Register of payments from pharmaceutical companies to staff

The request was partially successful.

Dear Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust,

Hospital trusts are reportedly meant to keep a register of payments from pharmaceutical companies (and other relevant companies) to staff, in case of conflicts of interest [1]. I am requesting a copy of the register for this Trust - which I would hope includes details of all relevant payments to staff and any related potential conflicts of interest. If it would be possible to have this information in an appropriate structured data format - for example, a CSV file - this would be helpful. If this Trust does not have a complete register, I would request: the release of the information on this topic that the Trust does hold; and an explanation of why the Trust does not hold a complete register.

I am aware that some would view data on pharmaceutical funding as personal data for those staff receiving the funding. Even if some of the information on this register may be classed as personal data (although this is contestable - for example, in some sectors of academia information re funding sources is made public as a matter of course) it would be covered by paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act. The release of these data is "necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed" [2]. Spurling et al's systematic review of how information from pharmaceutical companies impacts physicians' prescribing reported that, of the studies included which looked at total promotional investment, three "found that total promotional investment was positively associated with prescribing frequency...Two...found both positive results and no association...One study did not detect an association" [3]. There is thus a legitimate interest in releasing this register: the available research suggests that it is plausible that payments received influence how public money is spent and the type of care provided to members of the public.

For the reasons given above, there is a strong public interest in releasing this information. While "requests for the personal data of a third party are exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act...if disclosure would contravene section 10 of the Data Protection Act, the right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress" [2], I would argue that, even if some of those named in these documents feel that their release would cause them damage or distress, this is outweighed by the significant public interest served by releasing these data.

Yours Faithfully,

Dr Jonathan Mendel

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/a...
[2] http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/info...
[3] http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info...

Executive FOIA - Group Mailbox, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

3 Attachments

Dear Dr Mendel

Please find attached Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust's letter of
acknowledgement for requests received under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.

Yours sincerely

[1]Claire Froggatt

 

Governance Administrator

Tel: 02392 28600 x 1288

Room 2.03

De La Court House

Queen Alexandra Hospital

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

[2][email address]

 

References

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Executive FOIA - Group Mailbox, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Dr Mendel          

 

Please find attached Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust's letter of completion
for your request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Yours sincerely

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|James Taylor |
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|Information Governance Manager |
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|Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust |
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|Room 2.03 |
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|De La Court House |
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|Queen Alexandra Hospital |
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|Southwick Hill Road |
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|Cosham |
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|Portsmouth |
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|Hampshire |
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|PO6 3LY |
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|+----------------------------------------------------------------------+|
||Telephone: |02392 286000 ||
||----------------+-----------------------------------------------------||
||Extension: |3708 ||
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||E-mail: |[1][email address] ||
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||Website: |[2]www.portsmouth.nhs.uk ||
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|This e-mail message and any files transmitted with it are confidential|
|and intended solely for the use of the addressee. This communication may|
|contain material protected by law from being passed on. If you are not|
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+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.portsmouth.nhs.uk/

Jonathan Mendel

Dear Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust,

Thanks for your response to my FOI request. Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of the Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Register of payments from pharmaceutical companies to staff'.

Staff names are absent from the information released. Even if staff names may be classed as personal data (as defined by the Data Protection Act) they would be covered by paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 of the Data Protection Act. The release of these data is "necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the data controller or by the third party or parties to whom the data are disclosed" [1]. Spurling et al's systematic review of how information from pharmaceutical companies impacts physicians' prescribing reported that, of the studies included which looked at total promotional investment, three "found that total promotional investment was positively associated with prescribing frequency...Two...found both positive results and no association...One study did not detect an association" [2]. There is thus a legitimate interest in releasing this register: the available research suggests that it is plausible that payments received influence how substantial amounts of public money is spent and the type of care provided to members of the public. Making these data public will open up further opportunities for academic and journalistic research on the impacts of payments and hospitality. It is important to include the names of those declaring interests: among other benefits, this will allow more effective scrutiny of Conflicts of Interest and could allow more extensive analysis: for example, it has been suggested that one could compare declarations on these registers with Conflict of Interest statements on open access pubmed papers.

For the reasons given above, there is a strong public interest in releasing these data in full. While "requests for the personal data of a third party are exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act...if disclosure would contravene section 10 of the Data Protection Act, the right to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress" [1] I would argue that, even if some of those named in these documents feel that their release would cause them damage or distress, this is outweighed by the significant public interest served by releasing these data.

Yours Faithfully,

Dr Jonathan Mendel

[1]
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/info...
[2]
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info...

Executive FOIA - Group Mailbox, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Dear Dr Mendel

The Trust has received and considered your appeal against the Freedom of Information Response (13-14 019) of 09 May 2013.

The application of the section 40(2) exemption, which is the subject of the appeal (although in the Trust's original response, as job titles were provided effectively identifying individual roles there was no additional and explicit reference to the section 40 exemption) in most circumstances depends on whether the disclosure would breach the first Data Protection Principle and be 'unfair'.

In balancing DPA Principle requirement of 'fairness' with the Paragraph six condition that has been cited ('necessary for... legitimate interests') the Trust has concluded that this balance is best served by disclosure of job titles / roles, rather than disclosure of names.

The Ministry of Justice guidance linked below also states that potential unfairness can be eliminated by anonymising data and the Trust's response maintains the balance between fairness and the legitimate interest in disclosure as prescribing practices at an individual level can still be analysed using job titles.

If you are still dissatisfied with the response you have received, your next course of action would be to approach the Information Commissioner's Office for an assessment, at:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely


James Taylor
Information Governance Manager
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Telephone: 02392 286000
Extension: 3708

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