Dear FOI, Essexccgs,

Why do the Essex CCG's say patient choice is available for secondary care mental health, (for example on the CCG's websites), when the Essex CCGs have not allowed any patients to access the NHS provider of their choice from April 2014 to 29-04-2021?

The above was confirmed in a previous FOI request response from the Essex CCG's on 29th April 2021 and is pasted below.

“Could I please have separate figures for all the Essex CCG showing how many patients have been able to access choice in secondary care mental health provider beyond Eput or their forerunner organizations/your service provider partners, between April 2014 to present?

Following checks in the CCGs’ records, there is no information held in response to your query.
Hence, it is a nil”.

Example of a ccg saying choice is available
https://midessexccg.nhs.uk/livewell/pati...
"If your GP needs to refer you for a physical or mental health condition, in most cases, you have a legal right to choose which hospital or service you go to."

What the ccg's are claiming on their website regarding choice is not happening in practice regarding mental health.
So why do the CCG's state this untrue information?
This is VERY misleading to your patients.

yours faithfully
iain

Dear NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group's handling of my FOI request 'Essex CCG's say patient choice is available for secondary care mental health, however no patients have been able to access the NHS provider of their choice from April 2014 to 29-04-2021?'.

Had no acknowledgment or update at all.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

i gordon

Dear NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group's handling of my FOI request 'Essex CCG's say patient choice is available for secondary care mental health, however no patients have been able to access the NHS provider of their choice from April 2014 to 29-04-2021?'.

The CCG own NHS website states

"If your GP needs to refer you for a physical or mental health condition, in most cases you have a legal right to choose which hospital or service you go to."
https://midessexccg.nhs.uk/livewell/pati...

In the last ccg response, the Mid Essex ccg has totally contradicted the statement above (on the ccg website) with regards to allowing choice in mental health as it says "in most cases".
As previously the CCG has confirmed it has not allowed any of its patients their Legal Right to choose the mental health service provider of their choice at least between April 2014 and April 2021 and probably to present.

As the CCG will only allow choice in mental health service provider if the patient can prove very rare clinical exceptionality to a ccg panel.
A previous CCG FOI request has shown just how rare clinical exceptionality is with regards to choice in mental health as, 0, Zero, Nil patients of the CCG have shown clinical exceptionality between April 2014 and April 2021, (as I have already stated above).

Can the CCG please correct the very misleading and untrue statements it makes on its website regarding mental health and allowing its patients their Legal Right in most cases to choose their service provider?

So the fact

The CCG has not and does not allow its patients their legal right to choose their mental health service provider unless the very high hurdle of patient clinical exceptionality can be proven.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

iain gordon

Dear NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group's handling of my FOI request 'Essex CCG's say patient choice is available for secondary care mental health, however, no patients have been able to access the NHS provider of their choice from April 2014 to 29-04-2021?'.

As the Essex CCG including mid Essex are using deception regarding choice in mental health.
The CCG website says choice of provider is normally available,
Deception because in practice Choice mental health is not available unless very rare and time-consuming exceptionality is shown. Why i guess to save money, but its not following the law.

Can we please stop the deception and correct the grand statements the CCG website make as it not true and never has been from your own data.
As 0, Nil, No, Zero patients of the Essex CCG have been able to choose provider from April 2014 to 2021 when you provided the data.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

iain gordon

Dear NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group's handling of my FOI request 'Essex CCG's say patient choice is available for secondary care mental health, as, no patients have been able to access the NHS provider of their choice from April 2014 to 29-04-2021?

You say in the ccg response of 14/03/2022
"However, in light of your request, we can confirm that the CCG has now removed the patient leaflet that appeared to have caused the confusion – from its website."

I haven't a clue what patient leaflet the ccg is referring to???
, as I have not referred to one of your leaflets in my correspondence.
I have referred previously to NHS England guidance on the law but the CCG ignores the law with regard to allowing people choice in mental health as the CCG has confirmed this as stated above and again below

But the ccg website still has false very misleading information which I have referred to on many occasions.
https://www.midessexccg.nhs.uk/livewell/...
As the ccg says
"If your GP needs to refer you for a physical or mental health condition, in most cases you have a legal right to choose"

You can not choose a provider with regards to mental health as your own data confirms no one has been able to choose a provider since April 2014 (when it became a legal right by statute law) to at least 29-04-2021.

Can we therefore please have this false information about choice in mental health in most cases removed from the ccg website?
And not some reference to a leaflet I have not even read, I think the ccg is trying to confuse, delay and trick me which the ccg has on many occasions before.
Eg the CCG did not know the only service it commissioned was eput NHS and as took the ccg 6 months to tell me that simple information.
I have contacted a number of none essex ccg and they replied almost instantaneously with what services they commission.

A cgg that does not know what it commissions I believe is totally incompetent and I hope Amanda Pritchard agrees.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...

Yours faithfully,

iain gordon