In-patient mental health services - CAMHS

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS

I am e-mailing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you have any questions or need clarification to complete my request, I would be grateful if you could contact me prior to the deadline of 20 working days from receiving my request.

I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please could you answer the following:

+How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient services?
+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services if possible?)
+How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent to hospitals outside their area of residence?
+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)? (Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?
+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young patients receiving mental health treatment?

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm via e-mail that you have received this request.

Yours faithfully,
Georgia Coan - BBC News
07720969018

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Georgia Coan,

 

 

Thank you for your communication dated 13 August 2019.

 

NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. As such, please be assured that your
request is being dealt with under the terms of the FOI Act and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

For further information regarding the FOI Act, please refer to the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website. For further information
regarding NHS England and the information it publishes please visit our
website here.

 

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

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [2][NHS England request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [3][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and High quality care for all, now and for future generations’

 

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Georgia Coan,

 

Thank you for your correspondence dated 13 August 2019.

 

Your correspondence read:-

           

“I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please
could you answer the following:

 

+How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient
services?

+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS

+patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services
if possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent
to hospitals outside their area of residence?

+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?
(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS
feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young
patients receiving mental health treatment?”

 

NHS England is not, at this stage, able to proceed with your enquiry under
the (FOI) Act, as your request is unclear.

 

NHS England commissions specialised mental health beds from both NHS and
private providers. We are only able to provide data relating to those
services. As such, we would be grateful if you could clarify:

 

o Do you wish to know the number of commissioned specialised mental
health service beds for CAMHS patients and adults from all providers
(i.e. NHS and private providers)?
o NHS providers only?
o Or something else?

 

We would also be grateful if you could specify a defined timeframe for
your request. For example, we can provide you with the commissioned bed
numbers as of July 2019 for CAMHS.

 

As set out at Section 1(3) of the FOI Act, when further information is
required in order to identify and locate the information requested, and
the applicant has been informed, no further action is required until the
additional information has been received.

 

It may also be helpful if we note that we consider it likely that NHS
England does not hold any information with regards to waiting times for
referral to CAMHS in-patient services. This information may however be
held by individual Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) As such, you may
wish to redirect your enquiry to individual CCGs. You can find CCG contact
information on the NHS website at the following web link:

 

o [1]http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pag...

 

Please send any clarified request to [2][NHS England request email].

 

Once received, NHS England will write to acknowledge receipt of your
request and to provide you with a reference number. Please note that the
20 working day timeframe for complying with an FOI request does not
commence until the above information is provided.

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [3][NHS England request email].

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Patients and Information Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [NHS England request email]

show quoted sections

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private beds.

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st 2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into an excel spreadsheet please?

Yours sincerely,

Poppy Damon

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon,

 

Thank you for your communication dated 9 September 2019.

 

NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. As such, please be assured that your
request is being dealt with under the terms of the FOI Act and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

For further information regarding the FOI Act, please refer to the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website. For further information
regarding NHS England and the information it publishes please visit our
website here.

 

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

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [2][NHS England request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [3][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and High quality care for all, now and for future generations’

show quoted sections

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

NHS providers only please but if you have numbers of patients transferred to private hospitals, this would also be helpful.

Yours sincerely,

Poppy Damon and Georgia Coan

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon and Georgia Coan,

 

 

Thank you for your communication dated 24 September 2019.

 

NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. As such, please be assured that your
request is being dealt with under the terms of the FOI Act and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

For further information regarding the FOI Act, please refer to the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website. For further information
regarding NHS England and the information it publishes please visit our
website here.

 

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

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows: PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [2][NHS England request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [3][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and High quality care for all, now and for future generations’

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

Could you send a reference number for this request please?

Also, due the clarification, can you confirm if this has gone back to a 20 day deadline?

Yours sincerely,

Georgia Coan + Poppy Damon

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon,

 

NHS England has received several emails regarding your Freedom of
Information (FOI) request reference FOI-060172.

 

It may help if we confirm that this request relates to the following
question;

 

Original Request:

 

“I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please 
could you answer the following:

 

   +How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS
in-patient  services?

 

+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS

 

+patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services 
if possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent 
to hospitals outside their area of residence?

 

+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?

(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

 

+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS 
feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young 
patients receiving mental health treatment?

 

Follow Up Request:

 

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private
beds.

 

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st
2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into
an excel spreadsheet please?

 

NHS England is currently processing your request, with the specific follow
up questions and endeavours to respond to all FOI requests as promptly as
possible, and in any event, within 20 working days of receipt. As per our
acknowledgement email, NHS England received your request on 9 September
2019, and as such, expects to respond on or before 7 October 2019.

 

We hope that this information is helpful.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [1][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations’

 

 

From: FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24)
Sent: 11 September 2019 09:24
To: 'Poppy Damon' <[FOI #597009 email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information Request Acknowledgement (Our Ref:
FOI-060172)

 

Dear Poppy Damon,

 

Thank you for your communication dated 9 September 2019.

 

NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. As such, please be assured that your
request is being dealt with under the terms of the FOI Act and will be
answered within twenty working days.

 

For further information regarding the FOI Act, please refer to the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website. For further information
regarding NHS England and the information it publishes please visit our
website here.

 

If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
please email [2][NHS England request email] and the message will be
forwarded appropriately. Please remember to quote the above reference
number in any future communications.

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [3][NHS England request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [4][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and High quality care for all, now and for future generations’

show quoted sections

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

Yes, that is the correct request.

Yours sincerely,

Poppy Damon

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon,

 

We are writing with regard to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request
dated 9 September 2019.

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your request.
NHS England is not in a position to respond to your request at this time.
We are still in the process of assessing your request and will provide you
with a full response as soon as possible.

 

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please be aware that
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

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: [1][email address]  

Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows: PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [3][NHS England request email].

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [4][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations’

show quoted sections

Dear NHS England,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS England's handling of my FOI request 'In-patient mental health services - CAMHS'.

This request is long overdue and we were not given the reason for this.

Yours faithfully,

Poppy Damon

JOHNSON, Nathan (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

1 Attachment

  • Attachment

    NHS England correspondence.html

    9K Download

Dear Poppy Damon,

Thank you for your email dated 8 October 2019.

Please see the attached response to your FOI request, originally issued on 9 September 2019.

If you still wish to proceed with an internal review, please confirm.

We hope this information has helped.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information
Corporate Communications Team
Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [NHS England request email]

‘Health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations’

show quoted sections

Dear NHS England,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS England's handling of my FOI request 'In-patient mental health services - CAMHS'.

You have declined to answer to the FOI due to the need for clarification. However, the clarification you mentioned was answered in a previous message sent from the account. Please see below:

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private beds.

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st 2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into an excel spreadsheet please?

Yours sincerely,

Poppy Damon

This was dated on the 9th.

If you could look into this, it would be appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Poppy Damon and Georgia Coan

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon and Georgia Coan,

Thank you for your email dated 10 October 2019.

Your original correspondence dated 13 August 2019, which we declined to answer due to the need for clarification, was assigned the FOI reference number FOI-059992. This request was as such:

"I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please could you answer the following:

+How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient services?
+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS
+patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services if possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent to hospitals outside their area of residence?
+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)? (Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?
+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young patients receiving mental health treatment?

I understand that under the Act, I should be entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm via e-mail that you have received this request."

We responded to this email with a request for clarification, to which you responded on 9 September 2019 as outlined below:

"It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private beds.

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st 2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into an excel spreadsheet please?"

This clarification has been logged and has been assigned the FOI reference number FOI-060172. We sincerely apologise for the delay in responding to this request.

As such, please may you confirm that you still wish to proceed with your below request for an internal review of FOI case reference FOI-059992?

To ensure that your communications are processed efficiently, please quote the relevant FOI reference number in any future correspondence.

We hope this information has helped.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information
Corporate Communications Team
Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [NHS England request email]

‘Health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations’

show quoted sections

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

Yes, please.

Yours sincerely,

Poppy Damon and Georgia Coan

FOITEAMCRMMAILBOX (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon,

Re:      Freedom of Information request (Our Ref: FOI-060172)

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 09 September
2019

Your exact request was:

“Original Request:

“I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services.
Please could you answer the following:

+How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient
services?

+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS
patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services if
possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent to
hospitals outside their area of residence?

+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?
(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS
feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support
young patients receiving mental health treatment?”

Follow Up Request:

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private
beds.

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1^st, 2016
– August 1^st, 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into
an excel spreadsheet please?

 
NHS England holds some recorded information in relation to your request.

How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient
services?

NHS England does not hold this information.

What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS
patients? … How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent to
hospitals outside their area of residence?

The figures below represent the number of specialised Mental Health
in-patient beds for children and young people commissioned by NHS England
at the given dates/time periods. All dates provided are representative of
financial and contracting years.
 

Specialised Mental Health beds for children and young people commissioned
by NHS England
Average for FY2016/17 1,449
01/04/2017 1,465
01/04/2018 * 1,589
01/04/2019 * 1,572
27/09/2019 1,607

* Please note that the figures for 01/04/2018 and 01/04/2019 are during
the transition period for the CAMHS bed implementation plan. New beds had
been commissioned and beds/units that were due to close during this period
were being closed on a phased plan as and when patients were discharged.
This temporarily increased the number of beds commissioned above target.

Specialised Commissioning for NHS England is made up of 10 Hubs which
cover England. Each commissioning hub coordinates and manages the
admission to specialised mental health services of patients who live
within their hub area. Patients who are admitted to a hospital which is
outside their home hub area are flagged as an out of area admission. The
number of CAMHS patients admitted to units which are out of area was 1,334
in financial year 2017/18 and 1,234 in financial year 2018/19.

It should be noted that patients may be admitted to units which are
outside the patient’s hub area for a number of reasons, including: patient
choice, highly specialised needs, or the unit is the nearest to their home
address.
 
Can you also include the same information [on bed availability in NHS
mental hospitals] for adult services if possible?
NHS England only commissions specialised Mental Health services adults.
The majority of mental health in-patient services for adults are
non-specialised acute services which are commissioned by CCGs.

The total number of adult Specialised Mental Health beds commissioned by
NHS England is as follows:
 

Approximation for 2017/18 7,720
Approximation for 2018/19 7,545
Approximation for 2019/20 7,465

How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?
(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?
We are unable to provide expenditure from January to January. The figures
shown below represent the expenditure on specialised Mental Health
services for Children and Young People for the following financial years.
 

Year Exp £m
2016/17 341.5
2017/18 355.2
2018/19 389.0

Copyright: NHS England operates under the terms of the open government
licence. Please see the NHS England Terms and conditions on the following
link [1]http://www.england.nhs.uk/terms-and-cond...

We hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review. This should be requested in
writing within two months of the date of this letter. Your correspondence
should be labelled “Internal Review” and should outline your concerns
and/or the area(s) you would like the review to consider. Internal Review
requests should be sent to:

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Email: [2][NHS England request email]

Please quote the reference number FOI-060172 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
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [3][email address]  
Website: [4]www.ico.org.uk

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

Please be aware that in line with the Information Commissioner’s directive
on the disclosure of information under the FOI Act, your request will be
anonymised and published on our website as part of our disclosure log.

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [5][NHS England request email].

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information
Corporate Communications Team
Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT

Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [NHS England request email] 

show quoted sections

FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24), NHS England

Dear Poppy Damon,

 

Re:      Freedom of Information Response Review outcome (Our Ref:
FOI-059992/060172)

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) Internal Review request
dated 10 October 2019.

 

The original FOI request was received by NHS England on 13 August 2019.It
was sent via the website What Do They Know (WDTK). The WDTK account is
registered to you, but the response was signed off by another person
(referred to henceforth as “Applicant 1”. It read:-

 

“I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please
could you answer the following:

 

+How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS in-patient
services?

+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS

+patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services
if possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent
to hospitals outside their area of residence?

+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?
(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS
feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young
patients receiving mental health treatment?”

 

NHS England responded on 9 September 2019, seeking clarification on
multiple elements of the request:

           

“NHS England commissions specialised mental health beds from both NHS and
private providers. We are only able to provide data relating to those
services. As such, we would be grateful if you could clarify:

o Do you wish to know the number of commissioned specialised mental
health service beds for CAMHS patients and adults from all providers 
(i.e. NHS and private providers)?
o NHS providers only?
o Or something else?

 

We would also be grateful if you could specify a defined timeframe for
your request. For example, we can provide you with the commissioned bed
numbers as of July 2019 for CAMHS.”

 

We received a partial reply to our request for clarification on the same
day. This was sent from the same WDTK email address and was signed with
your name (referred to henceforth as “Applicant 2”). Accordingly, the
clarified request was recorded as being from Applicant 2 (you). The email
read:

 

“It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private
beds.

 

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st
2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into
an excel spreadsheet please?”

 

The clarified request was logged under the reference number FOI-060172. As
per the Freedom of Information Act, the clarified request was subject to
its own 20 working day deadline. Accordingly, the response was, at the at
stage, due on or before 7 October 2019.

 

However, on 24 September 2019, NHS England received a further email, from
the WDTK account, and signed by both Applicant 1 and Applicant 2. It
provided further clarification on the request as follows:

 

“NHS providers only please but if you have numbers of patients transferred
to private hospitals, this would also be helpful.”

The email of 24 September 2019 changed the scope of the request by
limiting the request to NHS providers only. As such, NHS England did not
receive full clarification of the request until 24 September 2019. Under
section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act, the 20-working-day
deadline does not commence until the request is sufficiently clarified.
Accordingly, the 20-working-day deadline was 22 October 2019.

 

On 27 September 2019, we received an email signed by Applicant 1, but from
a new (previously unknown to NHS England) email address. In this email,
Applicant 1 set out that they were working with a colleague (Applicant 2)
in relation to a Freedom of Information request regarding in-patient CAMHS
services. No reference numbers were provided, and the email address given
for Applicant 2 did not match any emails NHS England had received.

 

On 30 September 2019, NHS England responded to Applicant 1’s email of 27
September 2019 as follows:

 

“We can unfortunately not provide any information to anyone who is not the
original applicant.

 

NHS England endeavours to respond to all FOI requests as promptly as
possible, and in any event, within 20 working days of receipt.

 

If an applicant is concerned that they have not received expected
correspondence, we recommend following up from the email account from
which the request was originally made.”

 

In response, Applicant 1 wrote:

 

“I am one of the journalists who put in the original request. The other
journalist is [Applicant 2].

 

Do you suggest we email you through the What Do They Know account for
clarification?”

 

NHS England therefore sent an email to Applicant 2 (to the email address
from which the original FOI request was made) on 30 September 2019 as
follows:

 

“Dear [Applicant 2]

 

NHS England has received several emails regarding your Freedom of
Information (FOI) request reference FOI-060172.

 

It may help if we confirm that this request relates to the following
question;

 

Original Request:

 

“I’m looking for information regarding CAMHS in-patient services . Please 
could you answer the following:

 

   +How long are the current waiting times for referral to CAMHS
in-patient  services?

 

+What is the current bed availability in NHS mental hospitals for CAMHS

 

+patients? (Can you also include the same information for adult services 
if possible?) How many patients under CAMHS in-patient services are sent 
to hospitals outside their area of residence?

 

+How much money has been spent per year on in-patient services (CAMHS)?

(Jan 2016-Jan 2019)?

 

+If you feel you would like to offer an opinion, would you say the NHS 
feels it is offered enough from the Government in order to support young 
patients receiving mental health treatment?

 

Follow Up Request:

 

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private
beds.

 

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st
2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into
an excel spreadsheet please?

 

NHS England is currently processing your request, with the specific follow
up questions and endeavours to respond to all FOI requests as promptly as
possible, and in any event, within 20 working days of receipt. As per our
acknowledgement email, NHS England received your request on 9 September
2019, and as such, expects to respond on or before 7 October 2019.

 

We hope that this information is helpful.”

 

At 11:29 on 8 October 2019, an email was sent to Applicant 2 via the WDTK
email account apologising for the delay in responding to FOI-060172. In
hindsight this was unnecessary; the additional email of 24 September 2019
changed the 20-working-day deadline and the request was therefore not
overdue.

 

At 14:53 on 8 October 2019, an email was received by NHS England from the
WDTK email address, signed by Applicant 2. The message did not include any
reference numbers. The email read:

 

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

 

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS England's handling of my
FOI request 'In-patient mental health services - CAMHS'.

 

This request is long overdue and we were not given the reason for this.”

 

NHS England replied to this message on 10 October 2019 providing a copy of
the clarification requested on 9 September 2019. This was an error. Your
email was misinterpreted as being in relation to the 13 August 2019
request. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience as a result.

 

You (Applicant 2) sent a further email to NHS England on 10 October 2019
which read:

 

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

 

I am writing to request an internal review of NHS England's handling of my
FOI request 'In-patient mental health services - CAMHS'.

 

You have declined to answer to the FOI due to the need for clarification.
However, the clarification you mentioned was answered in a previous
message sent from the account. Please see below:

 

Dear FOI, England (NHS ENGLAND & NHS IMPROVEMENT - X24),

 

It's NHS beds as well as NHS patients who have been referred to private
beds.

 

Please provide average monthly data between (and including) Jan 1st
2016-August 1st 2019 for each question. Can you put this information into
an excel spreadsheet please?

 

Yours sincerely,

 

[Applicant 2]

 

This was dated on the 9th.

 

If you could look into this, it would be appreciated.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

[Applicant 2] and [Applicant]”

 

A response to FOI-060172 was issued on 21 October 2019. As outlined above,
this was within corrected 20-working-day deadline.

 

The FOI Management team have reviewed your request and this letter
provides the outcome of this review. It is our conclusion that the
clarified request received on 9 September 2019 ought to have been refused
on the grounds that it did not meet the requirements of section 8(1) of
the Freedom of Information Act. The Information Commissioner sets out in
[1]her guidance that:

 

“A requester can be an individual, a company or an organisation, but in
each case Section 8(1)(b) requires that a request for information must
include the name of the requester.”

 

In hindsight, we consider that the original request of 13 August 2019
should have been refused under section 8(1) on the grounds that it
appeared a pseudonym was being used. This is because the name provided as
the signatory on the email did not match the WDTK account from which the
request was submitted.

 

As the clarified request, received 9 September (reference FOI-060172) was
signed by the WDTK account holder, we consider this does meet the section
8(1) requirements and is therefore a valid request. As outlined above, a
response was provided within 20-working-days of your request being
finalised. It is therefore the conclusion of this review that this request
was handled appropriately.

 

Going forward, please ensure that all correspondence in relation to a
Freedom of Information request is sent by the original applicant, from a
single email/correspondence address and that reference numbers are
included. This will enable NHS England to process your request as
efficiently as possible.

 

We hope that this addresses your concerns. However, 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

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: [2][email address]  

Website: [3]www.ico.org.uk

 

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please do not reply to this email. This message has been sent from a
central mailbox. To communicate with NHS England regarding Freedom of
Information (FOI) requests, enquiries or complaints we ask these are sent
directly to NHS England’s customer contact centre. This is to ensure all
communications are progressed correctly. Their postal address, telephone
number and email details are as follows:- PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT;
0300 3 11 22 33, [4][NHS England request email] .

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information

Corporate Communications Team

Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Tel: 0300 311 22 33

Email: [5][NHS England request email]

 

‘Health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations’

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