Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space Privacy Notice

What personal information is being processed and what for

Your information will be used by an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) to certify that you are receiving mental health crisis treatment. This evidence can be used by a debt advice provider to initiate a mental health crisis breathing space (MHCBS) on your behalf.

In order to process this information, the  AMHP will need to:

1. Ask for your consent to share personal information
2. Certify that you are receiving mental health crisis treatment
3. Identify a nominated point of contact
4. Submit the evidence form at www.maps.uk/mhcbs

Consent to share information

If you are receiving mental health crisis treatment you may be struggling with problem debt. With your permission, we can complete a form to be sent to a debt adviser on your behalf to ask for a mental health crisis breathing space for you. Having a breathing space should stop you being contacted by someone you owe money to or being charged fees and interest on your debts while you are receiving crisis treatment. The breathing space will last for 30 days after your crisis treatment ends.

A debt adviser will share the information we provide in the form with other organisations, including the breathing space scheme administrator, your creditors and their agents. This needs to happen for them to establish your financial situation and make sure your creditors know you are protected by the scheme. Your creditors will be notified that you are in a mental health crisis breathing space, but they will not be given any specific information about your condition or your treatment. The debt adviser will also be able to contact you later, to offer you help to manage your debts. If you happy for us to share your details with a debt adviser you can see whether you are eligible for a mental health crisis breathing space.

If you want to go ahead, but are worried that your creditors may be violent, we can ask the debt adviser not to share your address with your creditors. We will ask you if you want the debt adviser to consider this.

Mental Health Crisis Treatment

For these purposes, “receiving mental health crisis treatment” means that you are experiencing one or more of the following: 

• you been detained in hospital for assessment or treatment (including  under part 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983); 
• you been removed to a place of safety by a police constable; or 
• you are receiving any other crisis, emergency or acute care or treatment in hospital or in the community from a specialist mental health service in relation to a mental disorder of a serious nature. 

Nominated Point of Contact

The  AMHP will also need to identify for you a nominated person, including their email address and telephone number. 

A nominated person is someone who will have ongoing involvement in your mental health crisis treatment and can be:

• The  AMHP making the referral or another  AMHP
• a care co-ordinator
• or a mental health nurse

No-one else’s details can be provided involved in your care.

If a care co-ordinator has been appointed under the Care Programme Approach, then they should be the nominated point of contact.

The personal information given to the Breathing Space scheme, with your consent will include:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Address

Other information that can be usefully shared includes your contact number or email address so that the debt advise agency can contact you easily

You do not need to discuss with the AMHP any details about your debt. However, it may be advantageous to you to include as much information as you can on your debts so that the debt advice provider can more easily check your debts. This is a matter entirely for you to decide.

Why we are allowed to use your information

Breathing space is a debt respite scheme. It provides protections for people who are resident in England and Wales who are in problem debt. The protections include pausing enforcement action and contact from creditors and freezing interest and charges on their debts. A standard breathing space is available to anyone in problem debt who accesses debt advice and meets the eligibility criteria and conditions. 

It may be very difficult to engage with debt advice while receiving mental health crisis treatment, but problem debt and mental health problems are often linked. The Government has developed an alternative route to access the protections for people receiving mental health crisis treatment, so that they do not have to access debt advice first. 

The Information described above will allow us to make a referral to the Breathing Space scheme on your behalf. This will be done only with your consent. 

If you lack the capacity to make a decision to enter into the Breathing Space scheme then a Best Interest Decision under S4 of the Mental Capacity Act will be carried out, to determine if it is in your best interests to be referred to the scheme.

The legal basis for using your data

GDPR condition relied upon for processing personal data:

• Article 6.1(e) - Exercise of official authority - Mental Health Act 1983

GDPR conditions relied upon for processing special category data:

• Article 9.2(a) explicit consent for submitting the information as described above• Article 9.2(h) provision of health and social care

Who we will share your information with

This information will be shared with a debt advice agency who in turn will share the information with other organisations, including the breathing space scheme administrator, your creditors and their agents. This will help the debt advice agency to establish your financial situation and make sure your creditors know you are protected by the scheme. Your creditors will be notified that you are in a mental health crisis breathing space, but they will not be given any specific information about your condition or your treatment. The debt adviser will also be able to contact you later, to offer you help to manage your debts.

Where we get your information from

 The information will come from you. 

How long we will keep your personal information

Your records will be only be held as long as necessary and in line with the Council’s retention guidelines which can be found in our Information Asset Register.

How your information is stored

The information will be kept on the Council’s adult social care electronic service user system, called Liquid Logic. The system is only used by those members of staff who need it and access is strictly controlled by two factor authentication.

What happens if you don’t provide us with your information

You are not obliged to share this information, but you will then not benefit from the Breathing Space debt moratorium which would last for the duration of your mental health crisis plus 30 days.

Will your information be used to make automated decisions

 No

Your rights

You have a number of rights regarding your personal data, including withdrawing your consent where we have asked for it.  You can also ask for a copy of the information we hold about you and ask us to correct anything that is wrong. For detailed information about your rights please see our privacy notice at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk

Page last reviewed: 20 October 2021