Request for admission to hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation
Dear UK Health Security Agency, could you please provide me with hospital admission data reported by days of positivity to SARS-CoV-2 since admission.
For clarity if someone was positive when admitted, that would be Day 0, if found positive after 5 days, Day 5 and so on.
If at all possible an Excel format would be advantageous.
Thank you for your time.
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Your request will be handled by the Information Rights Team at the UK
Health Security Agency (UKHSA). We acknowledge receipt of your email and
request for information, which will be treated as a request for
information under statutory access legislation. UKHSA has taken
responsibility for statutory access requests addressed to Public Health
England and NHS Test and Trace Services.
Please note that requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the
Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) will receive a response
within 20 working days from the day following the date of receipt of your
request.
If the request is for your personal data, your request will be handled as
a data subject access request (SAR) under Article 15 of the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), then we will respond within one month of the
receipt of the request.
The UK Health Security Agency is heavily involved in the government’s
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will aim to address all requests
promptly and within the required response timeframes. However, when we
are unable to meet the response timeframe we will keep requesters updated
on a revised expected timescale for a response to their request. The
Information Commissioner recognises this position in its recent guidance,
see link:
[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/2617613/ico-reg...
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[2][UKHSA request email]
[3]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 19 April 2022 17:08
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for admission to
hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation
[You don't often get email from
[FOI #855744 email]. Learn why this is important at
[4]http://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentifica...
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear UK Health Security Agency, could you please provide me with hospital
admission data reported by days of positivity to SARS-CoV-2 since
admission.
For clarity if someone was positive when admitted, that would be Day 0, if
found positive after 5 days, Day 5 and so on.
If at all possible an Excel format would be advantageous.
Thank you for your time.
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #855744 email]
Is [UKHSA request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to UK Health Security Agency? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[5]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[7]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[8]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Please find attached UKHSA's response to your request.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Information Rights <[email address]>
Sent: 20 April 2022 10:05
To: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Cc: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 64
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Your request will be handled by the Information Rights Team at the UK
Health Security Agency (UKHSA). We acknowledge receipt of your email and
request for information, which will be treated as a request for
information under statutory access legislation. UKHSA has taken
responsibility for statutory access requests addressed to Public Health
England and NHS Test and Trace Services.
Please note that requests under the Freedom of Information Act and the
Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) will receive a response
within 20 working days from the day following the date of receipt of your
request.
If the request is for your personal data, your request will be handled as
a data subject access request (SAR) under Article 15 of the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), then we will respond within one month of the
receipt of the request.
The UK Health Security Agency is heavily involved in the government’s
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will aim to address all requests
promptly and within the required response timeframes. However, when we
are unable to meet the response timeframe we will keep requesters updated
on a revised expected timescale for a response to their request. The
Information Commissioner recognises this position in its recent guidance,
see link:
[3]https://ico.org.uk/media/2617613/ico-reg...
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[4][UKHSA request email]
[5]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 19 April 2022 17:08
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for admission to
hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation
[You don't often get email from
[FOI #855744 email]. Learn why this is important at
[6]http://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentifica...
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear UK Health Security Agency, could you please provide me with hospital
admission data reported by days of positivity to SARS-CoV-2 since
admission.
For clarity if someone was positive when admitted, that would be Day 0, if
found positive after 5 days, Day 5 and so on.
If at all possible an Excel format would be advantageous.
Thank you for your time.
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #855744 email]
Is [UKHSA request email] the wrong address for Freedom of
Information requests to UK Health Security Agency? If so, please contact
us using this form:
[7]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[8]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[9]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[10]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
Dear Information Rights, thank you for your response.
Your redirected me to a website which does not contain any of the data I asked for.
I find it very strange that you do not hold the data I asked for as you state that:
"The Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Watch surveillance system was established in 2020 to report the number of laboratory-confirmed influenza and COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital and critical care units (ICU and HDU) in NHS acute trusts across England”.
If you do not hold the data how do you know who came into hospital with a positive Covid 19 test, who developed Covid 19 post admission and who recovered and was discharged?
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
Your warning about breaking confidentiality is also misplaced as I asked for aggregate data by day of positivity for the whole of the UK. Unless less than 10 individuals tested positive each day at some stage in their hospital episode for the whole of the UK your warning does not make sense.
The Office for National Statistics considers the UKHSA to hold the data on the cycle threshold (ct) used on RT-PCR tests to determine a positive test in hospitals. [1]
The UKHSA’s blog reports surveillance methodologies that include Pillar 1 and procedures that can measure data regularly and consistently over the long term.
UKHSA reports detail the ‘numbers of confirmed cases, outbreaks, hospitalisations and deaths - and where possible broken down by factors including age, gender, region and setting.’ [2]
This level of detail already in the public domain undermines the concerns about breaking confidentiality.
THE UKHSA reports data on PCR positivity by date, reinfections, genomic sequencing, and cycle threshold analysis. THE UKHSA also says ‘The fewer cycles needed to detect the virus, the more virus there is in the sample (and therefore higher viral load). ‘
The claim of confidentiality is further undermined by UKHSA reports that are in the public domain of the median Ct value by the number of days since symptom onset in cases that have been sequenced (full sequencing or reflex assay). [3]
Given these points are you going to provide the data I asked for in my original request?
Yours ever,
Tom Jefferson
References
[1] Cycle threshold (Ct) used to test patients and staff in hospitals for COVID-19.https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpare...
[2] UKHSA’S weekly surveillance report: focusing on ‘Pillar 1’ data
https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2022/04/14/ukh...
[3] SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in England Technical briefing 38 11 March 2022 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Thank you for your response. We will get back to you shortly.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 22 April 2022 13:25
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 64
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear Information Rights, thank you for your response.
Your redirected me to a website which does not contain any of the data I
asked for.
I find it very strange that you do not hold the data I asked for as you
state that:
"The Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Watch surveillance system
was established in 2020 to report the number of laboratory-confirmed
influenza and COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital and critical care units
(ICU and HDU) in NHS acute trusts across England”.
If you do not hold the data how do you know who came into hospital with a
positive Covid 19 test, who developed Covid 19 post admission and who
recovered and was discharged?
[3]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Your warning about breaking confidentiality is also misplaced as I asked
for aggregate data by day of positivity for the whole of the UK. Unless
less than 10 individuals tested positive each day at some stage in their
hospital episode for the whole of the UK your warning does not make sense.
The Office for National Statistics considers the UKHSA to hold the data on
the cycle threshold (ct) used on RT-PCR tests to determine a positive test
in hospitals. [1]
The UKHSA’s blog reports surveillance methodologies that include Pillar 1
and procedures that can measure data regularly and consistently over the
long term.
UKHSA reports detail the ‘numbers of confirmed cases, outbreaks,
hospitalisations and deaths - and where possible broken down by factors
including age, gender, region and setting.’ [2]
This level of detail already in the public domain undermines the concerns
about breaking confidentiality.
THE UKHSA reports data on PCR positivity by date, reinfections, genomic
sequencing, and cycle threshold analysis. THE UKHSA also says ‘The fewer
cycles needed to detect the virus, the more virus there is in the sample
(and therefore higher viral load). ‘
The claim of confidentiality is further undermined by UKHSA reports that
are in the public domain of the median Ct value by the number of days
since symptom onset in cases that have been sequenced (full sequencing or
reflex assay). [3]
Given these points are you going to provide the data I asked for in my
original request?
Yours ever,
Tom Jefferson
References
[1] Cycle threshold (Ct) used to test patients and staff in hospitals for
COVID-19.https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[2] UKHSA’S weekly surveillance report: focusing on ‘Pillar 1’ data
[4]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[3] SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in
England Technical briefing 38 11 March 2022
[5]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Dear Tom Jefferson,
We hope you are well. We have gone back to the relevant team asking for
the data you have requested. However, as stated in our original FOI
response, UKHSA's relevant team confirmed they do not hold the data.
Under our section 16 duty we have provided you with advice and assistance.
I have reattached our response initially sent out to you on 21 April 2022.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Information Rights <[email address]>
Sent: 22 April 2022 14:23
To: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Cc: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 64
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Thank you for your response. We will get back to you shortly.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[3][UKHSA request email]
[4]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 22 April 2022 13:25
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Case ref 64
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear Information Rights, thank you for your response.
Your redirected me to a website which does not contain any of the data I
asked for.
I find it very strange that you do not hold the data I asked for as you
state that:
"The Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Watch surveillance system
was established in 2020 to report the number of laboratory-confirmed
influenza and COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital and critical care units
(ICU and HDU) in NHS acute trusts across England”.
If you do not hold the data how do you know who came into hospital with a
positive Covid 19 test, who developed Covid 19 post admission and who
recovered and was discharged?
[5]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Your warning about breaking confidentiality is also misplaced as I asked
for aggregate data by day of positivity for the whole of the UK. Unless
less than 10 individuals tested positive each day at some stage in their
hospital episode for the whole of the UK your warning does not make sense.
The Office for National Statistics considers the UKHSA to hold the data on
the cycle threshold (ct) used on RT-PCR tests to determine a positive test
in hospitals. [1]
The UKHSA’s blog reports surveillance methodologies that include Pillar 1
and procedures that can measure data regularly and consistently over the
long term.
UKHSA reports detail the ‘numbers of confirmed cases, outbreaks,
hospitalisations and deaths - and where possible broken down by factors
including age, gender, region and setting.’ [2]
This level of detail already in the public domain undermines the concerns
about breaking confidentiality.
THE UKHSA reports data on PCR positivity by date, reinfections, genomic
sequencing, and cycle threshold analysis. THE UKHSA also says ‘The fewer
cycles needed to detect the virus, the more virus there is in the sample
(and therefore higher viral load). ‘
The claim of confidentiality is further undermined by UKHSA reports that
are in the public domain of the median Ct value by the number of days
since symptom onset in cases that have been sequenced (full sequencing or
reflex assay). [3]
Given these points are you going to provide the data I asked for in my
original request?
Yours ever,
Tom Jefferson
References
[1] Cycle threshold (Ct) used to test patients and staff in hospitals for
COVID-19.https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[2] UKHSA’S weekly surveillance report: focusing on ‘Pillar 1’ data
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[3] SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and variants under investigation in
England Technical briefing 38 11 March 2022
[7]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Dear UK Health Security Agency,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of UK Health Security Agency's handling of my FOI request 'Request for admission to hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation’.
As you will see from my remarks on the 22nd of April, it is not possible for the UKHSA not to have the data I requested.
If this were the case, how can you distinguish hospital acquired infection with SARS-CoV-2 from the others (as it is identified as likely or unlikely on the basis of the testing date)?
How do you know if there is a problem?
How do you know whether it needs to be addressed?
How do you know whether your measures to prevent nosocomial transmission work?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
Dear Tom Jefferson,
We acknowledge receipt of your email, which will be treated as a request
for an internal review, following your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please note we aim to complete your internal review within 20 working days
from the day following the date of receipt of your request. We will notify
you if we anticipate the internal review taking longer than 20 working
days.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 28 April 2022 09:30
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Request for
admission to hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear UK Health Security Agency,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of UK Health Security Agency's
handling of my FOI request 'Request for admission to hospital data - March
2020 to last available observation’.
As you will see from my remarks on the 22nd of April, it is not possible
for the UKHSA not to have the data I requested.
If this were the case, how can you distinguish hospital acquired infection
with SARS-CoV-2 from the others (as it is identified as likely or unlikely
on the basis of the testing date)?
How do you know if there is a problem?
How do you know whether it needs to be addressed?
How do you know whether your measures to prevent nosocomial transmission
work?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[3]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #855744 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[5]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
Dear Information Rights, I am still waiting for a reply to my request. Twenty working days have gone by since my request so you are outside the legal time limit.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Jefferson
Dear Tom Jefferson,
We hope all is well. The response deadline for your internal review
request is 27 May 2022.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 19 May 2022 10:35
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Internal Review case ref 100 [Linked to 64]
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear Information Rights, I am still waiting for a reply to my request.
Twenty working days have gone by since my request so you are outside the
legal time limit.
Yours sincerely,
Tom Jefferson
Dear Tom Jefferson,
Please find attached the UK Health Security Agency's response to your
request.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[1][UKHSA request email]
[2]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Information Rights <[email address]>
Sent: 28 April 2022 10:28
To: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Cc: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Internal Review case ref 100 [Linked to 64]
Dear Tom Jefferson,
We acknowledge receipt of your email, which will be treated as a request
for an internal review, following your request for information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please note we aim to complete your internal review within 20 working days
from the day following the date of receipt of your request. We will notify
you if we anticipate the internal review taking longer than 20 working
days.
Yours sincerely,
Information Rights Team
UK Health Security Agency
[3][UKHSA request email]
[4]www.gov.uk/ukhsa Follow us on Twitter @UKHSA
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Tom Jefferson <[FOI #855744 email]>
Sent: 28 April 2022 09:30
To: Information Rights <[email address]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Request for
admission to hospital data - March 2020 to last available observation
EXTERNAL: This email originated outside of UKHSA. Do not click links or
attachments unless you recognise the sender.
Dear UK Health Security Agency,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of UK Health Security Agency's
handling of my FOI request 'Request for admission to hospital data - March
2020 to last available observation’.
As you will see from my remarks on the 22nd of April, it is not possible
for the UKHSA not to have the data I requested.
If this were the case, how can you distinguish hospital acquired infection
with SARS-CoV-2 from the others (as it is identified as likely or unlikely
on the basis of the testing date)?
How do you know if there is a problem?
How do you know whether it needs to be addressed?
How do you know whether your measures to prevent nosocomial transmission
work?
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[5]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Yours faithfully,
Tom Jefferson
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #855744 email]
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[7]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
[8]https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
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