Communications request between the CMO and the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce between 1 April and 6 September 2022
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
At the suggestion of the Information Commissioner I am resubmitting my previous request of 7 December 2022 -
For the period 1 April 2022 to 6 September 2022, I requested:
All direct communications between the Chief Medical Officer and the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce (should this have its own email address or electronic identity) in which Evusheld (i.e. the combination of Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab, AZD7742 or any other name that is used by the DHSC for this) is mentioned, whether:
1 - by email; or
2- other electronic means.
In its response of 16 December to my request of 7 December the DHSC:
1. advised that you had searched all email accounts and inboxes and that the “DHSC does not hold the information requested”. Please can you redo this search; and
2. failed to answer the second part of the question that referred to “other electronic means”. Please can you advise what other means of communication (e.g. WhatsApp, chat, text etc) were used by the CMO and the above Taskforce and search each of these, advising which of these has been searched and provide the results of the search that are relevant to this FOIA.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Louise Bicknell
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Dear Ms Bicknell,
Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1499999).
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Department of Health and Social Care's handling of my FOI request 'Communications request between the CMO and the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce between 1 April and 6 September 2022'.
FOI-1499999
I refer to your letter of 28 March 2024 in which the DHSC states, following a search of “emails and WhatsApp. There were no communications found between the Chief Medical Officer and the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce.”
I would like to request an internal review on the basis of the following information:
I have received a copy of an email with the subject: “RAPID C-19 report to the CMO on Evusheld (AZD7442)”. This was sent by a member of the Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce directly to the CMO and DCMO.
I have also seen the reply to this, subject “RE: RAPID C-19 report to the CMO on Evusheld (AZD7442)” in which the CMO replies directly to this ATTF member and copies the ATTF mailbox.
This shows that there were in fact direct communications between the CMO and the ATTF between the dates specified in the FOIA request. Also that there may additionally be other communications that have not been disclosed.
I look forward to hearing from you
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...
Yours faithfully,
Louise Bicknell
Dear Ms Bicknell,
Your requested internal review of FOI-1499999 is now complete. Please see
the attached letter for the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Internal Reviews
Department of Health and Social Care
This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.
Dear Ms Bicknell,
Please see the attached letter and attachments, following the ICO’s recent
decision notice.
Please let me know if there are any issues with the documents.
Alan
New logo smal Alan Addison
Team Leader - FOI
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health and Social Care,
39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EU
This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.
This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.
Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Your correspondence is being handled by the appropriate team.
If you have made an FOI request, DHSC is required under section 10(1) of
the FOIA to provide you with a response within 20 working days. If DHSC is
unable to do this, we will contact you nearer the time.
This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the
addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all
copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Any views expressed in this
message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social
Care. Please note: Incoming and outgoing email messages are routinely
monitored for compliance with our policy on the use of electronic
communications.
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