BSSG NHS ICB Staff Refusing to Personally Identify Themselves to Customers
Dear NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board,
1. Please provide me with the ICB's policy/terms of employment/other for:-
a. staff displaying personal ID badges at work
b. providing the public with individual staff personal ID/names
c. staff exemption from providing personal ID to customers/the public
2. Please direct me to the specific website page where ALL ICB staff names, together with their work departments, and job titles are in the public domain
3. Does BNSSG ICB support The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles)? The ethics include selflessness.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
I am currently awaiting an FOI review outcome to find out specific staff ID/names who [eg] undermined my data protection rights; Ref. FOI.ICB-2223/164. My first request was rejected.
That FOI review is not the same as 1 and 2 above.
.................................................................................................................................
The above issues have arisen because on occasions staff within both the Freedom of Information Team and the Customer Service Team have refuse to provide me with their personal identification when asked to identify ['Freedom of Information Team' is not a person's name]
This should be offered automatically to customers. Since the NHS/ICB supports 'customer centred focused/care', it is reasonable to expect a staff member of a public body to provide the above [just as staff ask the customer's name], whether it be over the phone, by email, or visits to the office, as applicable.
Just how would a patient with dementia, for example, be able to work out one staff member from another in making a complicated query, if they all use 'FOI Team'?
Refusing ID undermines trust. There is no excuse for a staff member not providing personal ID of some sort. Failing to provide this means there is greater likelihood of an 'anonymous' customer service fails - and less likelihood failures will be reported, when all is offered is, 'FOI Team' or 'CS Team'.
NHS staff should be accountable to the customer, not taking up privileges that are not given to the customer, who himself obligated to provide personal ID. If GP's and Nurses adopt this posture then how is that/the NHS promoting patient centred care?
Such 'safe space' privileges for staff [I assume managers and executives can ID the clerical staff, and in the event of an emergency, no ID badges/names refused?] is a double standard and not in line with traditional public service.
Yours faithfully,
P. O'Callaghan
Good morning
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 21^st
February 2023, regarding documents and information relating to Staff ID
and names.
I am acknowledging your request on behalf of Bristol, North Somerset and
South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB). We will be
dealing with your request for information in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Under the Act we have 20 working days to respond to your request and we
expect to be in a position to reply to you by 21^st March 2023.
Dealing with your request:
In normal circumstances we should be able to (a) confirm or deny that we
hold this information and (b) if we hold it, send it to you within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days. You should note however that the
Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent us complying with
either of these duties. We will explain if this is the case and if we
apply the 'public interest test' to our decision.
If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact me quoting the
reference number above in any future communications.
Further information about the Freedom of Information Act and the
Environmental Information Regulations may be found on the Information
Commissioner’s website at [1]https://ico.org.uk/.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
[2]bnssg.icb.nhs.uk
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
Good morning,
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 21^st
February 2023, regarding documents and information relating to Staff ID
and Names.
Under section 1 (1) (a) and (b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I
can confirm that the ICB does hold the information requested. Please find
attached the response to your request, which is sent on behalf of
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board.
Your request for information has been dealt with in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act (2000) and we hope that you find this response
helpful.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright.
You are free to use it for your own purposes, including for private study
and non-commercial research, and for any other purpose authorised by an
exception in current copyright law. Documents (except photographs) can
also be used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of
news reporting. Any other reuse, for example, commercial publication,
would require the permission of the copyright holder.
If you are not satisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your
request for information, then in accordance with the Act you may ask us to
conduct a review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two
months of the date of receipt of the response to your original request and
sent to [1][NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board request email].
If following an internal review you remain unhappy you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally,
the Information Commissioner's Office cannot make a decision unless you
have already exhausted NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South
Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board’s (BNSSG ICB) internal review
procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Wycliffe Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK6 5AF.
Further information about the Freedom of Information Act can be sourced on
the Information Commissioner's website: [2]http://www.ico.gov.uk/.
If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact the FOI Team on
[3][NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board request email], quoting the reference number in the subject line.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
[4]bnssg.icb.nhs.uk
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
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From: foi (NHS BRISTOL, NORTH SOMERSET AND SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ICB -
15C)
Sent: 21 February 2023 08:41
To: P. O'Callaghan <[FOI #952864 email]>
Subject: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: FOI.ICB 2223 204 - Staff ID and names
Good morning
Thank you for your request for information, which we received on 21^st
February 2023, regarding documents and information relating to Staff ID
and names.
I am acknowledging your request on behalf of Bristol, North Somerset and
South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (BNSSG ICB). We will be
dealing with your request for information in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Under the Act we have 20 working days to respond to your request and we
expect to be in a position to reply to you by 21^st March 2023.
Dealing with your request:
In normal circumstances we should be able to (a) confirm or deny that we
hold this information and (b) if we hold it, send it to you within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days. You should note however that the
Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent us complying with
either of these duties. We will explain if this is the case and if we
apply the 'public interest test' to our decision.
If you have any queries about this e-mail, please contact me quoting the
reference number above in any future communications.
Further information about the Freedom of Information Act and the
Environmental Information Regulations may be found on the Information
Commissioner’s website at [5]https://ico.org.uk/.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
[6]bnssg.icb.nhs.uk
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
Dear Sir/Madam/Supervisor - NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board's handling of my FOI request 'BSSG NHS ICB Staff Refusing to Personally Identify Themselves to Customers'.
Details of Complaint, or Review Sought:
FIRSTLY
ICB failed to attempt - [or else has given too complex answers, that are not comprehensible to the average person, and/or not written in common English] to provide some of the FOI queries I made, 1. b & c --
'' 1. Please provide me with the ICB's policy/terms of employment/other for:-
a. staff displaying personal ID badges at work
b. providing the public with individual staff personal ID/names
c. staff exemption from providing personal ID to customers/the public ''
I am re-writing 1. b. and c. below to simplify.
As you should know, the requests are based on the context of the title, ''ICB Staff Failing to Provide Customers With Personal Names When Asked''. Your role is clarify any FOI request that you may not understand.
B. What POLICY/other exists which gives directions for staff to provide the customer - in any working scenario - with their personal ID, verbally or written? (Website Link?)
If no such directions or guidelines exist, just say so
C. What are the special exemptions - if any - made in those policies, guidelines, that allow staff to withhold their names from the customers/patients, in any working scenario - telephone, email, face to face, etc?
[Link?].
If you cant answer for some reason then just say so, offer the reason
SECONDLY -- your mistake. Wrongly making this statement:-
''The names of the staff working in the Freedom of Information (FOI)
team have been provided as part of FOI.ICB-2223/153 and members
of the team have responded to your emails with their names on
several occasions. The Customer Services team have also
responded to your emails with their names. ''
Facts and not beliefs.
The staff member who offered answers has presumed that this request originates from a person who is already known by ICB. This is shown by staff using an excuse that requests 2. B &C have been previously responded to: (using that false excuse for not fulfilling parts 2. b and c). No confirmation has come from this account holder or anyone else that the FOI requests are coming from one and the same person.
Millions of people worldwide use this exact identifying name or signature. You had no right to make any link or presumption based on that name; it's unprofessional, cutting corners and contradicts GDPR & NHS guidelines. The NHS Constitution puts customers and patients first, [eg] giving them the right to be consulted at all times; it stipulates staff openness and transparency - not closed authoritarian style 'customer care'. If you don't understand something, staff should consult person X
The ICB FOI staff role / job description about ascertaining and recording facts, not about making decisions [and making up records] based on personal beliefs or intuition. ICB staff have no right to construct a profile, make such judgements, based on fragments of information/presumptions taken from a WhatDoTheyKnow [WDTK] FOI request
It's an affront to a citizens legal rights to privacy and confidentiality, and a failure in staff logic, principles, ethics, on ICB's part, a mis-judgement
If that's your attitude, upon how many others have ICB staff made these shallow assumptions, in a similar way, jumping to conclusions, sticking any ambiguous external information that comes your way into a certain citizens file? Do not make shallow decisions based on presumptions and assumptions
Wrong classification, storing incorrect information in a customers file could lead to many future problems.
Again, this is not thought out, it's corner cutting, indifferent office administration.
ICB should now stop linking a WDTK account with [eg] a customer's ICB personal file that you may or may not hold, as I have demonstrated. A future challenge may be made, re, possible incorrect data ICB has recorded
THIRDLY
ICB has given answers to something that were never asked - ie ''answers'' to a summary made, that was not a question, purposely written below a dotted line [that was its separation purpose]. ICB must follow the directions a customer makes. Please don't give answers, except to those bullet pointed or numbered that are above a dotted line
My summary below -- NOT questions - no question marks! :--
''' The above issues have arisen because on occasions staff within
both the Freedom of Information Team and the Customer
Service Team have refuse to provide me with their personal
identification when asked to identify ['Freedom of Information
Team' is not a person's name]
This should be offered automatically to customers. Since the
NHS/ICB supports 'customer centred focused/care', it is
reasonable to expect a staff member of a public body to provide
the above [just as staff ask the customer's name], whether it be
over the phone, by email, or visits to the office, as applicable. ''
Once again, it is your responsibility to ascertain exactly - exactly - 'what' the FOI Request is, by asking.
................................................................................................................................................................
Thank you for the answers [to 1-3] that you gave that were acceptable and understandable.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...
The above account may contain minor errors/without prejudice. Let me know if it's not clear.
Yours faithfully,
P. O'Callaghan
Good morning,
Thank you for your email, which we received on Monday 24^th April, in
which you asked for an internal review into the way Bristol, North
Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB handled your request for
information under reference: FOI.ICB-2223/204
In most cases we expect to be in a position to provide a response within
20 working days, or 40 in exceptional circumstances.
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. Generally, the Information Commissioner's Office cannot make a
decision unless you have already exhausted Bristol, North Somerset and
South Gloucestershire ICB’s internal review procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK6 5AF.
Further information about the Freedom of Information Act can be sourced on
the Information Commissioner's website: [1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
360 Bristol - Three Six Zero, Marlborough Street, Bristol BS1 3NX
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
Dear NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board's handling of my FOI request 'BSSG NHS ICB Staff Refusing to Personally Identify Themselves to Customers'.
JUST TO ADD MORE TO MY COMPLAINT THAT ICB IS REVIEWING.
* I do not need links to the ICO website. I already have access to that site. I wish you to explain in plain English where possible in answering my queries on the refusal to give ID when asked; add internal NHS/ICB links, policies, other, as needed. Thank you
I do not need more information on staff badge/card ID thank you.
([extraneous material removed])
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...
Yours faithfully,
P. O'Callaghan
Dear Mr O’Callaghan
Thank you for your email below, we have included your additional points as
part of the internal review.
The ICB has a statutory duty to inform members of the public who request
data of their right to contact the ICO if they are unhappy with the way
the ICB has handled their response, therefore details of how to contact
the ICO will always be sent as part of Information Rights responses.
If you would like to make a complaint about a member of ICB staff, please
contact the customer services team, [1][email address]
Your sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
Dear Mr O’Callaghan,
Thank you for your email, which we received on Monday 24^th April, in
which you asked for an internal review into the way Bristol, North
Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB handled your request for
information under reference: FOI.ICB-2223/204
Please find attached our response to the internal review.
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. Generally, the Information Commissioner's Office cannot make a
decision unless you have already exhausted Bristol, North Somerset and
South Gloucestershire ICB’s internal review procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK6 5AF.
Further information about the Freedom of Information Act can be sourced on
the Information Commissioner's website: [1]http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
[2]bnssg.icb.nhs.uk
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
From: foi (NHS BRISTOL, NORTH SOMERSET AND SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ICB -
15C) <[NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board request email]>
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2023 12:39 PM
To: P. O'Callaghan <[FOI #952864 email]>
Cc: foi (NHS BRISTOL, NORTH SOMERSET AND SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE ICB - 15C)
<[NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - BSSG NHS ICB
Staff Refusing to Personally Identify Themselves to Customers
Dear Mr O’Callaghan
Thank you for your email below, we have included your additional points as
part of the internal review.
The ICB has a statutory duty to inform members of the public who request
data of their right to contact the ICO if they are unhappy with the way
the ICB has handled their response, therefore details of how to contact
the ICO will always be sent as part of Information Rights responses.
If you would like to make a complaint about a member of ICB staff, please
contact the customer services team, [3][email address]
Your sincerely
Freedom of Information Team
NHS Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire ICB
Please be aware that all emails received and sent by this organisation are
subject to the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and may be disclosed to a
third party. If you believe you have been sent this message in error,
please inform the sender and delete the message and any attachments as
soon as possible. All messages sent by this organisation are checked for
viruses but this does not, and cannot, guarantee that a virus has not been
transmitted.
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Neil Jones left an annotation ()
FOI Responses
1. Can you name the director/executive/other who has responsibility over Customer Services Integrated Care Board (ICB) Customer Services Team?
Michael Richardson (Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality) - direct Manager-Rosi Shepherd (Chief Nursing Officer) - Executive Director
2. The date ICB Customer Service stopped accepting complaints against GP Surgeries and the reason why;
3. Can you tell me just who this ICB CS Team are NOW taking complaints from?Since they no longer take complaints about GP's dentists, etc?
4. Do you know what date that the NHS gave this CS Team the authority to accept complaints about GP's from the public? Was this a national decision, or a local one?
Responses:
Since becoming an ICB on 1st July 2022, NHS England advised that due to legislation changes they would manage all GP complaints, and this came into effect in November 2022.
The Customer Services(CS) team take complaints from members of the public in relation to NHS services in the BNSSG (Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) area,
(if the complaint relates to something that is not commissioned by the ICB then the team will acknowledge the complaint, redirect where appropriate and inform the complainant.)
The new arrangement came into effect in November 2022 as a result of national legislation changes