Conflicts of Interest and Director Appointments

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS England,

Dear NHS Commissioning Board,

Can you provide a list/copy of the conflict of interest
declarations for all directors.

Can you provide a listing of any disciplinary
records or allegations in relation to each individual director of the NHS CB?

Are any NHS Commissioning Board Directors subject to any investigation by the General Medical Council, NMC or any other regulatory body in the UK or abroad ?

Yours faithfully,

emily Jackson

Contactus England (HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INFORMATION CENTRE), NHS England

Thank you for contacting NHS England.

 

Your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which we received on 21
September 2013 has been allocated a reference number of SDR 142012. 
Please quote this reference in any further communication regarding this
matter.

 

Your FOI request has been passed to the Case Management Team and a Case
Officer will acknowledge your request within two working days.  We will
respond to your FOI request within 20 working days in line with the FOI
Act 2000.

 

If you require any further information or wish to speak to someone about
your request, please contact NHS England at the email address and
telephone number shown below.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT

0300 3 11 22 33

[email address]

www.england.nhs.uk

 

 

 

 

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FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

Our reference: SDR-142012: Acknowledgement

 

Dear Ms Jackson,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, dated 21
September 2013. Please be assured that your request is being dealt with
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
email [1][email address] and the message will be forwarded
appropriately. Remember to quote the above reference number in any future
communications.

 

Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Chloe Wilkins
Freedom of Information

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FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

Our reference: SDR-142020: Acknowledgement

 

Dear Ms Jackson,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, dated 21
September 2013. Please be assured that your request is being dealt with
under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
email [1][email address] and the message will be forwarded
appropriately. Remember to quote the above reference number in any future
communications.

 

Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Chloe Wilkins
Freedom of Information

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1. mailto:[email address]

FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

Dear Ms Jackson

 

Re:      Freedom of Information request (Our Ref: SDR – 142012)

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 21 September
2013.

 

Your exact request was,

 

“Can you provide a list/copy of the conflict of interest declarations for
all directors.

Can you provide a listing of any disciplinary records or allegations in
relation to each individual director of the NHS CB?

Are any NHS Commissioning Board Directors subject to any investigation by
the General Medical Council, NMC or any other regulatory body in the UK or
abroad ?”

 

I can confirm that NHS England may hold information relevant to your
request.  However, to comply with your request as it is currently framed
would exceed the cost limit as set out in Section 12(1) of the FOI Act. 
Section 12(1) states that a public authority can refuse a request if
complying with it would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 (which
represents 18 working hours).  This represents the estimated cost of one
person spending this time in determining whether the information is held,
and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. 

 

It may help if I explain that the responsibility for NHS England (formerly
known as the NHS Commissioning Board) has approximately 300 directors
across multiple teams and directorates. Therefore, to gather the
information you have requested would involve contacting each of those
members of staff, and/or their HR department. As such, we estimate that
this would take significantly longer than 18 hours to collate this
information.

 

Please be assured that we are keen to assist and if you were to refine
your request for information within more specific margins, for example,
specifically national directors, then we may be able to continue
processing your request.  However, I cannot guarantee that Section 12 or
any other exemptions will not apply to any information requested.

 

With regard to your first question specifically, you may find it useful to
note that a list of Board members declarations of interest can be found on
the NHS England website at the following web link:
[1]http://www.england.nhs.uk/about/reg-inte... .

 

I hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review by writing to us, within two
months of the date of this letter, to:

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Email: [2][email address]

 

Please quote the reference number SDR-142012 in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

K9 5AF

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: [3][email address].uk  

Website: www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please do not reply to this email. It has been sent from a central mailbox
and incoming messages will not be received.     

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Chloe Wilkins

Freedom of Information

 

 

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FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

9 Attachments

Dear Ms Jackson,

 

Re:      Freedom of Information request (Our Ref: SDR – 142020)

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 21 September
2013.

 

Your exact request was,

 

“In the West Yorkshire Team who is the medical Director and who is the
Deputy medical director?

 

What is the structure of the Medical Directorate?

 

How many clinical and non-clinical staff are employed within this
directorate?

 

What is the job description of each of these public sector employees?

 

What is the salary of each of these employees?

 

Are any of these employees receiving or been offered bonus payments/
golden handshakes/ excellence awards or any other additional remuneration?

 

If so, on what criteria is performance or achievement being assessed?

 

With reference to the medical director and if present the deputy medical
director, when were they appointed?

what is the gender and ethnicity of each person in these posts?

Are any of these personnel subject to investigation or complaint by any
regulatory body such as the GMC, the NMC or the Coroner's Court ?

where the posts advertised and for how long ?

 

What if any equality act awareness or knowledge is required to be
appointed into the post of medical director or deputy medical director?

 

Have the holders of posts of medical director / deputy medical director
disclosed any potential conflicts of interest?

where will they be recorded and how are they accessed?

 

In providing this information can you list the source of information for
each answer or response, in the interest of transparency and accuracy?”

 

NHS England holds information relevant to your request and this is
disclosed below. For your convenience I have responded to each of your
questions in turn.

 

 1. In the West Yorkshire Team who is the medical Director and who is the
Deputy medical director?

In the West Yorkshire Area Team, Dr Damian Riley is Medical Director and

Dr Yasmin Khan is Deputy Medical Director (Assistant Director
Revalidation).

 

 2. What is the structure of the WY Medical Directorate?

Please find this information within the attached PDF document titled “West
Yorkshire Medical Directorate Organisation Chart”. Please note, that the
names of staff members who are below Very Senior Manager (VSM) level, and
are not in public facing roles, have been redacted under section 40(2) of
the FOI Act which provides for the protection of personal information. 
Section 40 prohibits a public body from disclosing personally identifiable
information as doing so would contravene data protection principles.
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the
public interest test when considering disclosure of information.

 

 3. How many clinical and non-clinical staff are employed within this
directorate?

No member of staff is actively undertaking clinical duties.  However, the
team does contain two doctors, one pharmacist and two nurses.

 

 4. What is the job description of each of these public sector employees?

Please find attached as PDF documents the following job descriptions:

 

o “1. Assistant Director - Clinical Strategy”
o “2. Programme Manager”
o “3. Programme Manager – Revalidation”
o “4. Project Officer”
o “5. Senior Administrative Support”
o “6. Appraisal Administrator”
o “7. Administration Assistant”
o “Job Description - Deputy Medical Director”

 

 5. What is the salary of each of these employees?

Information regarding exact staff pay is exempt under section 40(2) of the
FOI Act, which provides for the protection of personal information. 
Section 40 prohibits a public body from disclosing personally identifiable
information as doing so would contravene data protection principles.
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the
public interest test when considering disclosure of information. However,
the attached PDF document titled “West Yorkshire Medical Directorate
Organisation Chart” indicates the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band for
each post in the West Yorkshire Area Team. AfC pay scales are available on
the NHS jobs website, and we will therefore under Section 21 of the FOI
Act (information accessible to the applicant by other means) refer you to
the published source.  This information can be found at the following web
link:
[1]http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/working-in-...

 

 6. Are any of these employees receiving or been offered bonus
payments/golden handshakes/excellence awards or any other additional
remuneration?

There are currently arrangements in place for ‘on-call payments’ with two
members of staff. NHS England holds no further information on additional
remuneration payments for other staff. Details of on-call payments can be
found in the Agenda for Change terms and conditions handbook, which can be
found at the following web link:
[2]http://www.nhsemployers.org/SiteCollecti...

 

 7. If so, on what criteria is performance or achievement being assessed?

Details of on-call payment arrangements can be found in the Agenda for
Change terms and conditions handbook, which can be found at the following
web link:
[3]http://www.nhsemployers.org/SiteCollecti...

 

 8. With reference to the Medical Director and if present the Deputy
Medical Director, when were they appointed? 

Dr Damian Riley was appointed to the NHS England post of Medical Director
in October 2012. Dr Yasmin Khan was appointed to the NHS England post of
Deputy Medical Director in April 2013.

 

 9. What is the gender ethnicity of each person in these posts?

This information is exempt under section 40(2) (personal information) of
the FOI Act, as the information constitutes third party data. Section
40(2) provides that personal data about third parties is exempt
information if one of the conditions set out in section 40(3) is
satisfied. Under the FOI Act disclosure of this information would breach
the fair processing principle contained in the Data Protection Act (DPA),
where it would be unfair to that person/is confidential. Section 40(2) is
an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the public interest
test when considering disclosure of information.

 

Furthermore, gender and ethnicity information is collected for the
purposes of equality and diversity monitoring; however, this information
is collected on a confidential basis. As such, we consider this
information to also be exempt under Section 41 of the FOI Act, which
provides for the protection of information provided in confidence. Section
41 prohibits a public body from disclosing information obtained from any
other person if the disclosure of this information to the public would
constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. 

 

10. Are any of these personnel subject to investigation or complaint by
any regulatory body such as the GMC, the NMC or the Coroner’s Court?

This information is exempt under Section 32 (2) of the FOI Act. Section
32(2) states that,

 

…Information held by a public authority is exempt information if it is
held only by virtue of being contained in—

 

(a)any document placed in the custody of a person conducting an inquiry or
arbitration, for the purposes of the inquiry or arbitration, or

 

(b)any document created by a person conducting an inquiry or arbitration,
for the purposes of the inquiry or arbitration.

 

Section 32(2) is an absolute exemption therefore we are not required to
assess the public interest test in applying this exemption.

 

11. Where were the posts advertised and for how long?

The post of Assistant Director Revalidation was advertised through NHS
Jobs as part of the restructure.  NHS England vacancies have a standard
advert time of 14 days ‘live’. The position of Deputy Medical Director was
advertised through internal procedures for those who were at risk due to
re-organisation and previously undertaking Deputy Medical Director roles
in Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in West Yorkshire.

 

Medical Directors at risk were invited to apply for the Medical Director
role.

 

12. What, if any Equality Act awareness or knowledge is required to be
appointed into the post of Medical Director or Deputy Medical
Director?

Neither position specifies any equality qualifications as a prerequisite.
However, both Dr Riley and Dr Khan have undertaken Equality and Diversity
training whilst in post.                                           

 

13. Have the holders of posts of Medical Director /Deputy Medical Director
disclosed any potential conflicts of interest?

Yes.

 

14. Where will they be recorded and how are they accessed?

All conflicts of interest are recorded in the minutes of relevant
meetings. Please find below a table of these meetings, the dates on which
they were held and details of the conflict recorded. Please note that the
code ‘GP04’ is an anonymisation of the name of a medical practitioner.

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Name of Meeting |Date of Meeting |Declarations of interest |
| | |noted |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |15^th May 2013 |YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |19^th June 2013 |YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Management Team Meeting|9^th July 2013 |DR noted conflict of |
| | |interest with regard to a  |
| | |GP practice |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |17^th July 2013 |YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |21^st August 2013 |YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |18^th September 2013|YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
|-----------------------+--------------------+---------------------------|
|Practitioner Screening |2^nd October 2013 |YK noted conflict of |
|Group | |interest to GP04 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

In providing this information can you list the source of information for
each answer or response, in the interest of transparency and accuracy?

All answers to the above questions were provided by the regional Human
Resources department.

 

I hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review by writing to us, within two
months of the date of this letter, to:

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Email: [4][email address]

 

Please quote the reference number SDR-142020 in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

K9 5AF

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: [5][email address].uk  

Website: www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please do not reply to this email. It has been sent from a central mailbox
and incoming messages will not be received.     

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Chloe Wilkins

Freedom of Information

 

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References

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1. http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/working-in-...
2. http://www.nhsemployers.org/SiteCollecti...
3. http://www.nhsemployers.org/SiteCollecti...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. mailto:[email address]