Patient rights, complaints and privacy at Sierra Recovery

Your rights as a patient

Sierra is a registered health centre, authorised by the Junta de Andalucía under registration NICA 67331. Being a licensed centre means your rights are not something we grant as a courtesy, they are set by law and we are accountable for upholding them. In Spain those rights are grounded chiefly in Ley 41/2002, which governs patient autonomy and information.

• Dignity and respect: to be cared for without judgement, shaming or discrimination. Our whole approach treats addiction as a learned way of regulating a difficult internal state, not a moral failing, and that carries through to how you are spoken to every day.
• Clear information: to understand your assessment, the programme, and any decision about your care, in plain English or Spanish, before you agree to it.
• Informed consent: to give, refuse or withdraw consent to any part of your treatment, and to leave. Admission is voluntary.
• Confidentiality: to have what you share, and the fact that you are here at all, kept private within the limits the law allows.
• Access to your records: to see and obtain a copy of your own clinical notes.
• To complain: to raise a concern and have it looked into, without any effect on the care you receive.

Raising a concern or making a complaint

Most concerns are resolved quickest by telling a member of the team while you are still with us, and we would always rather hear about a problem early than have you carry it. If you would prefer a formal route, or an informal conversation has not settled the matter, you can make a written complaint.

How our written procedure works

• Put it in writing. Ask any staff member for a complaint form, or write to us directly. A family member, advocate or the person who arranged your referral may do this on your behalf with your consent.
• We acknowledge it. You receive confirmation that your complaint has been received and is being looked into.
• We investigate. The clinical lead reviews what happened. Our clinical accountability sits with our director, Nerea Encinas Sánchez, General Health Psychologist, and you can read more about the people responsible for your care on our clinical team page.
• We respond in writing, setting out what we found and any change we are making. If we got something wrong, we say so.

Making a complaint never changes the quality of your treatment, your place in the programme, or how you are treated by the team. That is a promise, and it is also your legal right.

Taking a complaint further

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled a complaint, you can take it beyond Sierra. As a licensed health centre in Andalucía, we sit under the oversight of the regional health authority, the Consejería de Salud y Consumo de la Junta de Andalucía, and patients have a right to submit a formal complaint (a hoja de quejas y reclamaciones) to it. You do not need our permission to do this, and you can ask us for the details of how to reach them. You can verify our licensing status independently at any time, and we explain how on our regulation and licensing page.

Confidentiality and your health data

Information about your health is treated as a special category of personal data, with the strongest protection the law provides. We handle it under the EU General Data Protection Regulation and Spain's data protection law, Ley Orgánica 3/2018 (LOPDGDD).

• We collect only what we need to assess and treat you safely, and to run the centre lawfully.
• We keep it secure and share it only with the clinicians involved in your care.
• We do not tell your family, employer or anyone else that you are here, or how you are doing, without your consent. Where you want relatives involved, that is arranged with your permission and is part of our family programme.
• Limited legal exceptions apply, for example a serious and immediate risk to life, or a lawful order, where the law itself permits or requires disclosure.

Your data rights

You can ask to see the personal data we hold about you, to have errors corrected, and, within what the law allows for medical records, to have data erased or its use restricted. If you believe we have mishandled your information, you may complain to us and, separately, to the Spanish data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD).

Records, consent and after you leave

Your clinical record belongs to your care, and you are entitled to a copy of it. Clinical records are retained for the period Spanish law requires, then handled securely. Consent is not a single signature at the door, it is ongoing: you can ask questions, change your mind, and decline any element of treatment at any point, including the information we pass to your onward providers as part of aftercare and discharge.

If anything here is unclear, or you would like to talk through how your privacy is protected before you decide anything, our team will answer honestly. You can see what a stay involves and what is included on our admissions page.