Terms and Conditions

Use of this site is subject to the following terms and conditions:

www.dhsspsni.gov.uk is a UK government website managed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, henceforth referred to as "We". In entering our site you the user ("You") are accepting our Terms and Conditions.

www.dhsspsni.gov.uk is maintained for your personal use and viewing. Access and use by you of this site constitutes acceptance by you of these Terms and Conditions which take effect from the date of first use.

The names, images and logos identifying the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Online NI, government organisations, third parties and their information, products and services are proprietary marks of the Crown and/or third parties.

Copying or use of our logos and/or any other third party logos accessed via this website is not permitted without prior approval from the relevant copyright owner.

Requests for permission to use our logo should be directed to:

Please state how and why you wish to use our logo(s). Please include your contact details name, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail.

You do not have to ask permission to link directly to pages hosted on this site. We do not object to you linking directly to the information that is hosted on our site. However, we do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your site. www.dhsspsni.gov.uk pages must load into the user's entire window.

It is our policy to obtain permission to link to other websites. We are not responsible for the content or reliability of the linked websites. Listing should not be taken as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all the time and we have no control over the availability of linked pages.

When you enter www.dhsspsni.gov.uk your computer will be automatically issued with a cookie, in order to collect non-personal user information required for system administration and correct functioning of the website.

Cookies are pieces of data created when you visit a site, and many simply contain a unique, anonymous number which helps a web server to identify your browser and maintain a session with it.

Some website cookies can be stored in a text file in the cookie directory of your hard drive, and these do not expire at the end of your session with the website - these are so-called "persistent" cookies. www.dhsspsni.gov.uk uses a persistent cookie to store a random number on your computer to help us track your visit and help us understand how you use the site so that we can provide you with a better service. www.dhsspsni.gov.uk's persistent cookies do not contain any personal information about you and cannot be used to identify you as a person.

www.dhsspsni.gov.uk also uses non-persistent or session cookies - these are generally not stored on your hard drive and are destroyed when your session ends. www.dhsspsni.gov.uk session cookies do not contain any personal information about you and cannot be used to identify you as a person.

We use JavaScript to aggregate and analyse customer usage patterns on all websites that are part of the nidirect domain. This provides us with data on usability and behaviour. We use this information to make changes to the layout of the website and to the information in it. This does not collect any personal or identifiable information about users.

We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production. It is always wise for you to run an anti-virus program on all material downloaded from the Internet. We cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system which may occur whilst using material derived from this website.

The www.dhsspsni.gov.uk website and material relating to government information, products and services (or to third party information, products and services), is provided "as is", without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

We do not warrant that the functions contained in the material contained in this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy, reliability of the materials. In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of the www.dhsspsni.gov.uk website.

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Northern Ireland. Any dispute arising under these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Northern Ireland.