Mental Health
Dear Universities,
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information in regards to the mental heath resources at your university.
1. How many support service staff have been employed with a mental health remit (e.g. counselling, wellbeing) in each of the last 5 academic years. If a breakdown is not available for mental health staff, please provide a total for the closest possible category.
2. Budget for mental health support for each of the last 5 academic years, and where possible a breakdown on how that money is allocated, e.g. staff, marketing, equipment etc.
3. Number of students seeking mental health support in each of the last 5 academic years.
4. Average waiting time for mental health support in each of the last 5 academic years.
5. Any internal reports or reviews relating to mental health provision over the last 5 years.
Please provide the above information digitally, preferably in the form of an excel spreadsheet.
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under your Section 16 obligations, as to how I can refine my request to be included in the scope of the Act.
In any case, if you can identify ways that my request could be refined please provide further advice and assistance to indicate this.
I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as stipulated by the Act.
If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for.
Yours faithfully,
Kirsty Card
Dear Kirsty
RE: Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information
Thank you for your enquiry, which has been logged and passed to the relevant department within the University for processing. Please quote reference number FOI 136 should you need to contact the University regarding this request.
A response will be sent to you promptly and in any case not later than 20 working days after the date we received your email.
The University will make every effort to provide you with the information requested; if any clarification is required, the University will contact you as soon as possible. In some circumstances, it may not be possible to provide you with an answer to your enquiry. Where the University believes this is the case, you will be informed in writing, stating the reason(s). If the information you are seeking is already published by the University, or is otherwise available to members of the public, you will be sent details outlining how to access the information. You will be advised if it is necessary for the University to charge a fee to cover the costs of processing your request. Should this be the case, please note the information cannot be released until such payment is received.
If you have any questions regarding your request for information then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Christine Shaw
Corporate Governance Officer
DDI / Fòn: 01847 889380
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Dear Kirsty
Re: Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – Request for Information
I refer to your request for information received on the 7th December 2018 relating to mental health - request number FOI 136. Please see our response as follows:
1. How many support service staff have been employed with a mental health remit (e.g. counselling, wellbeing) in each of the last 5 academic years. If a breakdown is not available for mental health staff, please provide a total for the closest possible category.
I can confirm that over the last 5 years there has been no member of University staff with the specific remit for mental health. Please note that the University of the Highlands and Islands operates as a collegiate federal partnership comprising of thirteen independent further and higher education colleges, specialist colleges and research institutions. A list of contact details for our partner organisations is available at http://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/campuses and further information about the University is available online at http://www.uhi.ac.uk/en
2. Budget for mental health support for each of the last 5 academic years, and where possible a breakdown on how that money is allocated, e.g. staff, marketing, equipment etc.
I can confirm that there has been no University budget allocated to mental health over the last 5 years. Please contact our academic partners directly for this information.
3. Number of students seeking mental health support in each of the last 5 academic years.
The University does not hold information about students accessing mental health support in the last 5 years. Please contact our academic partners directly.
4. Average waiting time for mental health support in each of the last 5 academic years.
The University does not hold this information. Please contact our academic partners directly.
5. Any internal reports or reviews relating to mental health provision over the last 5 years.
We have recently completed an institutional review of 'Services to Support Student Mental Health'. Please find attached the report which was sent to the panel. The review panel have requested a number of requirements and recommendations be implemented which we will be working on over the next 12 months. The main themes include:
- Creation of a Mental Health Lead Practitioner role (currently going through recruitment process)
- Policy and process e.g. development of Mental Health Strategy
- Data collection
- Strengthening external relationships with NHS Healthboards
- Staff training and development
- Student resources
- Communication plan highlighting services to students
- Development of minimum service standards
- Peer to Peer support
Copyright
Please note that copyright in the information you have been given belongs to the university. Copyright material must not be copied, distributed, modified, reproduced, transmitted, published (including published on the Internet or an intranet), or otherwise made available in whole or in part without the prior written consent of the copyright holder or as expressly permitted under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998. Should the university agree to give consent to the use of the information, then the university must be credited as having done so.
Your right to seek a review of our decision
If you are not satisfied with our response or our reasoning set-out above, you have forty working days in which to request a review of our decision. Any request should be put in writing and should be sent to me at the address detailed at the bottom of this email. Your request should:
(a) describe the nature of your original request; and
(b) explain the reasons why you are not satisfied with our response.
If you remain dissatisfied with how your request for information has been dealt with, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision as to whether we have handled your request properly.
Information relating to your right to seek review is available from the Scottish Information Commissioner's web page at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/faqs.... or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the following address:
Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Road, St Andrews,
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: [email address]
Website: www.itspublicknowledge.info
www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal
Finally, should you wish to discuss the contents of this response then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Christine Shaw
Corporate Governance Officer
DDI / Fòn: +44 (0) 1847 889380
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