names of members of the Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
A recent publication of DHSC is titled “Water fluoridation: Health monitoring report for England 2022” and is available at this URL:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
On page 4 of the report it is stated:
"This report is published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). It was prepared by the Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group, comprising colleagues from both OHID and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)."
I request the names of the individual members of the Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group during the time the 2022 report was prepared, as well as the current members if any have changed. I also request the affiliation and position of each member of the Working Group. By "affiliation", I mean the government agency and subdivision; or for those not affiliated with a government agency, the name of the organization they are affiliated with. By "position", I mean their job title within the government agency or organization.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Neurath
for AEHSP
Dear Department of Health and Social Care,
It has now been 20 working days since I submitted my FOI request and I have received no response. Please inform me of the status of this request within your agency and let me know how much longer it may take you to respond to the request.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Neurath
AEHSP
Dear Mr Neurath,
Thank you for your email.
We apologise for the length of time it has taken to process your FOI request. Unfortunately, the Department’s response is not yet complete. We will issue our response as soon as possible.
Please accept our apologies for the delay.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
Dear Mr Neurath,
Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your FOI request (our ref:FOI-1410858).
I am sorry for the delay in replying.
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 (DHSC) handling of my FOI request 'names of members of the Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group'.
My request very plainly requested the names of BOTH the current members of the Working Group AND the members during the time the 2022 report was being prepared. Here is an exact quote from my FOI request:
"I request the names of the individual members of the Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group during the time the 2022 report was prepared, as well as the current members if any have changed."
Yet the DHSC's response provided the name of only a single member, and who DHSC described as the sole remaining current member:
"There was one member on the 2022 Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Report Working Group, who remains on it now."
The Working Group obviously had more than one member at the time it worked on the cited 2022 report and presumably has more than one member currently. My request was for all the members during the time the report was prepared and all the current members. It is hard for me to see how this could have been misunderstood. I therefore request as expeditiously as possible that DHSC fully respond to my FOI request with the names and affiliations of all the members during the time the 2022 report was being worked on and all the current members as well.
To clarify the time during which the 2022 report was being prepared: The report has a publication date of 21 March 2022, so that is the last date for members who WERE in the Working Group. The Working Group is required by legislation to produce health monitoring reports every 4 years, as indicated in this quote from the 2022 report:
"Background
The Water Fluoridation Health Monitoring Working Group, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is required by legislation to monitor the effects of water fluoridation schemes on health, and to produce reports at no greater than 4-yearly intervals. This report, the third in the series, fulfils this requirement."
The previous fluoridation health report is dated March 2018.
Therefore, I am requesting the names and affiliations of all Working Group members who were members at any time from March 2018 to March 2022, as well as any other people who may have become members from March 2022 to the present, which is August 15, 2022, or whenever this request is filled, whichever is later.
Finally, I note that my initial FOI request for the names and affiliations of all Working Group members was submitted on July 1, 2022 which was 45 days ago, long past the 20 days expected for a response, especially to a simple request such as this.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...
Yours faithfully,
Chris Neurath
AEHSP
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://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlo...
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. https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlo...
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...
Dear Mr Neurath,
Your requested internal review of FOI-1410858 is now complete. Please see
the attached letter for the outcome.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Internal Reviews
Department of Health and Social Care
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