Papers of SPI meetings during swine flu
Dear Department of Health FOI team
Dame Deirdre Hine wrote in her 2011 report into the 2009 swine flu pandemic that ‘The SPI-B&C provided SAGE with seven briefings between May 2009 and February 2010’ (1) In its submission to the inquiry, the department lists these as:
a. Offering vaccination and antiviral treatment to targeted groups: impacts and implications for communication;
b. The impact on public reaction of the term used to describe targeted groups;
c. Fraudulent use of the 14 day self-certification of sickness absence: likely scale of problem and measures to reduce the problem
d. School closure policy during the H1N1 pandemic;
e. Attitudes to being vaccinated agains tH1N1 (swine flu) implications for communications;
f. Planning assumptions: communication issues;
g. Principles of effective communication.(2)
The Department did publish on its website (3) briefings by SPI-M-O, but not SPI-B&C or other advisory bodies. Can the department provide me with:
1. Any, and preferably all, of items listed a-g above
2. The reason these were not made public at time.
I have previously submitted a similar request to the Government Office for Science, who respond they they do not hold this information.
All best
Michael Riordan
(1) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk..., p. 64
(2) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk..., pp. 23-4
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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,
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enquiry can be found on either of these websites. Where a reply is
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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.
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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 Riordan,
We apologise for the delay in you receiving a response to your recent FOI
request (our ref:FOI-1438189).
The Department of Health and Social Care is still considering your request
and we will respond as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
Dear Mr Riordan,
Please find attached the Department of Health and Social Care's response
to your FOI request (our ref: FOI-1438189) and we apologise for the delay
in replying.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health and Social Care
Dear FOI team,
Many thanks for the time and effort that you have taken to respond to my request. This is extremely helpful.
I note however that you have provided me with a document entitled “Principles of Effective Communication” dated February 2020. This has, to my knowledge, not been released before and is useful at setting context for SPI-B’s work during the early months of SAGE’s 2020 activation. However, as stated in my original request, the Department of Health’s submission to Dame Deirdre Hine’s review refers to a document on these principles which was circulated in 2009 during the swine flu pandemic, and this is the document I referred to as ‘g’ in my request, which should correspond to SPI-B&C paper 7.
For clarity, here is the text I was referring to from the DoH submission (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...)
“How was scientific advice communicated to the media and public?
149. In response to requests for advice from SAGE and the Department, the Behaviour and Communication sub-group of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Advisory Committee provided briefing papers on the following topics:
a. Offering vaccination and antiviral treatment to targeted groups: impacts and implications for communication; b. The impact on public reaction of the term used to describe targeted groups; c. Fraudulent use of the 14 day self-certification of sickness absence: likely scale of problem and measures to reduce the problem d. School closure policy during the H1N1 pandemic; e. Attitudes to being vaccinated against H1N1 (swine flu) implications for communications; f. Planning assumptions: communication issues; g. Principles of effective communication”
Paper 7 should therefore be a paper on this subject from 2009, not 2020. It would be extremely helpful if you could provide this paper.
In light of the information you have provided it would also be helpful to see the missing paper 8, though I fully appreciate this is an additional request and may require a new FOI to be submitted.
Yours faithfully
Michael Riordan
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...
Dear Mr Riordan ,
Your requested internal review of FOI-1438189 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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Michael B Riordan left an annotation ()
The original response did, in fact, contain all the papers requested.