Cookie Policy 25th May 2018

What are Cookies?

Cookies are very small text files that are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. We use cookies to help identify your computer so we can tailor your user experience. You can disable any cookies already stored on your computer, but these may stop our website from functioning properly.

In accordance with the E-Privacy Directive (May 2012), we’re asking you to consent to the way we use cookies. By browsing this website, you consent to allowing cookies to be saved on to your computer’s hard drive.

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.


A few things to note about the cookies we use:

We use cookies to run key processes such as providing you with the advice and information to support your health and social care requirements, and to make our website easier to use. If you choose not to allow the optional cookies listed below, you won't be able to use certain parts of this website.

We will only use social media cookies and the personalisation cookie if you consent to their use.

You can change your settings at any time by clicking on the cookies link that's at the bottom of every page.

If you change your settings, you may want to delete the cookies that were added to your computer before you made the change. You can do this using your browser settings.

We use a cookie to remember your cookie settings. This means that if you delete all your cookies through your browser, you’ll have to update your cookie settings for this website again. You’ll also need to do this if you use a different computer or smartphone, computer profile or browser to the one you usually use.

The following information outlines all of the cookies we use on our website.

Strictly necessary cookies:

These cookies are automatically allowed because the service will not function without them and the site will not allow you navigate the site. They are essential to allow the core features of the site to work.

Strictly necessary cookies allow you to:

  • Log in and out of the site
  • Remember your cookie preferences

Social media cookies:

These cookies allow you to connect with social media, so you can log in to the service using a social media account and share what you have been doing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

Social media cookies allow you to:

  • Log in with a social media account
  • Share and promote your activity within this service on social media

Performance cookies:

These cookies are automatically allowed because the website won’t work properly without them. They collect information in aggregate about how visitors use our site, which allows us to improve its performance over time.

We use third-party service providers to provide certain analytics services to us in connection with the operation of our website, including the collection and tracking of certain data and information regarding the characteristics and activities of visitors to our website. Google Analytics helps us to improve our services by looking at the pages you visit, when & how often you access them and how you initially found and entered our website.

Learn more about the type of information collected by Google Analytics.

These cookies allow us to:

  • help identify unique visitors and/or devices
  • monitor the performance of our site
  • collect information about how people use the site so we can improve it
  • trial new features on a small sample of users

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout or https://policies.google.com/technologies/managing


Cookie details

The following shows the details of the cookies we use:

Cookie Name Cookie Type Source Function
_ga, _gid Performance Google Analytics These cookies are used to distinguish users
_gat Performance Google Analytics These cookies are used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate.
fontSelected, rulerOn, styleSelected, textSizeSelection, turnaccessOn Performance (first party) These cookies are for the basic functionality of the site, such as the accessbility bar - all cookies for the accessibility bar are required to remember your preferences (to the size of the font, colour scheme, etc.) when you move from one page to the next.

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