Communications about Palantir Foundry projects & data FOI request
Phil Booth made this Freedom of Information request to NHS England
Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.
Dear NHS England,
I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act. For the purposes of the Act, please take the date of your receipt of this request as 1 October 2021.
Relating to NHS England’s response to FOI - 2106-1472935, as provided on 2nd July 2021, can you please provide:
1) Any communications sent or received by the FOI response team relating to FOI-2106-1472935 between 3 June 2021 – 30 September 2021;
2) For each person from outside the FOI response team who communicated with the FOI response team about FOI-2106-1472935, please provide any communications sent or received by them between 3 June 2021 – 30 September 2021 which relate to FOI-2106-1472935.
Your response to FOI - 2106-1472935 - which failed to answer my request(s), and for which an internal review has been requested and is still awaiting a response - is publicly available here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours faithfully,
Phil Booth
**THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE**
Thank you for your email.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are receiving an
extremely high volume of enquiries.
For information about coronavirus (COVID-19), including information about
the COVID-19 vaccine, go to the [1]NHS website. You can also find guidance
and support on the [2]GOV.UK website
For routine enquiries, it may take us some time to get back to you. We
thank you for your patience and understanding.
In the meantime, you may find the following information helpful.
How can the Customer Contact Centre help me?
We’re here to support patients and their representatives with enquiries,
concerns or complaints about primary care. Primary care includes local
healthcare services such as GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacies.
We can also help with enquiries, concerns, or complaints about healthcare
in prison, military healthcare and some specialised services that support
people with a range of rare and complex conditions.
You may be able to find the answer you are looking for in our Frequently
Asked Questions:
[3]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/ho...
You can find out how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service
here:
[4]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...
Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice?
No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice.
For help from a GP, visit your GP surgery’s website, use an [5]online
service to contact your GP, or call the surgery.
For urgent medical help, use the [6]NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if
you are unable to get help online. For life-threatening emergencies, call
999 for an ambulance.
There is more information about getting medical help on the [7]NHS
website.
What if I have an enquiry or complaint about hospital care, NHS 111 or
out-of-hours GP services?
If your enquiry or complaint is about secondary care, this includes
hospitals, NHS 111, mental health services, out-of-hours services and
community services such as district nursing, you will need to contact the
organisation that provided the service.
All hospitals have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS):
[8]https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questio...
Alternatively, you can contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG). You can find their contact details on the NHS website:
Dear Phil Booth,
Thank you for your communication dated 1 October 2021.
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
Communications
Office of the Chairs, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [3][NHS England request email]
Dear Phil Booth,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 01 October
2021. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to
your enquiry.
Your exact request was:
“Dear NHS England,
I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act. For
the purposes of the Act, please take the date of your receipt of this
request as 1 October 2021. Relating to NHS England’s response to FOI -
2106-1472935, as provided on 2nd July 2021, can you please provide:
1) Any communications sent or received by the FOI response team relating
to FOI-2106-1472935 between 3 June 2021 – 30 September 2021;
2) For each person from outside the FOI response team who communicated
with the FOI response team about FOI-2106-1472935, please provide any
communications sent or received by them between 3 June 2021 – 30 September
2021 which relate to FOI-2106-1472935.
Your response to FOI - 2106-1472935 - which failed to answer my
request(s), and for which an internal review has been requested and is
still awaiting a response - is publicly available here:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
NHS England holds information in relation to your request.
NHS England holds some recorded information in relation to applicant
details of FOI-2106-1472935.
However, NHS England is of the opinion that information is exempt under
section 40(1) where that information constitutes the personal data of the
applicant.
Section 40(1) is an absolute exemption, and is therefore not subject to
the public interest test when considering disclosure. This is because
information released under a Freedom of Information request is considered
to be a release to the public at large, and not just to the applicant. As
such, data protection principles prevent us from release of this
information under the act.
You may wish to request this information as a Subject Access Request
(SAR). [2]Further information about SARs and how to apply can be found on
our web page.
NHS England has provided the communications requested attached. However,
we consider certain information to be exempt under section 40 of the FOI
Act.
Information is exempt under section 40(2) where that information
constitutes personal data (other than that of the requester) and one of
the conditions set out in section 40(3) is satisfied. Under the FOI Act
disclosure of this information 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.
In this instance, the name and contact details of all staff members at or
below Band 9 and contact details of other staff members have been
withheld, as have job titles in instances where the release of
that information could be reasonably used to identify individuals who have
a reasonable expectation of privacy.
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: [3][NHS England request email]
Please quote the reference number FOI-2110-1579033 in any future
communications.
Copyright: - NHS England operates under the terms of the open government
licence. Please see the NHS England Terms and conditions on the
following link [4]http://www.england.nhs.uk/terms-and-cond...
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 following weblink:
[5]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
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, [6][NHS England request email].
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
Communications Team
Office of the Chairs, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [NHS England request email]
Dear NHS England,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review both of NHS England's handling of my FOI request 'Communications about Palantir Foundry projects & data FOI request', made on 1 October 2021:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
and the request to which it refers, i.e. 'Projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry', made on 3 June 2021:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
The public record on WhatDoTheyKnow shows that NHS England has not replied to my previous request for an internal review, orginally made on 8 July 2021:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Instead, in response to my later request, NHS England has merely provided a copy of the response it had already given in July 2021 - the substance of which fails to address my request - and a series of memos that show no indication an internal review has been performed.
Can I please therefore request an internal review on three counts:
1) NHS England's 2 July reply said the information I requested would be published in the COVID-19 Data Store dissemination register "in July 2021". The register was not published until 12 August but, more importantly, no information on the projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry was published in it. NHS England has therefore failed to provide the information that it indicated would be published in due course.
2) Quite aside from what is or isn't in the register, NHS England has failed to provide what I actually asked for - namely, the list of Palantir Foundry ‘projects’ which have been reviewed for data access, and a copy of the 'data catalogue' which lists all datasets within the Foundry platform that are available to 'projects'.
3) NHS England's failure to perform an internal review when requested, i.e. on 8 July 2021, having already avoided providing some or all of the requested information by pointing to a future publication that did not contain what was requested.
Alternatively, please would you provide screenshots of the relevant Palantir Foundry pages as originally requested (these need not contain any personally identifying information) rather than further delay and obfuscation.
Yours faithfully,
Phil Booth
**THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE**
Thank you for your email.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are receiving an
extremely high volume of enquiries.
For information about coronavirus (COVID-19), including information about
the COVID-19 vaccine, go to the [1]NHS website. You can also find guidance
and support on the [2]GOV.UK website
For routine enquiries, it may take us some time to get back to you. We
thank you for your patience and understanding.
In the meantime, you may find the following information helpful.
How can the Customer Contact Centre help me?
We’re here to support patients and their representatives with enquiries,
concerns or complaints about primary care. Primary care includes local
healthcare services such as GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacies.
We can also help with enquiries, concerns, or complaints about healthcare
in prison, military healthcare and some specialised services that support
people with a range of rare and complex conditions.
You may be able to find the answer you are looking for in our Frequently
Asked Questions:
[3]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/ho...
You can find out how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service
here:
[4]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...
Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice?
No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice.
For help from a GP, visit your GP surgery’s website, use an [5]online
service to contact your GP, or call the surgery.
For urgent medical help, use the [6]NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if
you are unable to get help online. For life-threatening emergencies, call
999 for an ambulance.
There is more information about getting medical help on the [7]NHS
website.
What if I have an enquiry or complaint about hospital care, NHS 111 or
out-of-hours GP services?
If your enquiry or complaint is about secondary care, this includes
hospitals, NHS 111, mental health services, out-of-hours services and
community services such as district nursing, you will need to contact the
organisation that provided the service.
All hospitals have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS):
[8]https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questio...
Alternatively, you can contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG). You can find their contact details on the NHS website:
Dear NHS England,
Further to my request for an internal review on 13 December 2021:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
On the basis that:
1) NHS England's 2 July reply said the information I requested would be published in the COVID-19 Data Store dissemination register "in July 2021". The register was not published until 12 August but, more importantly, no information on the projects and data in NHS England's installation of Palantir Foundry was published in it. NHS England has therefore failed to provide the information that it indicated would be published in due course.
2) Quite aside from what is or isn't in the register, NHS England has failed to provide what I actually asked for - namely, the list of Palantir Foundry ‘projects’ which have been reviewed for data access, and a copy of the 'data catalogue' which lists all datasets within the Foundry platform that are available to 'projects'.
3) NHS England's failure to perform an internal review when requested, i.e. on 8 July 2021, having already avoided providing some or all of the requested information by pointing to a future publication that did not contain what was requested.
I am writing to inquire as to the status of the review, as I have received nothing but an automated response since then.
Yours faithfully,
Phil Booth
**THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE - YOUR EMAIL WILL BE RESPONDED TO BY A
MEMBER OF THE TEAM ALSO**
Thank you for your email.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are receiving an
extremely high volume of enquiries.
For information about coronavirus (COVID-19), including information about
the COVID-19 vaccine, go to the [1]NHS website. You can also find guidance
and support on the [2]GOV.UK website
If you are contacting us about new COVID-19 treatments, more information
is available on the [3]NHS website.
For routine enquiries, it may take us some time to get back to you. We
thank you for your patience and understanding.
In the meantime, you may find the following information helpful.
How can the Customer Contact Centre help me?
We’re here to support patients and their representatives with enquiries,
concerns or complaints about primary care. Primary care includes local
healthcare services such as GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacies.
We can also help with enquiries, concerns, or complaints about healthcare
in prison, military healthcare and some specialised services that support
people with a range of rare and complex conditions.
You may be able to find the answer you are looking for in our Frequently
Asked Questions:
[4]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/ho...
You can find out how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service
here:
[5]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...
Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice?
No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice.
For help from a GP, visit your GP surgery’s website, use an [6]online
service to contact your GP, or call the surgery.
For urgent medical help, use the [7]NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if
you are unable to get help online. For life-threatening emergencies, call
999 for an ambulance.
There is more information about getting medical help on the [8]NHS
website.
What if I have an enquiry or complaint about hospital care, NHS 111 or
out-of-hours GP services?
If your enquiry or complaint is about secondary care, this includes
hospitals, NHS 111, mental health services, out-of-hours services and
community services such as district nursing, you will need to contact the
organisation that provided the service.
All hospitals have a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS):
[9]https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questio....
Alternatively, you can contact your local Clinical Commissioning Group
(CCG). You can find their contact details on the NHS website:
[10]https://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Clinic...
How do I report a change of name or address?
You should report a change of name or address to your GP practice so they
can update their records. If your new address is outside the practice’s
catchment area you may be asked to register with a new GP practice.
You should also advise your dentist or optician of a change of name or
address as they keep their own records.
Where can I find further information about NHS England and NHS
Improvement?
You can find information about our work on our
website: [11]https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/
How do you use my information?
NHS England’s privacy notice explains how we use, share and store your
personal information. You can find this on our
website: [12]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/pr...
NHS England Customer Contact Centre
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now