Request
Dear Sir or Madam
I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Please can you provide me with the names and contact details (telephone numbers and email addresses)of all of the members of each clinical Commissioning Group within East Midlands SHA. Would you include all clinical, managerial and director contacts.
In addition to this I understand that each clinical commissioning group has submitted to the SHA a minimum of 3 services for implementation of Extending Patient Choice of Any Qualified Provider.
For each Clinical commissioning group in the East Midlands SHA would you provide the 3 services(or more) that they have identified for implementation by September 2012
Our Response
I refer to your email requesting information in respect of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
I can confirm in accordance with S.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) that we do hold the information that you have requested.
Attached for your information is a pdf attachment detailing the CCG contact information that you have requested.
However, having discussed your request with colleagues, I am advised that the Any Qualified Provider (AQP) data you have requested has already been submitted, by each PCT Cluster, to the Department of Health, via the SHA. The Department has subsequently confirmed that it intends to publish a final version of the AQP services in early December, once it has been validated for accuracy and completeness.
We are therefore of the opinion that this information is exempt from release at the current time under Section 22 of the FOIA, which states that information can be exempt from release if “the information is held by the public authority with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date”.
In applying this exemption, we have considered the necessary public interest test.
We recognise that there is a public interest in making information available to the public about what services NHS organisations provide and how they intend to provide those services so that the health service can be held accountable for this spending. We also recognise that there is a public interest in making information available about the work of local CCGs and how they will impact on public health.
However, given the current interest in the development of the NHS as proposed by the Government’s national NHS reforms, we also believe it is in the public interest to ensure that members of the public and other stakeholders have access to accurate and complete information about the local implementation and organisation of these services.
We believe that releasing un-validated information which has been submitted to the Department of Health and which is still being checked for completeness would cause confusion to the public in regard to what local public services for implementation of Extending Patient Choice of AQPs are likely to be.
We are also of the opinion that it is in the public interest for the data to be finalised before it is released, so that it is clear which services will be available and where.
I hope that you find this helpful. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of this response you may contact the Information Commissioner to ask him to review our decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
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
