How we use your information
If you have a mental disorder, Aberdeen City Council has a range of duties under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2003 in relation to the provision of services to you. These duties include making inquiries whereby it is believed there may be deficiencies in your care, treatment or support. This may also include allocating a Designated Mental Health Officer to you after the occurrence of a ‘relevant event’, for example if a short-term detention certificate has been granted or a compulsory treatment order made. To carry out any of these duties it is necessary to gather and record information about you.
This information will be held by us on our case management system.
Joint working and sharing
This service is part of the Aberdeen Health and 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.
We routinely share information about our assessments with the Mental Welfare Commission and NHS. Depending on the case we may request and receive information from Police Scotland, other public, third or private sector organisations, or from family members. This will only be limited information which is relevant to our inquiries and assessments. Reports and applications written by Mental Health Officers may be lodged with the Mental Health Tribunal Service and Scottish Ministers.
While each partner retains separate records, we will work together to support you and this will involve sharing limited, relevant information about you when we are required to do so.
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.
How long we keep your information for
We will keep information about any assessments carried out under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 for ten years from the date that the case file is closed if statutory measures are undertaken.
Your rights
You, or someone legally appointed to do so on your behalf, have rights to your data, including the right to ask for a copy of it. See more information about all the rights you have, and how they work in practice as well as the contact details for the Council’s Data Protection Officer.
You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. 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 about you. Aberdeen City Council has many duties under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 which involve collecting data about the you from interested parties and legal proxies and sharing this information with other professionals and bodies involved in the use of this legislation. e.g. the Mental Welfare Commission, NHS etc.
Wherever the Council processes personal data, we need to make sure we have a legal basis for doing so in data protection law. The Council understands our legal bases for processing personal data to carry out our statutory duties under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 are part of our public task and something we are required to do by law.
It is also likely that the Council will process special categories of personal data. The Council understands that 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.