How we use your information
If you are referred to us
Our Integrated Drug Service receive referrals about people who may be in need of our services from a range of sources. We receive referrals from professionals, such as GPs, Nurses or Hospitals, from relatives or neighbours of the person being referred, or from the person themselves.
Normally, before referrals come to the Council for assessment, they will be triaged by a Multi-Disciplinary Team, which the Council is part of. This Multi-Disciplinary Team includes Health professionals, for example Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Support Workers from Alcohol & Drugs Action, and a Mental Health Officer and Social Worker who works for the Council. This is because we need a range of professional expertise to decide what the best next steps are for you.
If the Multi-Disciplinary Team decides that the Integrated Drug Service is best placed to support you, we’ll open a case file your you, which we hold electronically, and on our case management system.
We receive information from partners which is added to our records. In some cases, information will be added to our records using automated processing, to speed up the time it takes to deal with simple processes. Decisions about you are not made using automated decision-making.
If you are assessed by us
As part of the assessment process we’ll ask you for information about yourself in order to understand what your needs are. As part of the process we may speak to, and ask for information about you from other organisations, for example NHS or voluntary organisations who are or have been involved in your care. During the assessment process we will normally also carry out a risk assessment and a financial assessment. Your assessment itself and information we have used as part of the assessment process will be held on your care file. The Council is also part of a national initiative (DAISy) led by Public Health Scotland in relation to the provision of drug and alcohol support services, this involves us capturing data about you at the assessment and sharing it with Public Health Scotland.
You’ll always be offered a copy of your Assessment and Care/Support Plan, and it will be up to you whether or not you want to keep one.
After you’ve been assessed
Once you have a Care/Support Plan in place, this will also be kept in your case file. You’ll always be offered a copy of your Assessment and Care Plan, and it will be up to you whether you want to keep one.
Depending on what your support needs you may receive a support service directly from us, or we may to commission a service from an external provider. If we need to commission a service from an external provider we will discuss your needs and share relevant information with Care/Support Providers. We do this to make sure that we match you with a provider which is able to meet your needs.
Once we have identified a provider who can provide the service you need, we will share your Assessment and Care/Support Plan with them because this is necessary so that they can understand your support needs and provide the support you require.
As you receive support, either from a provider or from the Council, we’ll continue to keep records in your case file. We do this to make sure that you are getting the care and support you require and so we can evidence that we’ve fulfilled our duties to you.
Reviewing your Support Plan
We’ll review your Support Plan with you on a regular basis. The first review will happen 6 weeks after it has been put in place, the second at 6 months. After that, we’ll review your Support Plan with you on an annual basis. We’ll also review your Support Plan with you if your care needs change at any time.
The Council may also capture information at review stage about you as part of a national initiative (DAISy) led by Public Health Scotland in relation to the provision of drug and alcohol support services and share it with Public Health Scotland.
If your Support Plan is updated because your needs have changed, you will receive a copy of your new Support Plan, and we will share it with your Care Provider.
If you do not want to be assessed by us
If you don’t want to have your care and/or support needs assessed by us, we will still keep a record of your referral and your decision not to have an assessment. This is because we have a statutory duty to provide mental health care and support services, so we need to keep a record which evidences we’ve carried out our statutory duty, even if you decide you do not want an Assessment.
Joint working and sharing
The Integrated Drug Service is part of the Aberdeen Health & Social Care Partnership. The Partnership is made up of health and social care teams from the NHS and from Aberdeen City Council working together to deliver person centred care which is integrated from your point of view.
In practice, the Integrated Drug Service is run jointly by the NHS and Aberdeen City Council, who work in partnership, and whilst each partner retains separate records for you, we will work together to support you and this will involve sharing limited, relevant information about you required to do so.
As outlined above the Council also participate in a national national initiative (DAISy) led by Public Health Scotland in relation to the provision of drug and alcohol support services which involves sharing information about individuals who are using this service with Public Health Scotland. The Council has a Data Sharing Agreement in place with Public Health Scotland for this sharing and more information about DAISy can be provided to you by your Key Worker. As part of our integrated working arrangements the Council also shares limited relevant information with the Scottish Government and NHS for the purposes of planning, delivering and monitoring services, and to inform the strategic design of integrated services.
Sometimes, during the process of supporting you, you and your Social Worker may decide that it would be beneficial to refer or support you to access other Council services (for example, Housing) or outside organisations for further help or support. To do this on your behalf will normally mean the Social Worker sharing some information about you with that service or organisation. If this is the case, this will always be discussed between you and your Social Worker, on a case by case basis, and be done with your agreement.
We will treat your case file confidentially, though you should you should also be aware that there are some limited circumstances where information from your case file may be shared, particularly to prevent risk of harm to you or others.
How long we’ll keep your information for
Unless you have any other interaction with us, we will keep your case file for five years, plus the current year, from the date that you no longer have identified care needs that we are responsible for, or from the date that you decide you no longer want to receive care services. If you decide you do not want to have a Care Needs Assessment, we’ll keep your information for five years from our last contact with you.
Your Rights
You have rights to your data, including the right to ask for a copy of it. More information on all the right you have, and how they work in practice, is available on the Council’s website at: www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/your-data. You can contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer by email DataProtectionOfficer@aberdeencity.gov.uk or in writing at: Legal and Democratic Services, Business Hub 6, Level 1 South, Marischal College, Aberdeen, AB10 1AB.
You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, (www.ico org.uk). They are the body responsible for making sure organisations like the Council handle your data lawfully.
Our legal basis
Aberdeen City Council is the Data Controller for this information. The Council has a statutory duty under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to carry out needs assessments for people we think may care services, and we have a general duty to promote social welfare by providing advice, guidance, and assistance.
This means that we understand our legal basis for processing personal information required provide this service as Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation because these activities are both part of our public task. This will sometimes involve passing information about you to providers who we commission care and support services form to meet your needs. We remain the Data Controller for this information and we make sure that they process your data appropriately through our contractual arrangements with them.
As part of the Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership, we must work with the NHS to provide services which are integrated from the point of view of our service users under the Public Sector (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014.
We also have duties under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to co-operate with Health and Voluntary organisations where they have a relevant interest, power or duty in supporting your mental health needs. This will only ever be limited, relevant information.
This means that we understand our legal basis for disclosing personal information to the NHS necessary to meet our duties under the Public Sector (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 and to health and voluntary organisations to meet our duties under the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 as 6(1)(c) and Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation because these activities are both part of our public task, and things which we are required to do by law.
Because we understand that helping and supporting you to access other appropriate services is also part of our public task, we understand our legal basis for this as Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation.
In all of the above cases, the Council is also likely to process special categories of personal data. The Council understands our legal basis for doing so as Article 9(2)(h) of the General Data Protection Regulation, because processing is necessary for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.