Our ref: DE00000300930

6 May 2008

Dear Mr Thomas,

Thank you for your email of 15 April to the Department of Health requesting, under the Freedom of Information Act, information a copy of each draft of Matthew Swindells' review of NHS IT. Your email has been passed to me for reply.

You will be aware that on 18 February 2008 Ben Bradshaw, Minister of State for Health Services announced the intention to publish the findings of the informatics review during the Summer of 2008 in the following terms :

The recommendations from the informatics review will be finalised within the context and timeframes set for the NHS Next Stage review being led by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State (Lord Darzi), and expected to publish its final report during summer 2008.

The full statement is available on the Parliamentary website at:

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080218/text/80218w0065.htm#08021987000048

In light of this undertaking, the Deparment considers that your request is covered by Section 22 (1) (A – C) of the FOI Act (information intended for future publication), and that the information you have asked for is therefore exempt from disclosure. In our view, in this case Section 22 covers all drafts prior to publication, on the basis that until a final version is ready for publication it cannot be determined with confidence which parts of earlier drafts will or will not be excluded from the published version.

Our view that Section 22 applies to your request is also based on the judgement that the public interest will be better served by general publication, in due course, of information describing the outcome of the review when it is complete than by disclosure now, to a single individual, of incomplete and therefore potentially misleading information. Further, not disclosing rather than disclosing the information at this time is reasonable because a firm timeframe for publication of information about the completed review has been announced, and because details of arrangements for publication have yet to be determined by Ministers.

If you have any queries about this response, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

I hope this reply is helpful. If you are unhappy with the way the Department of Health has handled your request you may ask for an internal review. You should write to the Section Head of the Freedom of Information group at the Department of Health, quoting the reference number above:

Freedom of Information Unit

Department of Health

Room 334b

Skipton House

80 London Road

SE1 6LH

Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department. The ICO can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

William Scott

Customer Service Centre

Department of Health