Last updated: October 2026

1. Who we are

This website and practice are operated by Dr Raphaela Itzikowitz, Specialist Paediatrician (PR 1270753), the "responsible party" for your personal information under POPIA. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to Dr Itzikowitz and her practice team.

2. What information we collect

About your child (the patient)

• Name, date of birth, gender, ID or passport number, and medical aid details
• Health information, including medical, developmental, birth and family history, examination findings, assessment results, diagnoses, reports, prescriptions, and treatment plans
• School and therapy information, such as teacher questionnaires, school reports, and reports from other health professionals

About parents, guardians and caregivers

• Names, contact details, ID numbers, and your relationship to the child
• Billing, payment, and medical aid membership details
• Questionnaire responses and information you share during consultations

When you use this website

• Information you submit when booking an appointment or contacting us
• Basic technical information, such as browser type, device, pages visited, and approximate location, collected through cookies and analytics tools (see section 9)

Health information is "special personal information" under POPIA, and information about children receives extra protection. We process it only as allowed by POPIA, the National Health Act, and the ethical rules of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), and with the consent of a parent or legal guardian where required.

3. How we collect it

• Directly from you, through intake forms, questionnaires, consultations, email, WhatsApp, and phone calls
• Through our online booking system when you make an appointment
• From others involved in your child's care, such as teachers, therapists, referring doctors, laboratories, and hospitals, with your consent or where needed for your child's care

4. Why we use it

• To provide medical care, including assessments, diagnosis, treatment, prescriptions, and follow-up
• To coordinate care with schools, therapists, and other health professionals, with your consent
• To manage appointments, reminders, and communication with you
• To bill you or your medical aid, and to manage accounts
• To keep accurate clinical records, as required by law and HPCSA guidelines
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations
• To improve our website and services, using anonymised or aggregated information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for marketing without your consent.

5. Who we share it with

We share only what is necessary, and only with:

• Health professionals and facilities involved in your child's care, such as therapists, specialists, laboratories, and hospitals
• Schools and educators, only with your consent
• Your medical aid scheme, for claims and authorisations
• Service providers who help us run the practice, such as practice management, booking, billing, email, and IT providers, under confidentiality obligations
• Regulators, courts, or authorities where the law requires it

6. Information stored outside South Africa

Some of our service providers, such as our practice management and booking systems and cloud storage, may store information on servers outside South Africa. Where this happens, we take steps to make sure the information receives a level of protection that meets the requirements of POPIA.

7. How long we keep it

Clinical records are kept for as long as the law and HPCSA guidelines require. For children, this generally means until at least their 21st birthday, and for adults at least six years after the last consultation. Other records are kept only as long as needed for the purpose they were collected for, after which they are securely destroyed or anonymised.

8. How we keep it safe

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, damage, and unauthorised access, including access controls, secure systems, and confidentiality obligations for everyone in our team. If we become aware of a security compromise affecting your information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

9. Cookies and analytics

This website uses cookies and similar technologies, including Google Tag Manager and related analytics tools, to understand how visitors use the site and to improve it. Our booking system may also set cookies needed for booking to work. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, although some features may then not work as intended.

10. Your rights

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you or your child, and request access to it
• Ask us to correct or update information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date
• Ask us to delete or destroy information, where we are no longer legally required to keep it
• Object to the processing of your information, on reasonable grounds
• Withdraw consent you have given, without affecting processing that has already taken place
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Information Officer at info@docraphaela.com. The formal request procedure and forms are set out in our PAIA Manual.

11. The Information Regulator

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you may contact the Information Regulator (South Africa):

12. PAIA Manual

Our Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) Manual describes the records we hold and how to request access to them. Download the PAIA Manual (PDF).

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page, with the date it was last updated.