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Terms and Conditions

1 Introduction

1.1

The NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) owns the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme Public Self-Referral Site web application (Public Self-referral Site). The content, data and services on the Public Self-referral Site are delivered by MLCSU. You may access and use the Public Self-referral Site if you agree to be legally bound by the terms set out here. If you do not agree to be legally bound by these terms, please do not access and/or use the Public Self-referral Site.

1.2

The Public Self-Referral Site is intended for use by the public. References to "the NHS" mean "the NHS in England" unless otherwise stated. Service descriptions, entitlements and costs refer to services in England and arrangements may differ elsewhere in the UK.

1.3

If you use the Public Self-referral Site on behalf of someone else:

(a) these terms apply to your use;

(b) you are responsible for such access and use, including being responsible for compliance with these terms; and

(c) you must, to the extent possible, make the person you are using the Public Self-referral Site on behalf of aware of: (i) your access and use and any steps you take on their behalf, and (ii) these terms.

2 Changes to terms

2.1

We may make changes to the Public Self-referral Site, including these terms, at any time. You will be legally bound by the updated or amended terms from the first time that you use the Public Self-referral Site after we publish the changes on it.

3 Intellectual property rights

3.1

The MLCSU own or have the right to use all intellectual property rights in the contents of the Public Self-referral Site or used for the provision of the Public Self-referral Site ("Public Self-referral Website Content"). This includes rights in copyright, patents, database rights, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights.

3.2

You have permission to use Public Self-referral Site Content for the sole purposes described, and on the terms detailed, in these terms and conditions. You need written permission from us or any other owner of Public Self-referral Site Content before you may use these items in any other way.

3.3

Copyright and database rights in the Public Self-referral Site Content are released free-of-charge under the current version of the Open Government Licence ("OGL"), except where specified, either in these terms and conditions, elsewhere on this website or in the OGL terms. If there is any conflict between the OGL terms and these terms and conditions, these terms and conditions shall take precedence.

3.4

This means that you can use Public Self-referral Site Content, including copying it, adapting it, and using it for any purpose, including commercially, provided you follow these terms and conditions and the terms of the OGL.

3.5

The OGL terms do not apply to the following categories of NHS Website Content, and therefore these must not be used without our or the relevant owner's prior consent:

  • any logos, visuals, image rights, trademarks, trade names and design styles (except where these are integral to a document or data set) of the Public Self-referral website, or any predecessor or linked body, as well as of any partner or contributor;
  • any other intellectual property rights, including but not limited to patents, design rights and trademarks.
  • personal data (which will include but not be limited to images, videos, and audio with identifiable people in them).
  • information owned by third parties which we are not authorised to licence on to you. This includes everything itemised on our content not covered by our standard terms and conditions page, although we cannot guarantee that this list includes all information owned by third parties. Many images on the Public Self-referral Site are included as these are licensed by stock sites. If in doubt, contact us using the details below (14.3).

3.6

(a) If you access the Public Self-referral Site:

  • at the frequency specified on our standard terms and conditions page in the case of the subset of Public Self-referral Site Content specified; or
  • at least every 7 days in respect of all other Public Self-referral Site Content.

then you must attribute us as follows: "Information from the Public Self-referral website" unless you have our written consent to an alternative attribution. The relevant attribution must be made for every separate instance, use or appearance of Public Self-referral Site Content, and in each case, you must make a clear distinction between Public Self-referral Site Content and your other content.

If you are displaying Public Self-referral Site Content in a context where a functional link back to the article on the Public Self-referral Site is possible, then each attribution should link to the page on the Public Self-referral Website that the relevant Public Self-referral Site Content has been supplied from.

You must additionally publish, in a prominent and noticeable location within your site or service the statement that "Information from the Public Self-referral Site is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0" and, where possible, include a link to the Open Government Licence .

(b) If you access the Public Self-referral Site:

  • at the frequency specified on our standard terms and conditions page in the case of the subset of Public Self-referral Website Content specified; or
  • at least every 7 days in respect of all other Public Self-referral website Content.

you must include the standard attribution "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0." set out in the OGL and, where possible, include a link to the publication of the Open Government Licence, unless you have our written consent to an alternative attribution. You must not attribute the content to the Public Self-referral Site or cite the NHS specifically as the source of the adapted or non-refreshed content.

The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of examples of changes to content that constitute adaptations:

  • Any change to wording that serves to change its meaning or impact.
  • Taking wording out of a context that is important to its meaning.
  • Translation into another language.

Any adaptation of Public Self-referral Site Content or use of non-refreshed Public Self-referral Site Content may invalidate its formal clinical approval; therefore, if you use any such Public Self-referral Site Content you will bear any risk associated with such adaptation or failure to refresh.

3.7

You must not use Public Self-referral Site Content for or in association with i) any purpose; or ii) a site or service; which is illegal, derogatory, or otherwise objectionable or that brings the NHS into disrepute. If you process any personal data of your customers or users in association with your use of any Public Self-referral Site Content you must do so in compliance with all applicable data protection and privacy legislation and all relevant regulatory guidance, including General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018.

3.8

You may not directly or indirectly suggest any endorsement or approval by the NHS of your site or service, or any non-NHS entity, product or content or any views expressed within your site or service.

3.9

We reserve the right to alter, adapt, edit, modify or restrict the availability of Public Self-referral Site Content for use on third-party sites at any time.

4 Medical information

4.1

The Public Self-referral Site may provide medical information for use as information or for educational purposes. We do not warrant that information we provide will meet your health or medical requirements. It is up to you to contact a health professional if you are concerned about your health.

4.2

The Public Self-referral Site does not give medical advice in relation to any individual case or patient, nor does The Public Self-referral Site provide medical or diagnostic services.

5 Liability

5.1

We accept no liability to you should the Public Self-referral Site not be available at any time.

5.2

You acknowledge and agree that we will not be responsible for any injury, loss, damage, costs, or expenses (whether direct or indirect) arising out of or relating to the use or misuse of the Public Self-referral Site, except to the extent that such liability cannot be excluded by law (i.e., our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence, or our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under English law). This means that we have no liability to you (or anyone else on whose behalf you may use the Public Self-referral Site) for:

(a) any financial loss you may suffer or any inability to claim any payments you may experience.

(b) any business loss you may suffer, including loss of revenue, loss of profits or loss of anticipated savings (whether those losses are the direct or indirect result of our default).

(c) any loss which you suffer other than because of our negligence or breach of statutory duty.

(d) any loss suffered due to the default of any party other than us.

5.3

Although we follow our governance processes and make reasonable efforts to maintain service and accurate, up-to-date content the Public Self-referral Site is provided "as is" and, to the extent permitted by law, we do not warrant or represent (expressly or impliedly and including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality and fitness for a particular purpose) that the Public Self-referral Site or any content is accurate, complete or up-to-date, will meet your particular requirements or needs, will be available uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or its supporting systems are free of viruses or bugs.

5.4

We do not accept any liability to you if we fail, or are interrupted or delayed in the performance of any obligation because of:

(a) the non-availability or failure of any telecommunications or computer services, systems, equipment, or software operated or provided by you or any third party.

(b) any other event not reasonably within our control.

5.5

We do not give any commitments or accept any liability to you in respect of content provided by other users of the website or third parties.

5.6

You acknowledge and agree that we will not be responsible for any injury, loss, or damage (whether direct or indirect) arising out of, or relating to the misuse of, or inappropriate reliance on the contents or advice provided via an external link on the Public Self-referral Site, except to the extent that such liability cannot be limited or excluded by law.

6 Attacks, unauthorised access, and other violations

6.1

You must not try to gain unauthorised access to the Public Self-referral Site, our services, the servers on which they are stored, or any server, computer or database connected to them. You must not attack the Public Self-referral Site website or services hosted on it in any way, (this includes denial-of-service attacks). We will report any attacks or attempts to gain unauthorised access to the site or service to the relevant law enforcement authorities and shall share information about you with them.

6.2

You must not use the Public Self-referral Site:

(a) to transmit any false, misleading, fraudulent, defamatory, offensive, or illegal communications.

(b) in a way that could damage, disable, overburden, impair or compromise our systems or security or interfere with other users.

(c) in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with these terms of use, or act fraudulently or maliciously, for example, by hacking into or inserting malicious code, such as viruses or harmful data.

7 Remedies

7.1

To the extent that we are practically able to do so, we may terminate your access to all or any part of Public Self-referral Site and services at any time without notice if you breach any of the terms.

7.2

We reserve the right to investigate complaints or reported violations of our terms and to take any action we consider appropriate, including but not limited to reporting any suspected unlawful activity to law enforcement officials, regulators, or other third parties and disclosing any information necessary or appropriate to such persons or entities relating to user information, email addresses, usage history, IP addresses and traffic information.

8 General

8.1

If any of these terms are determined to be illegal, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable then the remaining terms shall remain in full force and effect.

8.2

We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree in writing.

8.3

Your use of the Public Self-referral Site and these terms, together with any service specific additional terms, shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England, and you agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England in respect of any disputes that may arise in relation to the Public Self-referral Site.

8.4

The Public Self-referral Site is delivered for the Department of Health and Social Care by:

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
Heron House
Midlands and Lancashire CSU HQ
120 Grove Road
Stoke on Trent
ST4 4LX

Page last reviewed: 05 April 2023