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Covid Pass Letters

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Dear Department of Health and Social Care,

Please provide the date the the Department of Social Care (DHSC) stopped members of the public from applying for a covid pass letter via website. I am specifically referring to the time when it was possible to request a covid pass letter without having access to an NHS login or email account.

Please provide copies of all documents you may hold (emails/minutes from meetings) concerning the decisions to encourage people to apply for a covid pass letter using digital channels and making an application for covid pass letters via website less accessible, i.e., now having to use NHS login or have access to email.

Yours faithfully,

Bridget Catley

Department of Health and Social Care

This is an acknowledgement - please do not reply to this email.

Thank you for contacting the Department of Health and Social Care. 

If your enquiry is in relation to the pandemic, the Government has
launched a COVID-19 ‘hub’, which can be found
at [1]www.gov.uk/coronavirus and is regularly updated. 

The answers to many other questions can be found on [2]GOV.UK,
the [3]Department of Health and Social Care website or by visiting
the [4]NHS website. We may not respond to you if the answer to your
enquiry can be found on either of these websites. Where a reply is
appropriate, we aim to send a response within 20 working days.
 
Please note that the department cannot arrange vaccinations. [5]This
webpage gives information on vaccination. You can also contact your GP,
clinical commissioning group or call 119.

 

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you must get tested as soon as possible.
The swab test takes less than a minute and is pain-free. Results from test
sites are generally received within 24 hours of the test being
administered. Further information, including what symptoms to look out
for, can be found [6]here.
 
If your business is interested in helping the Government increase
COVID-19 testing capacity, please visit [7]this webpage. Please note that
the service that was set up for businesses to offer other COVID-19 support
has closed. If you have a product to sell to the NHS, please visit
[8]https://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/.   
  
Since 15 February 2021, anyone travelling to the UK from a red-list
country has been required to quarantine in a managed quarantine facility
for a period of ten days. There will be periods where no countries are
listed, but the red list remains ready to be stood up should the global
epidemiological situation change. In these circumstances, there is
guidance available on a range of queries.

To find out how to apply for a medical or compassionate exemption, please
visit
[9]www.gov.uk/guidance/exemptions-from-managed-quarantine-for-compassionate-reasons.

If you have been in quarantine and have a complaint about the hotel,
please raise your concerns with the hotel itself in the first instance. If
your complaint is unresolved, please email the complaints team at
[10][email address].
 
If you are writing in connection with an NHS or social care service please
note that the department does not manage health and social services
directly, nor does it process complaints. It also cannot give clinical
advice or intervene in matters concerning patient care or social services.
If you wish to make a complaint about a healthcare professional, an NHS
organisation or a social care provider, please visit [11]this link.

 
If you would like to raise your concerns about a COVID-19 testing
provider, or have any other NHS Test and Trace enquiries, you can
contact [12]NHS Test and Trace enquiries, feedback and complaints. 

Our [13]Personal information charter and [14]privacy notice explain how we
treat your personal information.

 

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.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
2. https://www.gov.uk/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
4. https://www.nhs.uk/
5. https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/vacci...
6. https://www.gov.uk/getting-tested-for-co...
7. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/help-the-gov...
8. https://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/
9. http://www.gov.uk/guidance/exemptions-fr...
10. mailto:[email address]
11. https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-t...
12. https://enquiries.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/...
13. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
14. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Catley,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your FOI request (our ref: FOI-1451364).

Yours sincerely, 

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

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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 'Covid Pass Letters'.

Thank you for your letter of 10 May 2023, however, I am not satisfied with the response you have provided.

I did not suggest in anyway that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has stopped people from requesting NHS Covid Pass letters. You acknowledge that changes were made to the online route to encourage people to use digital channels to obtain their NHS COVID Pass either by using the NHS App or emailing a PDF. This was the focus of my FOI request.

Please answer the questions raised in my original FOI request.

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,

Bridget Catley

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Catley,

Your requested internal review of FOI-1451364 is now complete. Please see
the attached letter for the outcome.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Internal Reviews
Department of Health and Social Care

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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 'Covid Pass Letters'.

Thank you for your response of 08 June 2023.

Regarding the following part of the request: "“Please provide copies of all documents you may hold (emails/minutes from meetings) concerning the decisions to encourage people to apply for a covid pass letter using digital channels and making an application for covid pass letters via website less accessible, i.e.,
now having to use NHS login or have access to email."

I disagree with your response that you require further information to identify and locate the information requested.

Please provide details of all working documents you hold as to how the project is to be managed and documented.

Please provide details of any workflow management software used to document change control processes.

I believe that the information I have requested will be well-documented and readily available.

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,

Bridget Catley

Department of Health and Social Care

Dear Ms Catley,

Thank you for your email.

Please can you clarify if the email you sent on 12 July is a new FOI
request or if you are unhappy with your internal review reply dated 8 June
(Our reference IR-1454608). Once we receive an answer, we will be able to
take the appropriate course of action.

Kind regards

DHSC FOI team.

Department of Health and Social Care

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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 'Covid Pass Letters'.

Consider it a new request:

Please provide details of all working documents you hold as to how the project is to be managed and documented.

Please provide details of any workflow management software used to document change control processes.

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,

Bridget Catley

Department of Health and Social Care

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Catley,

Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your recent FOI request (our ref: FOI-1462233).

Yours sincerely, 

Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care

show quoted sections

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 'Covid Pass Letters'.

Thank you for your letter of 04 September 2023.

You wrote:

So that we provide you with the right information, please can you explain whether you are
seeking only information relating to the decision to require individuals to use NHS Login or
have to have access to an email address to get an NHS COVID Pass, or whether you are
seeking broader information about encouraging people to apply for an NHS COVID Pass
letter using digital channels.

My Response:

Ideally I would like information for both the points you raise above. However, if the information you are able to supply is limited by hours spent retrieving information, I would prefer to have information regarding encouraging people to apply for an NHS COVID pass letter using digital channels.

You wrote:

Again, so that we provide you with the right information, please can you explain what
specifically you are referring to when you reference ‘the project’ – for example, is this
specifically about any decision to require individuals to use NHS Login or to have access
to an email address in order to get an NHS COVID Pass, or does it refer to something
broader in scope than this?

My Response:

I used the reference "the project", in the context of the overall desire of the DHSC to encourage the public to use digital channels, which would include the use of NHS login and email to get an NHS COVID Pass.

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,

Bridget Catley

Department of Health and Social Care

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.

FreedomofInformation, Department of Health and Social Care

Dear Ms Catley,

Please confirm if this request is (1) a request for an internal review or (2) a request for new information.

Thanks

DHSC FOI team.

show quoted sections

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Bridget Catley please sign in and let everyone know.