a transparent and clear manner. We also do things a little differently here, so we address a wider range of matters than you might see elsewhere. Note that reading the accompanying summary or explainer text is not a substitute for reading and understanding the text of the clauses themselves.

1.Definitions

Some terms get used often in legal agreements and it’s easier to list them at the start of the agreement, to clarify what we mean and so that you can always check what it means later by finding it in the one place.

In these Terms and Conditions:

1. ADHD: means attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-V) as well as hyperkinetic disorder, as defined in the International Classificatoin of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10)
2. “Agreement” MEANS these terms and conditions, and any Schedule attached to these terms and conditions as published on the Platform.
3. "ASC" MEANS Autism Spectrum Conditions as adopted by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) and the UK Department of Health's Autism Strategy and is also known as or referred to as  Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD.
4. "Assessment" MEANS the process for and resultant report that contains diagnosis by Practitioner/s of the presence or incidence of ASC or ADHD, or both, or of any associated SpLD.
5. "Assessment Pathway" MEANS the processes and steps provided for and implemented by us in conjunction with Practitioners in assessing for the presence or incidence of ASC or ADHD.
6. "Assessment Survey" MEANS  surveys, questionnaires and other assessment tools, including recognised standardised clinical diagnostic tools, to be completed by the person who is subject of the Assessment and by third parties connected to the person who is subject of the Assessment, which are used by the Practitioner in assisting with their diagnosis.
7. “Booking System” MEANS the system on the Platform that allows You to make an appointment for a Session with a Practitioner for a Session, and includes the features of alerts, reminders and other associated communications.
8. “Confidential Information” MEANS all information in any form or medium which is not publicly available (either in its entirety, or in part), together with any copies of that information in any form, medium or part including accounts, business plans, strategies and financial forecasts, tax records, correspondence, designs, drawings, manuals, specifications, customer, sales or supplier information, technical or commercial expertise, software, formulae, processes, methods, knowledge, know-how and trade secrets.
9. "Counselling Pathway" MEANS the processes and steps provided for and implemented by us in conjunction with Practitioners in providing counselling for Referred Clients who have been referred by Partner Organisations.
10. “Data Protection Legislation” MEANS (i) unless and until the GDPR is no longer directly applicable in the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (GDPR) and any national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the United Kingdom and (ii) any successor legislation to the GDPR that is applicable in the United Kingdom; and (iii) the Data Protection Act 2018; the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002/58/EC (as updated by Directive 2009/136/EC) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) as amended.
11. “Digital Health Record” means the health record of any client who makes a Booking or in whose name a Booking is made, and is further detailed in clause 17.
12. “Discharge Summary” MEANS the notes recorded by a Practitioner at the conclusion of a Session or series of Sessions but most relevant to Psychiatry consultations, and includes but is not limited to:
    • reason for consultation;
    • diagnosis, if any;
    • treatment, if any; and
    • suggested follow-up plan.
13. "Dyscalculia" MEANS a learning difficulty that affects the ability to acquire and use mathematical skills. It is sometimes referred to as numbers dyslexia.
14. "Dysgraphia" MEANS a learning difficulty that affects the ability to acquire and use handwritten communication skills both mentally and as a fine motor skill.
15. "Dyslexia" MEANS a learning difficulty that affects the abiliity to acquire and use reading and spelling skills.
16. "Dyspraxia" MEANS a learning difficulty that affects the ability to acquire,  plan and co-ordinate  gross and fine motor skills.
17. “Fee” MEANS the amount in GBP sterling that is published on the Platform that is payable for the Services that is payable to a Practitioner for those self-referring; Fees are not defined for Referred Clients since payment is made by separate agreement  between us and the Partner Organisation that refers the Referred Client.
18. “Intellectual Property” MEANS any registered or unregistered patent, copyright, database right, moral right, design right, registered design, trade mark, service mark (whether registered or not), domain name, knowhow, utility model, unregistered design and all similar property rights including those subsisting in any part of the world in inventions, designs, drawings, performances, computer programs, confidential information, business names, goodwill and the style of presentation of goods or services and, where relevant, any application for any such right, or other industrial or intellectual property right subsisting anywhere in the world, including the underlying rights to such property, and in a currently subsisting form or a form that comes to be recognised by any applicable Law as such.
19. "Law" MEANS
    • any applicable statute or proclamation or any delegated or subordinate legislation or regulation;  
    • any applicable judgment of a relevant court of law which is a binding precedent in England
    in each case as may be in force in England or Wales and as may be amended from time to time.
20. "Notice" MEANS the definition provided in clause 32.
21. “Partner Organisation” MEANS a company, institution or organisation that partners with us for the administration and provision of mental health care services for those of its members or persons it refers to us who are Referred Clients.
22. “Personal Data” MEANS the same as it is defined in the Data Protection Legislation and refers to information, or data that relates to a person who can be identified from the data, or can be identified from that data in combination with any other information.
    (Note that where personal identifiers are removed from the information, and the information is anonymised and then aggregated, this is no longer defined as Personal Data.)
23. "Platform" MEANS our website hosted on the domain problemshared.net and systems,  and any associated technologies and underlying Intellectual Property.
24. "Post-Assessment Support Services" MEANS those services in support of someone with a diagnosis of ASC, ADHD, or SpLD and includes but is not limited to the following: Education Navigation Programme and [* insert as relevant*]
25. "Practitioner" INCLUDES counsellors (psychotherapists or clinical psychologists), clinical psychiatrists (adult and paediatric psychiatrists), clinical paediatricians, Registered Nurses  that are qualified ASC or ADHD practitioners in our Assessment Pathway,  and any other healthcare professional as may be accessed via the Platform and also means the practitioner with whom your Session or Assessment is booked.
26. “Prescription” MEANS:
    • a recorded form for the purpose of ordering a drug, medicine or appliance provided by a Psychiatrist or registered whether on a single or repeat basis; and
    • includes a form that is electronic and is signed with the Prescriber’s advanced electronic signature, and for the avoidance of doubt does not include the dispensed medication.
27. Private Client MEANS someone who is a client but is not supported by a Partner Organisation and is therefore not a Referred Client, for whom Fees for Services are payable.
28. “Profile” MEANS the information about you, personal to you, that you first create on signing up with the Platform, and that includes any other information or material that comes to be included by you or any Practitioner, from time to time and is part of your digital Health Record as it assists in identifying you.
29. "Referred Client" MEANS someone who is referred to Us by a Partner Organisation, and the cost of whose Sessions,  or Referror Cost, sare paid by a Partner Organisation in accordance with the terms separately agreed with that Partner Organisation.
30. “Services” are set out in clause 5.
31. “Session” MEANS a booked time slot of finite duration for a session between a Client and a Practitioner for the purposes of talk therapy counselling, or psychiatric consultation.
32. "SpLD" MEANS Specific Learning Difference which refers to differences in learning experienced by someone that include Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Dysgraphia that can be associated with or exist alongside either ASC or ADHD.
33. “Referror Cost” MEANS an amount in GBP sterling in relation to fees for services including Sessions or Assessments payable by Partner Organisations in respect of Referred Clients; Referror Costs are not relevant to those who self-refer.

2.Contacts

How to reach Us at ProblemShared

1. Email us at help@problemshared.net except for psychiatry bookings please email psychiatry@problemshared.net
2. Post to us at ProblemShared, 2 Frederick Street, Kings Cross, London WC1X 0ND.
3. In case of emergency, please see below.

3.Emergency – important notice

We are not an emergency service – you must seek help elsewhere

1. We are not a provider of emergency services nor is any Practitioner, and none shall assume any liability or make any warranty or guarantee in relation to  this.
2. In case of an emergency, please call 999 or go to the nearest Accident & Emergency Department of any hospital or your nearest GP surgery.
3. If you require counselling/therapy and the Platform is inaccessible for any reason, and you do not feel safe or secure and you feel you are putting yourself or others at risk, you must seek help elsewhere, which may include the nearest NHS A&E or your GP practice if you are registered with one.

4.Agreement

How we and you agree these terms and conditions.

1. These terms and conditions form the Agreement between You and Us. By making a Booking or signing up to the Platform, including via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, you are asked whether you accept these Terms and Conditions. These terms govern the basis on which you and we interact in facilitating the provision of services to you by us or by any Practitioner. We reserve the right to make changes to these terms and conditions from time to time on the condition that such do not breach any applicable Law, and where there is any material change to rights or to what we need or ask of you in order to provide any Service, we will notify you in accordance with clause 32 of this Agreement.
2. If you are an NHS patient who has been referred to us in connection with any service we have been contracted to provide to your local NHS Trust or Integrated Care Board  as a Partner Organisation or our service is provided to you in association with our validation as a qualified provider to the NHS, to the extent there is any material conflict on any reasonable interpretation between the operation and effect of these terms and the  NHS terms of service under which we provide our services to you, the NHS terms of service shall prevail.
3. If you are a member of a private medical insurer and have been referred to us in connection with any service we have been contracted to provide via our agreement with the private medical insurance company as a Partner Organisation,  to the extent there is any material conflict on any reasonable interpretation between the operation and effect of these terms and the terms governing our agreement with the Partner Organisation under which we provide our services to you, the terms of service with the Partner Organisation shall prevail.
4. If you are a Private Client for talk therapy services, the Practitioner’s services are also set out elsewhere in the separate agreement they make with you at the start of your Session with her or him at their sole discretion.

5.Our Services

1. We provide  access to health care and support via our Platform , We also provide some other information and resources as well.
2. We offer access to a Platform that brings together mental health services via a network of Practitioners who provide mental healthcare services, via remote delivery through video-link consultations and which may include but is not limited to the following:  talk therapy counselling, psychiatry, Assessments for specific mental health conditions, and Post-Assessment Support Services dependent on the selection you make or dependent on the terms of the referral  made on your behalf as a Referred Client and may include incidental prescribing services where permitted (see Prescriptions).
3. Our services include services that you either self-select if relevant as a Private Client, or services for which you have been referred by a Partner Organisation  or that you have self-selected in the course even if first referred by a Partner Organisation.
4. This includes us providing the following associated services:
   • search function and selection tools for browsing our network of Practitioners;
   • appointment Booking System for the scheduling of Sessions, and associated alerts and reminders;
   • secure, in-house access to Audio-Visual Over Internet Protocol technology that is streamed, real time video, and  encrypted (“Video Link Session”);
   • request for, creation of, storing and retrieving of information that is related to your therapy and/or treatment for your use and for use by the Practitioner with whom you have booked a Session;
   • access to a centralized payments system for your Sessions (this is not relevant if you have come to us via the Assessment or Counselling Pathway and your Session is at a Referror Cost);
   • information on our Platform about How We Can Help and Therapy Types and other resources;
   • links to other organisations or bodies related to mental health, including governing bodies of Practitioner communities eg British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP);
   • links to any initiatives of our own in the broader population;
   • ways to communicate with us about your experience on the Platform, including complaints about the conduct of any Practitioner; and
   • services associated with working with Partner Organisations and their Referred Clients to provide care including counselling or assessments, where relevant, if you have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway.

6.Your Eligibility to use the Platform

The Platform may be accessible to anyone with a Wifi connection, but in fact it is intended only for those who are located in the UK, because the laws around providing services of a health or clinical nature vary from territory to territory, and our Platform is built on a good industry practice within a UK framework and our Platform and services accessed through it are governed by the laws here in England, and any claims or proceedings are subject to the courts and tribunals also located here.

Age and competency are also criteria as well as special considerations for remote therapy.

Please read this carefully; you are responsible to ensure that you are eligible to use the Platform. In cases where the Practitioner finds that you are not eligible for the Platform at the point of assessment, they may choose to complete the assessment at their discretion based on their judgment of the clinical validity of such an assessment. You will not be refunded for any service where it is or becomes clear to us or to the Practitioner that you are not in fact eligible based on the criteria below such that we cannot proceed to provide any service. Further follow up bookings and/or therapy on the Platform will be based on clinical appropriateness and will be at Practitioner discretion.

1. To use the Platform and receive any Service, You must be:
   • located or resident in the U.K.;
   • you must be aged 18 or older, or if under 18 years old, you must either have the consent of your parent or legal guardian or be 16 years or above and competent to receive services (in line with the Doctrine of Gillick competence);
   • in possession of the legal right, capacity and ability to so use the Services, including in a remote setting; and
   • not otherwise ineligible because of the exclusion criteria under paragraph 5e) below.
2. If you are a resident of the United Kingdom and use the Platform or receive any service while located outside the United Kingdom, you are responsible for complying with laws local to that place, and neither we nor any Practitioner shall assume any responsibility for any liability, damage, claim or dispute in the event of any contravention of any law applicable to that place and nor shall any court or tribunal of that jurisdiction be entitled to hear any claim or proceeding. In that event, you waive any right to bring a claim or proceeding in respect of any law of a place, territory or jurisdiction that is not a law of England and Wales, and you waive any right to bring any claim or proceeding in any courts or tribunals other than those of England and Wales or as provided with specific reference to disputes. Our Platform and the services accessed or provided by us or any Practitioner are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
3. If you are a Referred Client, it is your responsibility to notify the Partner Organisation if you are located outside of the United Kingdom and it is also the Partner Organisation's responsibility to verify this with you. Disclaimers apply to any service provide to a person outside of the UK.
4. If the Booking is intended for a child or adolescent that is aged less than 18 years, then the parent or legal guardian of the child or adolescent must make the Booking on behalf of the child or adolescent and must complete the associated processes or required forms, and must be present at the outset of the first Session with a Practitioner or the client subject of the Booking must be 16 years or above and competent to receive the services (in line with the Doctrine of Gillick competence).
5. Since the Platform is one that delivers access to Services  in the main via remote technology such as online video, there will be limitations to the mental health conditions that can be managed by Practitioners  or to the service that can be provided, dependent on the nature and severity of the condition or on the age of the client.  

The following conditions are not suitable to be seen and managed remotely and it is at the discretion of the Practitioner as to whether a Practitioner will treat this. This is because of safeguarding matters and where a condition is better managed in a multi-disciplinary team setting.

These conditions include but are not limited to the following:

1. Eating Disorders
2. Psychosis
3. Substance misuse
4. Active suicidal ideation
5. Severe persistent self harm
6. Non-verbal children and young people
7. Children with severe Intellectual Disabilities
8. Severe mental illness (eg severe anxiety or depression)

The following ages are not suitable for Assessment via remote technology:

9. children six (6) years old and younger - a child must be seven (7) years old   before being eligible for remote Assessment.

7. Your technical set-up & access to the Platform

You will need a wifi connection and you will need to be using a current and accessible Browser – so if you are having any difficulties, please check your software updates are all up to date.

1. Your access to the Platform depends on some minimum technical requirements, which are generally consistent with operating current versions of software, and operating systems. These requirements are set out at the end of the agreement at Appendix 1 - Technical Requirements. You are responsible for ensuring that your technical set-up meets the requirements.
2. These requirements may change from time to time in line with evolving technologies but, as it currently stands, they are listed at the end of these terms and conditions.
3. You can access our Platform at any time and Practitioner's availability is listed under their profiles. Their availability is not limited to normal business hours or weekdays but their availability is determined at their sole discretion.
4. Notwithstanding clause c above, sometimes we will need to carry out necessary maintenance to the Platform. We will do this outside of normal business hours and shall Notify you over the Platform if that maintenance work is likely to impact your access to the Platform,  except in the case of an emergency including but not limited to reasons of security or imminent service instability when time is of the essence and we shall endeavour to correct that within a reasonable time of awareness of such issue.  We do not warrant or guarantee that we will be able to do so.
5. We use reasonable endeavours to provide Services that are free of interuption in line with good industry practice. However, we cannot guarantee that the Platform or Services will be free of interruption.
6. If you are a Referred Client or have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment
   Pathway, your access to any service is also dependent on the Partner Organisation or any other third party whose input is required (for example related party information relevant to Assessments) and whose technical set-up must also conform with our requirements.
7. If any Session is interrupted because of any access issue that is our fault, then you can access a refund in accordance with these terms and conditions..

8. Talk Therapy Service: Your relationship with the Practitioner

What we can tell you about your Practitioner, what to expect when you make a Booking, and what to do if you’re not happy with your Practitioner.

1. We facilitate the provision of services to you whether as a Private Client or Referred Client by Practitioners in  talk therapy counselling, but your relationship with any Practitioner is also governed by the therapeutic framework that you agree with that Practitioner about the scope of the services that they provide to you. For Referred Clients, this is in the form of a therapeutic agreement which is in writing and sets out the Practitioner's role, and the parameters of that relationship. It addresses matters of confidentiality, and safeguarding alongwith some practical housekeeping matters such as what to do if your Session with that Practitioner is interrupted and means to communicate etc. It reiterates some of the parameters of the therapeutic relationship as an adjunct to the main agreement that we have with the Partner Organisation to provide therapy services to Referred Clients. This therapeutic agreement must be agreed before or at the point the Practitioner starts providing any service to you as a Referred Client. For private Clients, this is at the Practitioner's discretion.
2. You may email any Practitioner with any questions in advance of making a Booking.
3. If You have a number of Sessions with any Practitioner, a Practitioner may book any further Sessions on your behalf, with an email confirmation to you,  or you may choose to book these yourself through the Booking system and if you are a Referred Client, you can also expect that the Partner Organisation may be involved in assisting with making Bookings if this is relevant to that Counselling or Assessment Pathway.
4. The Practitioner or a member of our team will send some documentation to You in advance of the first Session, depending on and tailored to the type of Booking that has been made or type of service that you have sought. This may include something as simple as a client intake form, or may include documentation specific to the Assessment Pathway such as questionnaires, surveys or other assessment related tools.
5. You will be expected to complete any documentation in order for your Practitioner to treat you, whether this is for a single initial Session or as part of the Counselling or Assessment Pathway. Your Practitioner will be available to explain what to expect from the consultation / therapy at the outset of your first Session. With respect to children or adolescents younger than 18 the Practitioner will invite the parent or guardian to attend all or part of the first Session either on their own or with the child or adolescent, on the basis of the Practitioner's discretion and in relation to the information contained in the client intake form or other questionnaire, and as may be reasonably necessary for the Practitioner to explain the nature of the therapeutic relationship or psychiatric consultation in language relevant to the child or adolescent. Further involvement of parents or guardians can be agreed in the Session.
   If you are a Referred Client, it is the Partner Organisation's responsibility to have determined if you are otherwise Gillick competent and that your parent or guardian's involvement is not required in advance of Counselling to us.
6. We do not guarantee or warrant a Practitioner's attendance or treatment during any Session nor that any shall provide any Counselling Letter, nor that any Psychiatrist shall provide any Prescription.
7. It is at a Practitioner’s sole discretion to determine the form and choice of treatment or care that they provide, whether this be counselling, advice,  treatment or assessment, dependent on,  including but not limited to, your reason for using the Platform, your intake details, including your history, the Practitioner's assessment of risk, any of your preferences and the basis of any Counselling from a Partner Organisation.   To that extent we do not determine any of those matters, nor are we responsibile for the contents of any therapeutic notes or records made by a Practitioner in relation to any Session or any notes or records in relation to any Psychiatric consultation or any assessment of any mental health condition. If you have any queries or concerns about any of the above you should raise this with the Practitioner in the first instance, but you are always able to make any complaint direct to us in accordance with the complaints process outlined later and accessible from the Platform under Complaints.
8. Practitioners are engaged by us to provide Services to you and are bound by the terms of those agreements with us but they are also bound by the rules of conduct of their professional governing body and their membership or accreditation details can be found under the biographic profile on the Platform.  Any Practitioner who
9. If you are receiving therapy services from a Practitioner for counselling, you will be asked by the Practitioner to also  indicate your understanding and agreement to what we call a therapeutic agreement which is a private matter between you and your Practitioner but which sets out a little about the process of therapy and the scope of the therapist's duties including when they can break confidentiality for example for safeguarding. Although this is a matter for which the Practitioner is responsible, we oblige all Practitioners who provide talk therapy or counselling services to enter such an agreement when they treat any Client for the first time. Your Practitioner may email you a copy of their agreement in advance of the first Session or they may introduce it to you during the first Session.

9.Practitioner Eligibility

We make sure that Practitioners meet our criteria

1. We require from every Practitioner proof of identification, training and other criteria that  supports a Practitioner's eligibility before s/he can provide any Session over the Platform as is relevant to their profession and the types of service they are engaged to provide, and we oblige them to maintain this throughout the duration of their engagement. Practitioners are obliged to do so because of their agreement with us as the Platform provider and we remove the practising privileges of any who do not. Notwithstanding this,  we do not warrant or guarantee the veracity, or completeness of information provided by any Practitioner including but not limited to any lie, fraud, misrepresentation, omission or a change in circumstance that is not notified to us subsequently to engaging the Practitioner. We take all reasonable precautions in line with good industry practice to ensure that any Practitioner who is not compliant is prevented from providing any Service over the Platform.
2. You may ask the Practitioner treating you about any of their qualifications, credentials, experience or other related matters.

Steps of the Process in using the Platform:

10.Your information

What we ask you to provide or what you choose to tell us

1. If You are using our platform and have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, then you will still be expected to provide information about yourself but this may be provided in conjunction with the Partner Organisation that has referred you to us for therapy or assessment and so the information that you provide in conjunction with them is also governed by the arrangements that they make with you for sharing that information with us.
2. In order to first make a Booking or be enrolled as a Referred Client, you must provide us with some information that we request from you during your signup to our Platform, and you undertake that this information will be true, current and complete, and that where the information originated elsewhere, e.g. medical test results or other data that you may wish to provide in connection with any psychiatric treatment, that you have not tampered or otherwise interfered with it.
3. We require you to tell us things that allow us to identify you for the purposes of processing your Booking, and more broadly facilitating your mental health care including your full name; email address; mobile telephone number; your date of birth; gender; emergency contact for safeguarding purposes; GP’s name & practice details.
4. You are also asked to provide other information about yourself connected with why you wish to see a Practitioner for example matters relating to why you are seeking therapy and if you have sought help before and why; if you are currently on medication for a mental health condition and your medical history more broadly.
5. ou may also be asked for your preferences for therapy provision if we are matching you to a therapist through the Counselling Pathway.
6. For specialist assessments by a psychiatrist and/or clinical psychologist including via the Assessment Pathway, you,  or your parent or guardian if you are under the age of 18, except where you are otherwise Gillick competent and if a Referred Client, that the Partner Organisation that has referred you, has so determined this,  will be requested to provide additional information and/or be asked to complete additional forms or questionnaires. This may include information to be completed by your school or education provider, or someone who has known you from your childhood. Please note that it may not be possible to proceed with an Assessment without all information including those that require input from a 3rd party such as an education provider or school. You will be responsible for ensuring that all the requested information and questionnaires, including the school information if so requested, is available for the Practioner to view on your portal at least three (3)  business days prior to the Assessment. This enables sufficient time for the Practitioner to review scored questionnaires and other information. If information is received later than three (3) business days prior to the Assessment, the Practitioner may not be able to proceed with the Assessment at the time and date that it has been booked, but for which the assessment is still billable. Cancellation fees will apply for Private Clients and may be billed to Partner Organisations for Referred Clients. We will also ask for your consent to contact a school or education provider before doing so in connection with the Education Navigation Programe.
7. You must let us know if any of your information changes such as identification details, GP details, emergency contact. Please email us at help@problemshared.net and notify us of any change.
8. The above information is information which you are asked to provide either via the Client Intake Form when you first make a Booking and/or your sign up as a Referred Client via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway.  
9. You are solely responsible for the truth, currency, accuracy and completeness of your information, and any information that you upload, and if your information is provided in conjunction with a Partner Organisation, both you and the Partner Organisation are responsible.
10. You understand and accept that if you (or any Partner Organisation) do not provide true, current, accurate or complete information that you may jeopardise the care and treatment that a Practitioner can provide, and that you may jeopardise your continued access to and use of the Platform.

11.Ensuring the Security of Your Profile and Access of the Platform

You will no doubt be familiar with having to choose a username and password if you are used to setting up profiles or accounts on other digital platforms or websites, and to take great care of tnat so that others cannot access your profile or impersonate you.

1. When You first make a Booking or are first invited to sign up through the Assessment or Counselling Pathway, you will be asked to choose a username and password. You are responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of these and you agree not to share such with any third party. We recommend that you change your password at regular intervals.
2. You will be solely responsible for any activities or actions taken under your Profile. You must notify us immediately if you know or suspect that any unauthorised person is using your Profile (for example, your password has been stolen, or your Profile has been accessed without your permission)
3. You should avoid using the Platform on public computers, and make sure to log out.

12.Talk Therapy & Psychiatry - Search function and Booking

The steps to finding and making an appointment with a talk therapy Practitioner; Practitioner’s availability not guaranteed. For psychiatry or our Counselling and Assessment Pathway, our administrative team or the Partner Organisation may assist with making a Booking so that your needs can be better served.

1. The following steps do not apply if you are a Referred Client and have come to us via the Assessment or Counselling Pathway but shall apply for all other Private Clients:
   • You may enter as much or as little data in the drop-down menus when searching for a Practitioner. The Platform will return results based on what you searched for.
   • You may make a Booking with a Practitioner by following the prompts in the Booking system.
   • If there is any issue with the Booking, you may amend the Booking details up until two (2) business days hours before the Session, including cancellation and up until three (3) business days before the Assessment. After that time, if you cancel the Booking, you will be charged in full. If a Practitioner cancels the Booking, you will be refunded in accordance with clause 13, Payment and refunds. For Assessments which take place with multiple parties and involve various documentation and take up more time than Sessions, we require longer to rearrange interviews that are cancelled.  To rearrange an interview, you must contact a member of our Assessment Pathway team on the numbers and contact details provided to you on your initial intake and onboarding. In some instances Assessments may need to be rescheduled by us to a later date and notice may be sooner than three (3) business days before the booking of the interview for Assessment. This can be due to the scheduling arrangements of multiple parties and requirements for various documentation. If so, a member of our Assessment Pathway team will contact you to arrange the next nearest appointment time.
   • For psychiatry bookings, you follow the prompts on our Psychiatry page to book a video call with one of our psychiatry team and to rearrange an interview, you must also contact a member of our psychiatry team no later than three (3) business days before the date of the booking otherwise you will be charged in full for late cancellation or the Partner Organisation if you are a Referred Client.
2. If You are a Referred Client and have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, then the steps involved in search function and booking are not relevant as the matter of allocating a Practitioner is managed separately in conjunction with the Partner Organisation that has referred you for therapy or assessment. This is managed via the person who has been appointed as the authorised administrator at the Partner Organisation that has referred you to us. Depending on the type of treatment, you may be asked to contribute to the selection process for a Practitioner. In any case, you are able to request a change of Practitioner via us or the Partner Organisation that has referred you for talk therapy services.

13.Payment, cancellations and refunds

1. If You are a Referred Client and  have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, then you are not required to pay any Fees since that is addressed in the agreement for services we have with the Partner Organisation who has referred you except if you are a  Referred Clients in relation to whom the Partner Organisation has reached or reaches any limits to your applicable membership benefits.  Any Referred Client whose limit for membership benefits has been reached shall be liable to pay to the Company any outstanding balance in respect of any Fees for Services owed to the Company at the conclusion of the services and the Company reserves the right to store or process any credit or debit card information belonging to that Referred Client for the purposes of taking payment in respect of any Services chargeable in respect of that Referred Client.
2. Whether you are a Private Client or a Referred Client, you shall notify your Practitioner if you cannot attend a Session and will still be required to cancel in accordance with our  cancellation policy (no later than  two (2) business days for talk therapy counselling Sessions and no later than three (3) business days for Assessments) otherwise the service is still billlable to you or to the Partner Organisation, as relevant, that has referred you to us.
3. If you are a Private Client:
   • a Practitioner’s services are chargeable in advance of any service, at the time you make a Booking, and the Fee is published in advance. Fees for talk therapy counselling Sessions are at the Practitioner’s sole discretion.  For psychiatry services, the fee is published on the website and the fee is determined by the type of consultation. For Assessments, the fee is fixed and details of this can be found on the website if available to private clients at the time of booking.  In addition to the Fee, when you pay by credit card, you may be charged a credit card transaction fee by the company that provides integrated payment services for the Platform. This fee is fixed and at that third party provider's discretion.
   • You agree that we may take payment from you for a Session, on behalf of the Practitioner with whom you are booked, and you agree to pay the Fee in advance of the Session (unless you are a Referred Client in which case you are not liable to pay any Fee to us.)
4. For talk therapy Sessions for both Private Clients and Referred Clients, you may cancel your Booking for a Session no later than two (2) business days before the Session.  For those Sessions cancelled no later than two (2) business days beforehand, if you have made advance payment as a Private Client, the Fee  will be refunded within fourteen (14) days of cancellation, excluding any credit or debit card related transaction fees charged by the third party provider of payment processing that handles payments over the Platform, for example Stripe,  or, if a Referred Client, the Sessions shall be reallocated and there shall be no charge for a validly cancelled Session.
5. For Assessments for both Private Clients and Referred Clients, we require more time for cancellation and so cancellation must be no later than three (3) business days before the interview as part of the Assessment.
6. For Assessments for both Private Clients and Referred Clients, Practitioners cannot proceed with interviews for Assessments without access to validly completed Assessment Surveys for both client and related party, and you must provide these no later than three (3) business days before the interview for Assessment otherwise the interview will need to be rearranged.
7. If insufficient time is given for notice for cancellation of Assessments or insufficient information is provided by way of validly completed Assessment Surveys, then  , cancellation fees will apply if a Private Client, and may be billed to Partner Organisations if a Referred Client, depending on the arrangements with that Partner Organisation.
8. If a Practitioner cannot or does not attend your Session as a Private Client you will be refunded in full for the Fee (excluding any third party payment integration provider costs) unless you and the Practitioner agree to reschedule the Session and the Practitioner applies a credit to that replacement Session. In the case of a Referred Client, the Referror Cost of the Session will not be chargeable to the Partner Organisation and the Session will be reallocated.
9. If a Practitioner cannot or does not attend an interview for Assessment on the date booked for you, the interview will be rearranged by the Practitioner at a time that is convenient for you. Given the more involved booking requirements of multiple parties and documentation,  Assessments may be rearranged in one instance by us if reasonably required  without the obligation to refund if paid in advance by a Private Client, until the second instance of any rearrangement by us that is not otherwise reasonably required.
10. If you are paying for the Session as a Private Client, where payment is denied for any reason by the third party provider handling payments, such as Stripe, for any reason, for example because of inaccurate or invalid billing information, the Booking will not be complete and there will be no charge. If you are instead a Referred Client and any Referror Cost remains outstanding to be paid by the Partner Organisation, we may reserve the right to suspend our Services for Referred Clients referred by that Partner Organisation until such time as the outstanding payment is made by the Partner Organisation, in which case the Practitioner would reschedule any upcoming Sessions.
11. For talk therapy counselling only whether as a Private Client or a Referred Client,
    • if you are  late to attend a Session, it is at the discretion of the Practitioner as to whether you may make use of the remaining time. This is something that you may agree in advance with the Practitioner at the outset of your Sessions or that may be better judged ad hoc; it may be that the Practitioner determines that it would not be in your best interests to start therapy with less time available than usual.
    • if you do not attend a Session that has not otherwise been cancelled no later than two (2) business days beforehand,  the Session is chargeable in full and you will not be permitted a refund  if a Private Client, and the Partner Organisation shall be billed  in the case of a Referred Client.
    • if the Practitioner notifies you of her or his delay in attending the Session and you agree with the Practitioner to start your Session later than the booked start time and extend that Session to make up for the time lost by reason of the Practitioner's late attendance, the Session will remain chargeable in full.
12. In the event that either you or the Practitioner cannot access or continue to access the Platform during a Session or during an interview for Assessment, for whatever reason, then you and the Practitioner may agree in advance that you will conduct the interaction via other means for example with regards to a Session via telephone, instead of video-link, using the number each of You provides. This does not apply to  interviews for Assessments in which case the Practitioner shall advise next steps.  If you elect to use an external third party provider of video-link technology such as Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, then we disclaim any responsibility or liability for any issue, claim, dispute or other consequence of use of that external technology.
13. If you or the Practitioner cannot attend or continue to attend a Session or an interview for Assessment because you or the Practitioner cannot access or use the Platform, where the fault lies with our Platform or underlying technologies then you will be refunded payment of the Fee for a Session if a Private Client (excluding any associated  third party fixed transaction costs), except where you agree with the Practitioner to reschedule the Session and the Practitioner applies a credit towards the next arranged Session. If a Referred Client, the Partner Organisation will not be billed until the Session or Assessment has been delivered.  In relation to an interview for Assessment, the Practitioner will rearrange the interview at a time convenient for you.  If the fault or error lies with you or with the Partner Organisation if a Referred Client, then the Fee for the Session will not be refunded and the Assessment will remain chargeable.

14.The Session and/or  Assessment

Housekeeping matters

1. A Session’s duration is as per the Practitioner’s published calendar and as per the type of session, details of which are accessible at the point of Booking or as communicated via a member of our Psychiatry Team. (Note that duration of interviews for Assessment are advised  by a member of our Assessment Team in the steps of the Assessment Pathway..
2. Arrival and attendance:  As to what is an appropriate time to accommodate late arrival for both Sessions and Assessments is a matter for the Practitioner and this is determined at their sole discretion. This is something that you may agree in advance with the Practitioner at the outset of your Sessions or that may be better judged ad hoc; it may be that the Practitioner determines that it would not be in your best interests to start therapy with less time available than usual. For Assessments, punctuality is key to allow for enough time to completed the interviews.
3. If for any reason a Practitioner fails to attend your Session or Assessment, please contact Us at help@problemshared.net with the name of the Practitioner, date ane time of booking. Someone from our team will be in contact with you.
4. You may instead elect to start your Session later than the Booked time, if the Practitioner notifies You of her or his delay and You agree to such in writing, and your Session then goes ahead.
5. Notwithstanding your right to a refund  as Private Client or a Partner Organisation's right not to be billed for any Session not attended by a Practitioner,  any Session that has been mutually agreed  between you and the Practitioner to start at a later time than the original time booked may run over time in order to make up the allotted time for the Session. No adjustment of fees on a pro rata basis shall be allowed. This clause is not relevant to Assessments.
6. In the instance that a Practitioner cancels a Session or an Assessment via the Booking system, you will be notified. The Practitioner may also contact you directly by inviting you to a Session at a different date and time, or you may receive an email notification and be prompted to make a new Booking. In most instances, regarding Assessments, you will be notified instead by a member of our Assessment Pathway Team.
7. In the instance that you elect to use a  third party provider of video link consultation external to our Platform and the Practitioner agrees, we disclaim any responsibility or liability for any issue, claim, damages, proceeding or other consequence arising or in connection with that.

15. Our Operation, Maintenance and Security of the Platform

Our discretion to operate and maintain our Platform as we see fit, and our undertakings about security but no guarantee or warranty.

1. We may modify, withdraw, suspend or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Platform at our sole discretion. Except to the extent that this impacts any Session currently underway between You and a Practitioner, we may do so without Notice to You although we may publish on the Platform our intended maintenance times.  If such modification can be  reasonably judged to materially impact your rights under this Agreement, you may elect not to proceed with any further Bookings and not accept any change to our terms and conditions, or your ability to attend any Session  for which you have already paid a Fee, then you shall be entitled to a refund.
2. We shall exercise all reasonable precautions to protect against:
   
   • unauthorised or unlawful access to our Platform;
   •  accidental loss, or destruction of or damage to the Platform including information and Personal Data;
   • ‍failure of systems, or software,
   and we set out certain matters in connection with this  and the precautions we take in our Privacy Policy. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about this.
3. Notwithstanding the above, we do not warrant or guarantee the operation, transmission, security or viability of the Platform including but not limited to whether it be free of any bug, virus, Trojan Horse, worm, time bomb, or such other threats to digital and cyber integrity and security as may become defined by the information technology industry, nor do we warrant or guarantee that access to and use of the Platform will be free from interruption, errors or any corruption or compromise of data carried over local or interchange telecommunication carriers.
4. To the extent that we use in part or whole any software, systems, applications, utilities or sites that are licensed by us and that belong to and are operated by third parties, we disclaim all responsibility for any issue, problem or incident that is caused or affected by such third parties, to the extent permitted by Law or as may be otherwise agreed in any terms between a Partner Organisation and us.

16.Conditions of use of the Platform including Intellectual Property and Confidential Information

What you must not do in accessing our Platform - which are essentially those actions that would not be contemplated by these terms and which would be inconsistent with our purposes.

1. You are responsible for configuring your technology set-up including but not limited to computer programmes, software, applications or utilities, and other information technology in any computer, or mobile device or tablet to facilitate your access to the Platform.
2. You will use appropriate virus protection software / anti-mal software.
3. You will not permit any third party to access the Platform via your log-in and you will keep passwords and log-in details for your profile private.
4. Your access to and use of the Platform, including setting up any profile or “sign-up” shall be for your personal use in connection with your health care or neurodevelopmental needs, or those of a dependent under the age of eighteen (18).
5. A temporary use licence in your favour to access and use the Platform for the purposes of healthcare via talk therapy counselling,  or Assessment does not grant any other right to the Intellectual Property that is underlying the Platform or to any Intellectual Property that is displayed or otherwise accessible via the Platform and that is otherwise ours  by right to and interest in it, whether owned by  or licensed to us..
6. We allow you to use the Platform on condition that You do not breach the terms of this Agreement and that you will shall not do anything:
   • in contravention of or prejudicial to Our rights and interests including Confidential Information and Intellectual Property, or
   • in contradiction or breach of this Agreement, including any Privacy Policy
   • for any illegal purpose, including fraudulent purposes; nor permit anyone else, whether by assertion or omission, to do so either.
7. The restrictions above include that you shall not:
   • post or transmit a message (written, verbal, instant or via video) under a false name or use the Platform to impersonate another person or misrepresent another person]
   • attempt to alter the origin of email messages or postings
   • market, promote or solicit any Services except as expressly permitted by this Agreement
   • distribute chain letters or unsolicited bulk electronic mail ("spamming") via the Platform
   • attempt to undermine the security or integrity of computing systems or digital networks on which the Platform is built, or attempt to gain unauthorised access to such;
   • harvest or collect data about any Client, Supplier or other individual who uses the Platform;
   • post or transmit any data, materials, content or information which is threatening, false, misleading, abusive, defamatory, derogatory, pornographic or profane, or that contains or promotes any virus, worm, Trojan horse, time bomb or other computer programming or code that is designed or intended to damage, destroy, intercept, download, interfere, manipulate or otherwise interrupt or expropriate the Platform or the Services;
   • tamper, hack, spoof, copy, modify or otherwise corrupt the administration, security or proper function of the Platform or the Services including but not limited to any denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack;
   • use robots or scripts with the Platform;
   • attempt to reverse engineer, reverse assemble, reverse compile, decompile, disassemble, translate or otherwise alter, defraud or create false results from any executable code or information on or received by the Platform;
   • any other act proscribed by the Computer Misuse Act 1998.
   • any offensive or threatening behaviour that includes but is not limited to swearing, drunkenness, verbal or physical abuse, racist, sexist, discriminatory conduct or language, vilification as proscribed by any Law, inappropriate advances to the Company’s staff or affiliated Practitioners.
   • reproduce, modify, copy, edit, alter, distribute, disseminate (including but not limited to distributing or making any Confidential Information or Intellectual Property available on a file sharing network or site),  use for commercial purposes or infringe any right pertaining to our Confidential Information or Intellectual Property in whole or in part.
   • sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in or otherwise attempt to transfer or infringe any right in the Platform, including Confidential Information, Intellectual Property nor create derivative works based on such, nor in any other manner commercially exploit the Platform or our business.
8. You agree that anything you do in accessing or using the Platform will not infringe or facilitate infringement of any of our rights, including our Intellectual Property or rights in Confidential Information,  or those of any other user of the Platform, including copying any part of the Platform, whether code, or documents contained on the Platform, including policies, and resources and copy contained in webpages relating to how we can help and resources & social media hub.
9. We have the right to delete any information provided by you that we deem fraudulent, abusive, defamatory, obscene or in violation of any rights, including Intellectual Property rights, or that is otherwise in beach of this Agreement.
10. Linking: You may link to the Platform, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
11. You must not:
    • establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists;
    • establish a link to the Platform on any digital platform that is not owned by you.
    • frame the Platform on any other digital platform.
    • If you wish to make any use of content on the Platform, please contact us at help@problemshared.net. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission at any time.

17.Counselling Letter and Prescriptions

How Counselling Letters and Prescriptions work

1. If you are provided with a Counselling Letter or Prescription, you agree that if a Practitioner chooses to provide any Counselling Letter or any Prescription, that this is at the Practitioner's  sole discretion and this includes the contents of such.
2. You agree not to change, alter, modify or interfere in any way with any Counselling Letter or Prescription.
3. Practitioners are obliged not to prescribe any medicines listed in the non-prescribe list as stated in the Prescribing Policy.
4. You are responsible for ensuring that You understand the contents of any Counselling Letter or Prescription. If you receive a Prescription consequent to any Assessment as a Referred Client of the private medical insurer, you will also participate in the processes integral to that which include but are not limited to the following: Reviews of medication, titration stabilisation, onward referral to shared care with a primary medical provider.  You are encouraged to ask the Practitioner any questions you may have about the Counselling Letter or Prescription.
5. You should expect that:
   • regarding a Counselling Letter: that the Practitioner will record a Counselling Letter and forward to a counsellor, therapist, general practitioner or consultant as may be agreed with you, and
   • regarding a Prescription: that the Practitioner will record a prescription on our prescribing system and either a) send you the prescription for you to redeem and pay for at a pharmacy of your choice OR b) our partner pharmacy will contact you to advise of the cost of the medication subject of the prescription and to obtain your agreement to fill the script, and then if you agree, to take payment and dispense it and send it to you by registered post.
6. Prescription drug disclaimer:  Notwithstanding this or any other clause of this Agreement, we make no representations or warranties about the satisfaction of government regulations requiring disclosure of information on prescription drug products or any treatment, action or application or preparation of medication that is subject of any prescription.
7. No Practitioner engaged in talk therapy services whether to a private Client or to a Referred Client may prescribe any medication or fill out any prescription. Psychiatrists and certain Practitioners in our ND Assessment Team qualified to prescribe are the only Practitioners that are permitted prescribing privileges on our Platform.

18.Profile and Digital Health Record

Intake to the Platform, and your digital health record

1. You are responsible for keeping information about you that includes your name, contact details, emergency contact and registered GP up to date and current and you must contact us if any of this information has changed and needs amending on your Digital Health Record.  If you have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway and been referred by a Partner Organisation some of the information we collect at intake may have been provided by that Partner Organisation. You will also have an opportunity to confirm that information at intake if that is the case.
2. The information in your intake by its nature contains Personal Data under the Data Protection Legislation and this is subject to the protections afforded by the Data Protection Legislation and this is addressed in our Privacy Policy.
3. We are responsible for a Digital Health Record in your name which is only accessible to those Practitioners that treat you, and to us if we reasonably need access for purposes consistent with our supervision and oversight of Practitioners,  within the limits of our Privacy Policy, and also in respect of any claim, proceeding or safeguarding issue. Safeguarding is a matter addressed also in the therapeutic framework you have with your Practitioner.
4. The Digital Health Record is the place where a Practitioner may record and store the following:
   • a  Practitioner’s Notes of their Sessions with You for talk therapy; if you are a Referred Client, the Practitioner will store a Note of each Session on your Record ;
   • Counselling Letters;
   • Prescriptions;
   • Discharge letters in connection with any psychiatric consultation or treatment in relation to any Session/s, or in connection with any medication subject of any Prescription, information about which is required on discharging you from the care of a Practitioner to your registered GP, where relevant and at the discretion of the Practitioner
   • Progression Reports  that conclude any series of Sessions with a  Practitioner if you have been referred to the Counselling Pathway as a Referred Client;
   • other data, information or files that you may provide, for example a letter from another medical or health professional in relation to you, forms/questionnaires completed by you or any third party whose input is required in respect of any assessment e.g. forms/questionnaires completed by an education provider in the case of children and adolescents.
5. We are responsible for your Digital Health Record to the extent that we are responsible for facilitating the means to record, store, represent, order, file any and all data provided by you and the Practitioner, or to otherwise handle, retrieve, or delete Personal Data as may be directed by you from time to time, including in accordance with any of the following:
   • any Law such as the Data Protection Legislation;
   • our Privacy Policy; and
   • any professional guidelines including those of the General Medical Council (GMC) (which governs medical clinicians such as Psychiatrists) where relevant about health records etc.
6. As stated earlier, we are not responsible for the choice of all content of any information that is authored or provided by you or on behalf of you,  or if you are a Private Client, any content that a Practitioner records including any contained in your Digital Health Record.  We require safeguarding monitoring and information entry by all Practitioners in relation to all services whether Sessions in talk therapy counselling or Assessments, but the content of that, and any other notes which a Practitioner chooses to make, is of their own choosing and discretion.
7. If you are a Referred Client then your Digital Health Record also includes information connected with your Counselling by the Partner Organisation which includes but is not limited to the following regarding the Counselling Pathway: the name of your treating Practitioner, the number of Sessions booked and any Sessions not attended, any safeguarding matter,  a Practitioner's recommendation for concluding or advancing further Sessions, and a Progression Report. Regarding the Assessment Pathway, this includes but is not limited to the following: the Assessment Report.

19.Other information You can access on Our Platform

On some pages of our website such as How We Can Help, and Resources & Social Media Hub, we include information of a general nature that is not specific to You nor able to be relied on by You.

1. Where we make available information or links to information on the Platform, including health-related information, we do not represent or warrant that the information is comprehensive, complete, current,  reliable or true, nor do we represent or warrant that the information will meet your health or medical requirements, nor  is able to be relied on by You, or that any course of treatment referred to in that information is safe, appropriate or effective for You. This information is intended as general and introductory in nature and is not intended nor to be treated as a substitute for client-specific advice from a Practitioner, including but not limited to emergency medical services. You have the right to choose not to access or read the information. It is your responsibility to contact a health professional if you are concerned about your health, whether that is your registered GP or otherwise. You can make bookins on our Platform to see Practitioners with regard to talk therapy counselling, psychiatry and neurodevelopmental assessments.
2. We do not endorse the promotions, products or services of any third parties to whom we may link on the Platform.
3. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of information contained on any third party web sites to whom we link.

20.Personal Information and privacy

1. Before completing your sign up on the Platform including as a Referred Client via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, you will be asked whether you have read and understood our Privacy Policy. This sets out in detail all things related to your Personal Data and privacy in respect of your Sessions or Assessment or use of the Platform and sharing of Personal Data.
2. Whether treating a Private Client or a Referred Client, Practitioners must follow our Privacy Policy and comply with the Data Protection Legislation and common law duties of confidentiality. Practitioners who provide talk therapy counselling are also registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as Data Controllers.

21.Termination

How and why we can stop your access to services

1. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate our agreement with you contained in these terms and conditions,  and with it your access to the Platform,  at any time, without notice and without liability, if we reasonably determine you have broken any of these terms or conditions. This includes whether you are a Private Client or a Referred Client.
2. We reserve the right to monitor your access to and use of the Platform as may reasonably necessary to ascertain compliance with these terms.
3. Any related refund or cancellation as a result of termination shall be in accordance with clause 12 - Payments, cancellations and refunds.
4. Termination does not obviate or detract from any ongoing obligations we have under any applicable law whether statue or common law, for example including your rights to privacy under the Data Protection Legislation, which continue beyond termination.

22.Our Liabiility to You and Limitations

Responsibilties

1. If we break these terms or conditions we are responsible only for loss or damage that you suffer that is foreseeable as a result of our breach of the Agreement except where we expressly disclaim this. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if both you and we knew it might happen. We are therefore not responsible for any consequential, punitive, exemplary or special damages howsoever arising.
2. We disclaim the following losses or damages for which we are not responsible, to the extent permitted by any Law:
   • Loss or damage or claim in connection with any emergency or acute health condition during any Session or Assessment  - the Platform is not to be used for emergencies or treatment of any acute condition - please follow the guidelines on the Platform for who to contact in an emergency or if an acute health condition.
   • Loss or damage or claim in connection with any breach of law of a jurisdiction outside of England and Wales or in connection with a legal or court proceeding in a jurisdiction outside of England and Wales.
   • Loss or damage in connection with your inability to access or use the Platform,  except where payment for a Session has been taken and you are prevented from attending that Session because of a verified fault with our Platform, which is not connected with your technology set-up. In that instance, our liability is limited to a refund or offset of the Fee if the Session has already been paid.
   • Loss or damage that relates to any computer, or smart device used to acess the Platform or Services - it shall be your responsibility to have in place suitable mechanisms to secure and protect your devices and technology set-up.
3. We provide the Platform ‘as is’ and do not represent or warrant that it is error free, or virus free nor that it is fit for a particular purpose, nor are we responsible for any software, systems or other processes we license from third parties in connection with the Platform.
4. Notwithstanding the above, we do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so including for death or personal injury or fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
5. In respect of any liability under these terms and conditions ,including in relation to any indemnity, however arising and whether in contract or in tort or breach of any applicable Law, our aggregate liability in respect of any clai or connected series of claims shall not exceed the total amount paid by you to us in the two calendar months preceding the claim, except with respect to any Referred Client for whom our liability is governed by the terms of the agreement we have with the Partner Organisation who made the Counselling.

23.Indemnity

What is covered

1. We (you and us) agree to mutually indemnify each other  against any claim, proceeding,  action, loss or damages, legal costs, expenses and any other liabilities, in respect of any third party, arising from or in connection with:
   • any breach by you or us of applicable Laws including the Data Protection Legislation, including any act or omission in respect of the same;
   • infringement of any third party right to Intellectual Property.
2. You agree to indemnify us in respect of any any claim, proceeding,  action, loss or damages, legal costs, expenses arising from or in connection with non-payment by you of any Fee reasonably due to a Practitioner, unless you are a Referred Client and your Session or Assessment is payable by a Partner Organisation - in all other matters included in this clause your liability continues).
3. Our liability in respect of any indemnity is limited to the amount set out in clause 22 above.  

24.Complaints

See our Complaints Policy

1. You may record a complaint in line with the Complaints Policy that is published on the Platform.

How we sort out disagreements

1. In the event of any complaint or dispute, you agree that you will first notify us of the subject of the complaint or dispute in accordance with our Complaints Policy, and we undertake to respond in a reasonable time. If you have come to us via the Counselling or Assessment Pathway, you are also obliged to notify the Partner Organisation that has referred you to us of your complaint or dispute with us. And the following terms shall also apply to Partner Organisation in respect of the handling of any dispute.
2. You and we agree to attempt to resolve any dispute within sixty (60) days of notification of a dispute, after which You and We agree to submit to mediation in accordance with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Model Mediation Procedure.
3. Unless otherwise agreed by you and us, the mediator will be selected by CEDR and the mediation procedure will be initiated with a notice from You or Us  requesting ADR mediation; and you or we must notify CEDR by providing it with a copy of the request. The mediation will start not later than sixty (60) days after the date of the ADR mediation notice.
4. Neither you nor we have the right to commence any court action or proceeding in relation to any dispute arising from these Terms and Conditions until both parties have attempted to settle the dispute by mediation, except where:
   • the mediation has  been terminated;
   • either you or we failed to participate in the mediation for a period of thirty (30) days from the commencement of mediation.
5. In the event of the above occurring, either party may put the dispute to confidential arbitration in any court or tribunal in England.
6. Any award by an arbitrator shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
7. To the fullest extent permitted by any Law, no arbitration or court action or proceeding in connection with this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration or court action or proceeding involving any other party, whether through class arbitration or court action or proceeding or otherwise.

General matters (those matters that are usually located at the end of a legal document which are often standardised):

26.Continuing force and effect of certain parts of the Agreement despite termination

1. Notwithstanding the above, any disclaimers ain this Agreement shall continue to apply after termination along with obligations in various other clauses and Schedules where this Agreement states they shall survive which means that although we are no longer providing any Service to you or you are no longer receiving any Service from us, certain obligations will continue to apply, for example privacy and confidentiality.

27.Circumstances outside Our control

1. We will not be responsible for any breach, action or omission in connection with this Agreement due to circumstances or events outside our control.
2. Circumstances or events outside our control include but are not limited to:
   • strikes, lock-outs or other industrial action by third parties, civil commotion, riot, invasion, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war (whether declared or not) or threat or preparation for war, fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster, or failure of public utility or private carrier telecommunications networks including but not limited to insufficient or variable network connectivity at any time, malicious damage, DOS (denial of service) and DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks except for any known and published risk where there are patches and updates available to prevent it.
3. Notwithstanding the conditions for your right to a refund for any Session or Assessment paid in advance or a Partner Organisation's right to a credit or offset in relation to a Session or Assessment that is  not chargeable, in accordance with these terms, if relevant and a circumstance or event outside our control takes place that materially affects the performance of our  obligations to you under this Agreement:
   • we will notify you;
   • our obligations will be suspended and the time for performance of our obligations will be extended as reasonably required or for the duration of the circumstance or event outside our control;
   • you will have the choice to elect to postpone the doing of what it is that we should be doing or the obligation we owe to you, e.g. postpone a Session to another time and be refunded, in the event that you have made any payment in connection with this;
   • we will resume the performance of these obligations and notify you of such as soon as is reasonably possible; or
   • if the time lapsed in continuing to perform our obligations to you under this Agreement exceeds four (4) weeks then you shall have the right to immediately  terminate the Agreement.

28.Assignment

1. You cannot assign, or transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Agreement to anyone else, without our written agreement.
2. We may transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement to another party, including any company, or successor. We  will notify you if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under this Agreement as may have accrued at the date of such transfer or assignment.

29.Applicable Law

1. These Terms and Conditions are governed and construed by the Laws of England and Wales and the courts and tribunals of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any matter, claim, dispute (non-contractual or otherwise) or other legal proceeding.

30.Severability

1. If a court or any other authority charged with sufficient power under any Law finds any clause or part of these Terms and Conditions illegal, invalid, unenforceable, or void  for any reason, that clause or part shall be severed from the Agreement and the rest will continue to bind and remain in force and take effect. Each clause in this Agreement operates separately to the extent permitted by Law.

31.Waiver

1. Any delay in enforcing any part of this Agreement by either you or us does not mean that you or we cannot enforce it later. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to give you access to the Platform and make Bookings, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

32.Notices

1. Where we say we must notify you about something, we may do that including but not limited to any of the following means: either via publication over the Platform or our website,  by email to your nominated email address included in your intake, or by push notification to your user dashboard.
2. You may give notice to us by email to our nominated email address: help@problemshared.net or as otherwise may be advised on the Platform.
3. Deemed Receipt of Notices and Communications: You agree that the content of any Notice, including but not limited to information, documents or other correspondence containing any data by attachment or directly included in the body of the Notice or communication will be deemed to be received by You:
   • on accessing it when it is live on the Platform, or
   • in the case of email, on the date of email transmission by the sender,  subject to there being no failure to transmit or other error message notified by any mail application or browser or if not on a Business Day, on the next nearest Business Day; and
   • in the event that you receive notification of the same matter or communication by both of the above methods, receipt will be effective on the earlier time and date of the two. So where we publish it on the Platform and you access the Platform sooner than you access your email, notice will be effective as of the date you access the Platform.

APPENDIX 1. Technical Requirements to Use the Platform

As is currently preferable for any internet connectivity, we recommend a minimal bandwidth of 5 mbit/s active internet connection to access the Platform and use its features.

Our Platform is predominantly browser-based software, which means it can be run on all full desktop operating systems (MacOS, Windows, Linux, etc), as well as Chrome OS.

We make use of advances in browser technology to deliver some features such as Sessions over video link. Some browsers do not support some of the technologies that we use, such as video enabled technology, and we cannot support them.

To ensure the best possible experience we recommend a Chromium based browser such as Google Chrome.Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Apple Safari can also be used.

On mobile, Safari on Apple devices and Chrome on Android devices are supported but note that some features of the technology are not mobile friendly and the best possible experience is via desktop.

The browsers we don't support:

We do not support Internet Explorer and all versions of Microsoft Edge that are not Chromium based; however these are used by a minority of all internet traffic (5% or less)

Video consultation support:

Whilst some of the features of our Platform may work on unsupported browsers, video consultation will not. WebRTC is the technology that allows audio and video communication to work inside web pages by allowing direct peer-to-peer communication. WebRTC is not implemented on Microsoft's Internet Explorer nor is it likely to be since Microsoft intends to adopt the Chromium engine used by Google Chrome that includes WebRTC. Less than 5% of all internet traffic uses Microsoft Edge and Microsoft announced that it will no longer continue to develop the Edge browser.

Similarly, WebRTC does not work on any non-Apple browser on Apple devices, this includes Google Chrome.

Therefore, we recommend the latest versions of Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge if using a laptop or PC. For mobile phone devices, we recommend using Safari on an iPhone, and Chrome on an Android phone.