Mental health waiting lists & suicides

The request was partially successful.

Paris Gourtsoyannis

Dear Fife NHS Board,

Please treat the following questions as a Freedom of Information request.

I would like any response to be made electronically wherever
possible in spreadsheet form.

This request aims to establish the number of people on waiting lists and how many of those have committed suicide before beginning treatment.

First, please provide a figure for the number of people currently on waiting lists to receive treatment for mental illness within your NHS board area as of the most recent date for which data is held.

Secondly, please disclose if any individuals on waiting lists for mental illness treatment with your NHS board in the past five years died without having received any treatment. If this information is held, please indicate if the cause of death was suicide.

If the decision is made to withhold some of this data using
exemptions in the act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.

If you are only able to release some of the information, I would ask that you release this data rather than withhold the entire set.

If you would like more clarification on this issue do not hesitate to contact me using this site.

Please can you confirm that you have received this request; please bear in mind that under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 you are bound to respond within 20 working days.

Kind regards,
Paris Gourtsoyannis
07525066640

Lawrie Elizabeth (NHS FIFE),

Dear Ms Gourtsoyannis

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Request which we received today Monday 31 January 2011.

I can confirm that it is currently being processed and you will receive your response no later than Friday 25 February 2011.

Please allow postage time if applicable.

Lizzie Lawrie
Clerical Officer
Corporate Services - NHS Fife

Telephone - 01592 643355 ext 8569
Email - [NHS Fife request email]

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Lawrie Elizabeth (NHS FIFE),

Freedom of Information Request 1323

Paris Gourtsoyannis

Dear Ms Gourtsoyannis

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST:

Patients with Mental Illness

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request which we received on
31^st January 2011 regarding the above.

The response to your questions raised is as follows:

1) Please provide a figure for the number of people currently on
waiting lists for mental illness within your NHS Board as of the most
recent date for which data is held.

The number of patients on the waiting list in NHS Fife at as 31^st January
2011 is 481 patients. These patients form the specialities of General
Psychiatry, Psychiatry of Old age and Children & Adolescent Psychiatry.

2) Please disclose if any individuals on waiting lists for mental
illness treatment with your NHS Board in the past 5 years died without
having received any treatment. If this information is held, please
indicate if the cause of death was suicide.

The number of individuals who were on the waiting list but died before
treatment, whether a suicide or not, are too few to release due to the
risk of identification.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to
contact me on 01592 643355 ext 8569 or email
[1][email address] if we can be of further assistance.

If, however, you are unhappy with any aspect of how we have dealt with
your request you can ask us to review the handling of your request. Please
write to me specifying the reasons why you are seeking a review within 40
days of the date of this correspondence. I shall arrange for a review to
be carried out and a report made to the Chief Executive of NHS Fife who
will respond to your request for a review.

You also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner,
who does not have to take up all reviews he receives and will decide
whether to look into your concerns.

You can write to him after the immediate response from us or after our
response to your request for a review but you have to do so within 6
months of our reply.

He can be found at:

Mr Kevin Dunion

Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife KY16 9DS

[2]www.itspublicknowledge.info

Finally, you should be aware that we operate a disclosure log on the NHS
website. This means that all FOI requests made to us are posted on to the
web, although the identity of the requester is not made public. Once we
have sent you the information, we shall also post this on the website.

Please acknowledge receipt of this email.

Yours sincerely

Norma Wilson

FOI Lead Officer, NHS Fife

Lizzie Lawrie

Clerical Officer

Corporate Services - NHS Fife

Telephone: 01592 648161

Email: [3][NHS Fife request email]

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References

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1. mailto:fife-uhb@[email address]
2. http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/
3. mailto:[NHS Fife request email]