Potentially Violent Patients Scheme
Dear Sir
Potentially Violent Patients Scheme
Appeals Procedure
Please provide:
1 a copy of the policy document that defines the policy of the NHS in relation to the operation of the potentially Violent Patients Scheme pursuant to paragraph 21(2) of Schedule 6 of SI 2004 No. 291.
2. a copy of the appeals procedure pursuant to the policy Item (1) above
For the avoidance of doubt this is a requisition under the Freedom of Information Act.
Thank you for your assistance
Yours faithfully
Nick Brown
Thank you for contacting NHS England.
Your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which we received on 13
November 2013 has been allocated a reference number of SDR 167412. Please
quote this reference in any further communication regarding this matter.
Your FOI request has been passed to the Case Management Team and a Case
Officer will acknowledge your request within two working days. We will
respond to your FOI request within 20 working days in line with the FOI
Act 2000.
If you require any further information or wish to speak to someone about
your request, please contact NHS England at the email address and
telephone number shown below.
Yours Faithfully
NHS England
PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT
0300 3 11 22 33
[1][email address]
[2]www.england.nhs.uk
Our reference: SDR 167412: Acknowledgement
Dear Mr Brown,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, dated 13 November
2013.
Please be assured that your request is being dealt with under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty
working days.
If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
email [1][email address] and the message will be forwarded
appropriately. Remember to quote the above reference number in any future
communications.
Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Boden
Freedom of Information
NHS England
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: [email address]
Website: www.england.nhs.uk
Address: NHS England, PO Box 16738, REDDITCH, B97 9PT
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
Dear Mr Brown,
Re: Freedom of Information request (Our Ref: SDR 167412)
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 13 November
2013.
Your exact request was,
“Please provide:
1 a copy of the policy document that defines the policy of the NHS in
relation to the operation of the potentially Violent Patients Scheme
pursuant to paragraph 21(2) of Schedule 6 of SI 2004 No. 291.
2. a copy of the appeals procedure pursuant to the policy Item (1) above”
NHS England does not hold this information.
To clarify our response, please may I explain that there is no national
policy on Violent Patient Schemes, other than the requirements set down in
the legislation mentioned in your request.
Policies for managing Violent Patient Schemes were developed by individual
Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to serve the needs of patients and GPs in their
area of responsibility. Since 1 April 2013, PCTs have ceased to exist and
the responsibility for commissioning GP services has been taken over by
NHS England. However, the policies on Violent Patient Schemes set up by
the former PCTs continue to be in effect.
NHS England has not prioritised this as an area for review and there are
no plans at present to create a national policy. However, if you wished to
view the policy for a specific former PCT area, or all of the policies now
held by a particular area team, we would be able to process this as a new
FOI request and provide you with that information.
I hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review by writing to us, within two
months of the date of this letter, to:
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Email: [1][email address]
Please quote the reference number SDR 167412 in any future communications.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
K9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [2][email address].uk
Website: [3]www.ico.gov.uk
Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.
Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Boden
Freedom of Information
NHS England
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: [email address]
Website: www.england.nhs.uk
Address: NHS England, PO Box 16738, REDDITCH, B97 9PT
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Dear Mr Boden
FoI REQUISITION
POTENTIALLY VIOLENT PATIENTS SCHEMES
Thank you for your response of 21st November 2013.
In your response (in summary) you confirm:
1. Policies for managing Violent Patient Schemes were
developed by individual PCTs.
2. Since 1 April 2013, PCTs have ceased to exist.
3. The responsibility for commissioning GP services
has been taken over by NHS England.
4. The policies on Violent Patient Schemes set up by
the former PCTs continue to be in effect [by the CCGs].
5. NHS England has not prioritised this as an area for
review.
6. There are no plans to create a national policy.
7. NHS England retains the policy documents for
each specific former PCT area.
I infer as follows:
A. From Item 2, NHS England absorbed back into itself
(as the oversight and supervisory body) the responsibilities
of the PCTs and re-delegated these to the CCGs
B. Some responsibilities from the PCTs were not re-delegated.
C. Responsibilities Item B are thus retained by NHS England.
D. NHS England has sight of all responsibilities and policies Item A.
E. The VPS policies fall under Item A.
It follows from Item E that my FoI requisition made to NHS England
could have been serviced by NHS England on demand. Thus my
request has not been lawfully serviced.
If I am incorrect in my inferences A - E then it becomes apparent
that the responsibilities and policies of the PCTs were transferred
(or otherwise) to the CCGs without statutory vehicle. It follows in
turn that other responsibilities and policies may also not have
transferred and, in principle, there would be no vehicle to
discover this.
However even if this were the case you have confirmed that
NHS England is capable of delivering to me the policy documents
I request, but has not done so.
I therefore request an internal review of the response of NHS England
in this regard.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Yours sincerely
Nick Brown
Thank you for contacting NHS England.
Your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which we received on 20
December 2013 has been allocated a reference number of SDR 186953. Please
quote this reference in any further communication regarding this matter.
Your FOI request has been passed to the Case Management Team and a Case
Officer will acknowledge your request within two working days. We will
respond to your FOI request within 20 working days in line with the FOI
Act 2000.
If you require any further information or wish to speak to someone about
your request, please contact NHS England at the email address and
telephone number shown below.
Kind Regards
NHS England
PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT
0300 3 11 22 33
[1][email address]
[2]www.england.nhs.uk
Dear Sir
FOI Requisition
'Potentially Violent Patients Scheme'
13th November 2013
I have requested an Internal Review. I have not made a fresh FoI Requisition. Please handle this inquiry as a requisiton of an Internal Review.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Thank you
Yours faithfully,
Nick Brown
Thank you for contacting NHS England.
Your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which we received on 23
December 2013 has been allocated a reference number of SDR 186999. Please
quote this reference in any further communication regarding this matter.
Your FOI request has been passed to the Case Management Team and a Case
Officer will acknowledge your request within two working days. We will
respond to your FOI request within 20 working days in line with the FOI
Act 2000.
If you require any further information or wish to speak to someone about
your request, please contact NHS England at the email address and
telephone number shown below.
Kind Regards
NHS England
PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT
0300 3 11 22 33
[1][email address]
[2]www.england.nhs.uk
Dear Mr Brown,
Thank you for your email dated 23 December and 20 December 2013. Please
see this email as acknowledgement of your Internal Review request. Your
request will be with under the original reference SDR 167412, so please
disregard references SDR 186953 and SDR 186999.
We endeavour to respond to Internal Reviews within 20 working days.
However, please be aware that on some occasions this has been extended to
40 working days. An officer will be allocated to handle your Internal
Review and will update you accordingly where necessary.
If you wish to discuss this case any further please do not hesitate to
write to us again on the following details, including your reference
number SDR-167412.
• Email: [email address]
• Address: NHS England, PO Box 16738, REDDITCH, B97 9PT
Yours sincerely,
Natasha Mahoya
Customer Contact Centre Case Officer
NHS England
PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT
0300 3 11 22 33
[1][email address]
[2]www.england.nhs.uk
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.england.nhs.uk/
Dear Sir
Ref Internal Review of FoI requisition reference SDR 167412 laid out here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/1...
Please respond with the completion of the internal review I requisitioned on 20th December 2013, within seven days, failing which I shall refer the matter to the ICO.
Yours faithfully,
Nick Brown
Dear Mr Brown
Thank you for your email dated 20 March 2014.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your FOI
Internal Review request.
NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre which handles FOIs continues to be a
relatively new department. As a result and following the NHS Transition we
have experienced a number of teething problems in terms of the process FOI
cases go through, resource available and how the response is approved.
This has meant some cases have taken longer to respond to than we would
have hoped. We are aware of these challenges and are working hard to
streamline processes to reduce undue delays. Please can I reiterate our
apologies and understanding this is frustrating. We are progressing
Internal Review requests as quickly as possible.
I hope this communication is helpful in providing reasoning to the delay
in responding to your Internal Review request.
If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
please email [1][email address] and the message will be
forwarded appropriately. Please remember to quote the above reference
number in any future communications.
Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.
Yours sincerely,
Sean Gregory
Customer Contact Centre Case Officer
NHS England
Tel: 0300 311 2233
Email: - [2][email address]
Website: [3]www.england.nhs.uk
Address: NHS England, PO Box 16738, REDDITCH, B97 9PT
Nick Brown left an annotation ()
NHS Englans has not responded in the 20 days given to it by the ICO. Consequently the ICO is now being asked to re-engage.
Nick Brown left an annotation ()
13 May 2014
Case Reference Number FS50536318
Dear Mr Brown
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the Act’)
Information request made to NHS England
Request reference: SDR 167412
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/p...
Thank you for your further correspondence received on the 1 May 2014 about your complaint about NHS England’s handling of your request for information.
NHS England has confirmed to us that a response is yet to be sent to the internal review you requested on the 20 December 2013.
Due to the further concerns you have raised we have now progressed the case to decide whether the public authority has dealt with the request for information in accordance with Part I of the Act, however no specific decision has been made as to the individual merits of the complaint at this time.
A case officer will contact you as soon as possible to explain how your complaint will be progressed.
If you wish to send any further documentation while the case is awaiting allocation, please quote the reference number at the top of this letter. This will ensure that the information is added directly to your case.
Please be aware that this is an automated process. The information will not be read by a member of our staff until your case is allocated to an officer.
If you have any specific concerns before your case is allocated to an officer, please contact our helpline on 0303 123 1113, or 01625 545745 if you would prefer not to call an ‘03’ number, being sure to quote the reference number at the top of this letter.
Yours sincerely,
Sent on behalf of
Pam Clements
Group Manager
Information Commissioner’s Office
Dear Mr Brown,
Re: Freedom of Information Internal Review Outcome
Our Reference: - SDR-1674712 IR
ICO Reference: - FS50536318
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) Internal Review request
dated 23 December 2013.
Your exact FOI request was:-
“Please provide:
1 a copy of the policy document that defines the policy of the NHS in
relation to the operation of the potentially Violent Patients Scheme
pursuant to paragraph 21(2) of Schedule 6 of SI 2004 No. 291.
2. a copy of the appeals procedure pursuant to the policy Item (1) above”
I can confirm that a Panel has convened to review your request and I have
set out the outcome below.
The Panel agreed that NHS England responded to your FOI request within the
statutory timeframe. However, we would like to apologise for the delay in
providing you with a response for your Internal Review.
The Panel assessed whether you had received an appropriate response to
your request. The Panel confirmed that NHS England did not hold the
information you requested as there is currently no single policy document
which defines NHS England’s Violent Patients Scheme policy and that
regional policies (many of which have been inherited from former Primary
Care Trusts) continue to be in effect.
However, the Panel decided NHS England should have sought to provide all
regional policies held by the individual Area Teams.
Please find attached regional policy documents for 17 of the 27 NHS
England Area Teams.
Please accept our apologies as this is a partial response and the
outstanding information will be issued to you later this week once we have
received it.
Please note names and contact details of individuals have been redacted
under Section 40(2) of the FOI Act which provides for the protection of
personal information. Section 40 prohibits a public body from disclosing
personally identifiable information as doing so would contravene data
protection principles. Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and
therefore not subject to the public interest test when considering
disclosure of information.
Please also note that pricing and cost information has been redacted from
the attached documents as this is considered out of the scope of the
original request.
If you are not content with the outcome of your internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
K9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [1][email address].uk
Website: [2]www.ico.gov.uk
Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.
Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.
Yours sincerely,
Adam Grindrod
Customer Contact Centre Case Officer
Transformation and Corporate Operations Directorate
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [3][email address]
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
Nick Brown left an annotation ()
NHS England have now responded to this FoI requisition. However when the PCTs were disbanded and their functions pulled back into NHS England with this transfer went these policies. However the policies are all time-expired - they all appear to be valid to the transfer time of 1st April 2013. It follows that NHS England have still not responded to this requisition. It follows that this must now return to the ICO.
Dear Mr Brown,
Re: Freedom of Information Internal Review Outcome
Our Reference: - SDR-167412 IR
ICO Reference: - FS50536318
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) Internal Review request
dated 23 December 2013.
Your exact FOI request was:-
“Please provide:
1 a copy of the policy document that defines the policy of the NHS in
relation to the operation of the potentially Violent Patients Scheme
pursuant to paragraph 21(2) of Schedule 6 of SI 2004 No. 291.
2. a copy of the appeals procedure pursuant to the policy Item (1) above”
Further to our e-mail of 30 June 2014, please find attached regional
policy documents for the remaining Area Teams. Please note the Area Teams
of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire and
Shropshire & Staffordshire do not have any regional policy documents for
their Violent Patients Scheme but instead follow the instructions as
outlined in the NHS England Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced
Services) Directions 2013/2014 and previously issued guidance from the
Department of Health which are publically available to view at the
following links:
[1]http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
[2]http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
[3]http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
Please note names and contact details of individuals have been redacted
under Section 40(2) of the FOI Act which provides for the protection of
personal information. Section 40 prohibits a public body from disclosing
personally identifiable information as doing so would contravene data
protection principles. Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and
therefore not subject to the public interest test when considering
disclosure of information.
Please also note that pricing and cost information has been redacted from
the attached documents as this is considered out of the scope of the
original request.
I hope this information satisfactorily resolves your FOI request and is
helpful to you.
As your request provides a number of different documents you may find it
useful if you have specific concerns or enquiries regarding a specific
area to discuss this with your local NHS England Area Team. If this would
be helpful we would be happy to help facilitate contact. If you can
provide us your region, area or address we will request the relevant Area
Team to contact you.
If you are not content with the outcome of your internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
K9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: [4][email address].uk
Website: [5]www.ico.gov.uk
Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.
Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.
Yours sincerely,
Adam Grindrod
Customer Contact Centre Case Officer
NHS England
PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT
0300 3 11 22 33
[6][email address]
[7]www.england.nhs.uk
References
Visible links
1. http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
2. http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
3. http://www.gpcwm.org.uk/wp-content/uploa...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.england.nhs.uk/
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Nick Brown left an annotation ()
NHS England has been very poor at dealing with this requisition considering that it was originally made on 13th November 2013, approximately 5 months ago. Consequently I referred the matter to the ICO. The ICO responded on 3rd April 2014, stating that it had notified NHS England and giving NHS England 20 days to comply.