Our Ref: DE00000569797


6 December 2010

 

Dear Ms Gross


Thank you for your email of 25 November asking for information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

You asked:  ‘please would you be kind enough to inform me whither Professor Appleby, head of NHS psychiatry, is in receipt of a salary, single payments, consultative fees, or expenses from any pharmaceutical manufacturer or supplier ?
    
If you do not have this information, please tell me which public office Professor Appleby is answerable to, or which public office holds this information ?
    
Has Professor Appleby ever been employed by a pharmaceutical manufacturer, supplier, or research institute linked to a manufacturer/supplier?
    
Please tell me who in the NHS, or which individuals, are directly responsible for NHS policy on the use and prescription of anti psychotic drugs in the NHS ?
    
Who exactly makes decisions regarding NHS psychiatry's policy regarding the use of these drugs within NHS psychiatry ?
    
Please would you tell me if there is anything that forbids, or restricts in any way, Professor Appleby from receiving funds from the pharmaceutical industry, in a consultative capacity, whilst also performing his role as head of NHS psychiatry ?
    
Is there any requirement on NHS psychiatric staff to reveal that they receive such payments/salaries/ expenses/etc., from pharmaceutical manufacturers or suppliers ?
    
Please would you inform me whither NHS clinical psychiatric staff and administrators have any restrictions or contractual obligations to refuse payments from pharmaceutical manufacturers or suppliers ?
    
Please would you tell me what means are employed to enforce any such rules if they exist ?
    
Please would you inform me how many, and which individual NHS psychiatric staff and administrators are paid consultative fees or any other salary, or single payments from any pharmaceutical manufacturer or supplier ?’

While it is possible that we may hold information falling within the scope of your request, we have estimated that the searches necessary to locate all relevant information would entail costs exceeding the £600 or 3.5 person/day limit specified for central government bodies under s12 of the FOIA.  We will therefore not be proceeding further with this present request.

However, you have the right to make a new and narrower request with which we might be able to comply, although we cannot guarantee that this will be the case, nor that any information so located might not prove to contain material exempt in whole or in part from the general duty to release information.  Exemptions that might be engaged would include s21, information already published or otherwise available to you by alternative means, and s40(2), which exempts the personal data of living individuals, whose release would contravene any of the Data Protection Principles as laid down under the Data Protection Act.

We should also advise you that your request was based in part on a factual error.  Professor Appleby is no longer national clinical director for mental health.  He is now National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice.  I can confirm we hold no information relevant to your request relating to his present role.  In framing a new request, we would need to ask you to be clear whether you are seeking information about the present Clinical Director for Mental Health, or about Professor Appleby when he held that post. 

You may also wish to research a number of published sources of information before making a new request, such as the Civil Service Code (available at www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/values/cscode/index.aspx), the professional ethics information published by the General Medical Council (available at www.gmc.org.uk), the information published by this Department on guidance about prescribing to clinical professionals (www.dh.gov.uk ), and information about anti-psychotic drugs published by NICE (www.nice.org.uk ). 

It would also be helpful, if you wish your new request to include the question "Is there any requirement on NHS psychiatric staff to reveal that they receive such payments/slaries/expenses etc from pharmaceutical manufacturers or suppliers", whether you mean by "reveal", for instance, ‘to place in the public domain’ or ‘disclose to the clinician’s employing HR Dept under the usual consultant contract arrangements’.

I am sorry to be unable to be more helpful at this stage.  If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review.  Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to:
 
Head of the Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health
Room 317
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2NS
  
Email: [email address]
 
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (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:
 
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Yours sincerely,


Colin McDonald
FOI Casework Manager