What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your computer or mobile device through your web browser. They let the website remember information about your visit, such as keeping you signed in to the patient portal or remembering that you have already answered our cookie banner.
Some cookies contain a unique identifier, so they can be personal data. Our Data Protection & Privacy Policy explains how we use personal data.
How we use cookies
We use two types of cookies on this website:
- Strictly necessary cookies make the website and patient portal work and keep them secure. We set these on every visit, because the website cannot work properly without them.
- Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use the website, so we can improve it. We only set these if you select “Allow Cookies” in our cookie banner.
If you close the cookie banner or do not select “Allow Cookies”, we only use strictly necessary cookies.
Strictly necessary cookies
| Cookie | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | Keeps your session while you use the website, including signing in to the patient portal. | End of your visit |
| form_key | Protects our forms against fraudulent submissions from other websites. | End of your visit |
| mage-cache-sessid | Keeps the information shown on our pages up to date during your visit. | End of your visit |
| last_visited_store | Remembers which of our websites you are using. | End of your visit |
| user_allowed_save_cookie | Remembers that you selected “Allow Cookies”, so we do not ask you again. | 1 year |
“End of your visit” means the cookie is deleted when you close your browser or after a period of inactivity.
Analytics cookies
With your consent, we use Google Analytics, provided by Google, to count visits and see which pages are used, so we can improve our website. These cookies may collect information such as your device type, browser, IP address, the pages you visit and how long you stay.
| Cookie | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Distinguishes one visitor from another. | Up to 2 years |
| _ga_<ID> | Keeps track of your current visit for our Google Analytics property. | Up to 2 years |
| _gid | Distinguishes one visitor from another. | 24 hours |
| _gat | Limits how often data is sent to Google Analytics. | 1 minute |
You can also stop Google Analytics from collecting data on any website by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
Managing your cookie choices
To withdraw your consent to analytics cookies, delete the cookies for this website in your browser settings. Our cookie banner will then ask you again on your next visit. You can also set your browser to block or delete cookies:
If you block strictly necessary cookies, parts of the website, such as the patient portal, will not work.
Contact us
If you have any questions about how we use cookies, contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@homecare-pharmacy.co.uk.