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Independent Inquiries

Request

 Please provide the following details for each independent inquiry/investigation commissioned by your SHA since 1st January 2006:

1.Subject of the inquiry/investigation

2.Name of the company/organisation that conducted and/or managed the inquiry/investigation

3.Names of the panel members of the inquiry/investigation

4.Name of the Panel Chair

5.Duration of the inquiry/investigation

6.Total cost of the inquiry/investigation

Our response

I refer to your email requesting information in respect of Independent Inquiries.

I can confirm in accordance with S.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) that we do hold most of the information that you have requested.

I will address each of your points in turn:

Please provide the following details for each independent inquiry/investigation commissioned by your SHA since 1st January 2006

  • The attached table shows all of the investigations commissioned since the establishment of NHS East Midlands in July 2006. We are not aware of any that were commissioned by either the Trent or Leicestershire Northamptonshire and Rutland  Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) between January and June 2006.

Subject of the inquiry/investigation

  • We are of the opinion that this information is protected from disclosure by Section 40 (2) of the FOIA.  Section 40 (2) applies to third party personal data and is exempt from disclosure under the FOIA if disclosure would breach any of the data protection principles contained within Part 1 of Schedule One under Section 4 (1) and (2) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).  Such information would not be released under the FOIA unless there is a strong public interest.

  • One of the main differences between the FOIA and the DPA is that any information released under the FOIA is released into the public domain, not just the individual requesting the information and disclosure under the Act must be made with that in mind. As such, any release that identifies an individual through releasing their personal data, even third party personal data, is exempt.

  • All persons whose personal data is processed by NHS East Midlands, regardless of whether they be staff or members of the public, have an intrinsic right to privacy and these rights are protected by virtue of the DPA. Release of the information subject to the exemption is likely to compromise those rights.

  • The Section 40 exemption is an absolute exemption (except in some limited circumstances).  This therefore means that it is not necessary to carry out a public interest test.

  •  It is our view that Section 40 (2) is engaged because the persons concerned are likely to be identified by the disclosure of the information in its entirety. Such a disclosure would be a breach of Principle One of the DPA.

  • I would also point out that we do have a policy to anonymise investigations.  This is explained in our ‘Guidance on Independent Investigation Process which is available on our website at the following link:

http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/EasySiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=5666&type=full&servicetype=Attachment

         We do however publish the on-going status of all our independent investigations and this information is available on our    website at the following link:

http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/EasySiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=35146&type=full&servicetype=Attachment

Name of the company/organisation that conducted and/or managed the inquiry/investigation

  • This information can be found in the pdf attachment

Names of the panel members of the inquiry/investigation

  • The names of panel members are included in the published independent investigation. The ones we have published are all available on our website at the following link:

EM Strategic Health Authority - Published Independent Investigations

  • The names of panel members for on-going investigations are subject to the exemption available to us in Section 22 .  Section 22 refers to the publication of information which it is reasonable to withhold until publication.  We recognise that there is a public interest in providing this information to you in order to be helpful, and to promote accountability and transparency of government. However, in this case, there are strong arguments to support the use of the future publication exemption on the basis that the best use of public resources would be directed to providing this information in a consistent, accurate and comprehensive format.  We feel that early identification of the panel members could prejudice the outcome of the inquiry. 

Name of the Panel Chair

  • See response to question 3. The Panel chair would be mentioned in the report.

Duration of the inquiry/investigation

  • The pdf attachment states the date the independent investigation was commissioned and its current status.

Total cost of the inquiry/investigation

  • The pdf attachment includes the cost of the investigation. Where billing for this is not complete we have included the value of the quote.

I hope that this information is of use.  If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review our decision by writing to:-

Mr Moosa Patel
Director of Corporate Affairs
NHS East Midlands
Octavia House
Interchange Business Park
Bostock's Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG

If at the conclusion of any review you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:-

The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF