Information on how this practice handles your personal and health data, the terms of use of this website, and the medical disclaimer.
At Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy, your privacy and confidentiality are treated with the utmost importance. This website and practice are committed to protecting all personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) of South Africa.
Personal information collected may include your name, contact details, medical history, assessment information, health-related data, and any information submitted through contact forms, bookings, or communication with the practice. This information is collected solely for purposes related to patient care, communication, appointment scheduling, exercise prescription, medical aid administration, health screenings, and professional healthcare services.
All information is stored securely and treated as confidential. Personal information will never be sold or shared with third parties unless required for patient care, medical aid claims, referral communication with healthcare professionals, or where legally required.
Reasonable measures are taken to protect all patient information from unauthorised access, misuse, or disclosure.
Service providers. The practice uses service providers that process information on its behalf, on its instruction, and under written agreements — including the systems that host this website and store patient records, and the artificial-intelligence service described below. These providers act as “Operators” under POPIA. They may not use your information for their own purposes and may not use it to train artificial-intelligence systems. Some of them process information outside South Africa; see the section on artificial intelligence below.
How long information is kept. Clinical records are kept for the period required by the HPCSA — not less than six years from the date the record became dormant; for a patient who was a minor, until their 21st birthday; and for a mentally incapacitated patient, for that patient’s lifetime.
Patients have the right to request access to their personal information, request corrections where necessary, object to particular processing, withdraw a consent previously given, and enquire about how their information is processed and stored. Requests may be made to the practice directly.
If personal information is ever accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, the practice will notify the affected patients and the Information Regulator as soon as reasonably possible.
By using this website or submitting personal information, you consent to the collection and processing of your information as outlined in this policy.
Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy is committed to processing personal information responsibly, ethically, and in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
As part of providing healthcare and rehabilitation services, certain personal and health-related information may be collected and processed. This information is used only for purposes directly related to patient care, communication, programme prescription, assessments, medical aid administration, and professional healthcare management.
Health information is regarded as sensitive personal information and is handled with strict confidentiality. Appropriate security measures are implemented to safeguard all records and information.
Patient information may only be shared with relevant healthcare professionals, medical aids, or authorised parties where necessary for ongoing care, referral communication, or legal obligations.
Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy remains committed to maintaining patient privacy, confidentiality, and ethical healthcare standards in line with POPIA and HPCSA professional guidelines.
Where information is transferred outside South Africa, this is done in terms of section 72 of POPIA, on the basis of a written agreement with the recipient that requires the information to be protected to a standard substantially similar to that required by POPIA, and with the patient’s consent.
For any information requests or privacy-related concerns, patients may contact the practice directly. Patients also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator (South Africa).
Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy may use an artificial-intelligence (AI) service to help with clinical documentation. This is done in line with the HPCSA’s Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (Booklet 20, September 2025) and with POPIA. This section explains it in general terms; patients are given the full wording, and asked for their consent, on the admission and consent form.
What it is used for. With the patient’s separate consent, AI may be used to (a) transcribe a recorded therapy session and draft a summary of it, (b) summarise an existing patient file for the therapist’s own preparation, and (c) prepare a first draft of letters and documents such as referrals, feedback letters, medical aid motivations and sick notes. Each of these three is consented to separately, and any of them may be refused.
The AI produces drafts only. No decision affecting a patient is made solely by automated means. In particular, the AI does not decide and is not used to decide: a diagnosis; the outcome of any assessment, test or score; what treatment a patient receives or whether they receive treatment at all; whether a referral is made and to whom; how urgent a case is or a patient’s place on a waiting list; whether a patient is taken on or discharged; whether a patient is booked off work or school, or what a medical certificate says; what is claimed from a medical aid; or any judgement about risk. The practitioner makes every one of these decisions personally.
Patients never deal with the AI. It is never presented as a therapist, a doctor or any other kind of healthcare professional. It does not answer patient questions, give advice, or communicate with patients. There is no patient-facing chatbot or assistant. Everything the AI produces goes to the practitioner and nowhere else.
Only what is needed is sent. Only the information reasonably necessary for the particular task is submitted to the AI service.
The therapist remains fully responsible. Every note and every document is read, corrected, completed and approved by the practitioner before it forms part of a clinical record or leaves the practice. The practitioner is accountable for the content and accuracy of all of it, regardless of how a first draft was produced.
Which service is used. The practice uses Google’s Gemini models through Google Cloud Vertex AI, reached only through the practice’s own secured server. Consumer AI assistants are never used with patient information.
Where processing happens. Processing currently takes place at Google data centres in various countries around the world, and not in South Africa. Patient information therefore leaves South Africa when it is processed. This is done under a written data-processing agreement with Google and with the patient’s express consent. The practice intends to move this processing into Google’s South African region as soon as the services it uses become available there, and will inform patients when that happens.
Your information is not used to train AI. Google is contractually prohibited from using this practice’s information to train or fine-tune its models. The models used are “locked learners” — they do not update themselves from information supplied by this practice, and nothing said in a session becomes part of the AI’s knowledge.
Checking for misuse. Google runs automated checks on what is sent to it, to detect misuse of the service. In the ordinary course nothing is kept once the draft has been produced. Where those automated checks flag something, Google may keep a copy for up to 90 days, in the region the practice has selected, and authorised Google staff may read the flagged material, solely to establish whether Google’s rules have been broken. This does not happen to everything sent. Nothing kept in this way is used to train AI models. The practice is applying to Google to be exempted from this logging; if that is granted, this page and the consent wording will be updated and patients told.
Limitations and bias. Speech recognition is less accurate with some accents, with conversation that moves between Afrikaans and English, and with children’s speech — particularly younger children and children with speech or language difficulties. AI output may also contain inaccuracies, omissions, inappropriate assumptions or bias reflecting the material the model was built from, and must never be treated as inherently accurate. No AI output is relied on for any clinical purpose until an appropriately qualified health professional has reviewed it.
Asking how AI was used. A patient may ask at any time how AI was used in any part of their care — what it was given, what it produced, what its known limitations and biases are, and what risks come with it. No reason need be given for asking.
Withdrawing consent is not the same as deleting a file. Withdrawing an AI consent stops that processing from that point onwards. It does not delete the clinical record, which the practice is legally obliged to retain for the periods set out above.
Your choice. Consent to any AI use is entirely voluntary and may be refused or withdrawn at any time, without giving a reason. Patients who decline receive exactly the same treatment; nothing is withheld, delayed or charged differently. A patient may ask, at any time, how a note or document about them was prepared, and may object to a document produced with AI assistance and ask that it be redone without it.
Recordings. Session audio is only recorded with consent, may be stopped or paused at any point during a session on request, and is deleted once the note has been approved and in any event within 30 days. Where the patient is a child, the parent or guardian consents; a child aged 12 or older has it explained to them, and recording does not proceed if the child objects.
By accessing and using this website, you agree to the following terms and conditions. These cover the website itself. The terms that apply to being a patient of this practice — fees, cancellations, confidentiality, consent to photographs and video, consent to the use of artificial intelligence, and the indemnity — are published in full at Terms, Admission and Consent.
The information provided on this website is intended for general educational and informational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Exercise participation and rehabilitation programmes should always be guided by a qualified healthcare professional.
While every effort is made to ensure that information on this website is accurate and up to date, Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy makes no guarantees regarding completeness, accuracy, or outcomes related to the use of information provided on this website.
All rehabilitation, exercise, and treatment programmes are individually prescribed based on assessments, clinical findings, and patient needs. Results may vary between individuals.
Patients are responsible for disclosing all relevant medical history, injuries, diagnoses, medications, and health concerns before participating in any exercise or rehabilitation programme.
Appointment bookings, cancellations, and payments may be subject to practice policies communicated directly to patients.
All website content, including text, branding, logos, programmes, and images, remains the intellectual property of Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy and may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed without permission.
Berna du Plessis Occupational Therapy shall not be held liable for any injury, loss, or damages arising from the use of this website or participation in exercise activities without professional supervision.
The content provided on this website is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Exercise and rehabilitation programmes should always be prescribed and supervised according to individual needs and medical considerations. Information found on this website should not replace consultation with a qualified healthcare professional.
If you experience pain, injury, dizziness, chest discomfort, or any medical concerns during exercise or rehabilitation activities, medical advice should be sought immediately.
Participation in any exercise activity is undertaken at your own risk.