Good Morning,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Information Request ICM 10174.

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 received on 13/07/16.

Lewis Freeman will be dealing with your request.
 
We have up to 20 days in which to deal with your request. If we require clarification regarding your request, we will contact you to explain this. The 20 working day period will then start from the day that we receive your clarification.
 
You will also be informed in advance if there is a charge for supplying copies of the information.

Please also be aware that, if the requested information contains references to any third parties, we may need to consult these individuals about the release of their personal data before making a decision whether or not to release the information to you.

We will also provide an explanation if any information is not released to you.

Should you have any queries regarding your request, please contact the team by email [email address] or by telephone 01603 222661.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Cooper
Business Support Assistant (Compliance Team)
Information Management Shared Service
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2DH

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Dear M Ghadimabadian

 

Freedom of information request – ICM10174

 

I refer to your request for information dated 13 July 2016 in respect of
St Mary's Care Home North Walsham Road, Crostwick, Norwich NR12 7BZ for:

 

“1) Number of Safeguarding alerts/concerns received from or in connection
with the above named home from all sources (the home itself, family,
hospital, etc)

 

2) Number of Investigations conducted in response to safeguarding alerts,
complaints, allegations of abuse, etc.

 

3) Outcome of the investigations conducted. (e.g. substantiated, not
substantiated, partially substantiated, etc.)

 

4) Number of Deaths (for any reason, expected or otherwise) of any person
who used the care service

 

5) Number of Incidents reported to or investigated by the police, again
not necessarily related to safeguarding concerns.

 

6) Number of Pressure Ulcers of any grade reported by the provider or
external medical staff or family, etc.

 

7) Number of complaints received by anyone and by any route (phone, email,
in person, letter, etc) in connection with this home.

 

Please provide these figures in the following way:

 

Breakdown of the above for years 2014, 2015 for full year; and for 2016
between January and June. If any of the numbers are fewer than 5 for
certain years, and you would therefore be unable to disclose them, please
feel free to add the numbers for different years together and provide the
total number.”

 

I confirm that the County Council holds information within scope of this
request and has refused your request as set out below. This email acts as
a refusal notice under the Act.

 

Exemptions applied

 

Section 36 – Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs

 

Section 36 (2) (c) of the Act provides an exemption which applies to
disclosure of information held by a public authority if, in the reasonable
opinion of a qualified person, its disclosure would, or would be likely
to, inhibit the free and frank provision of advice, or the free and frank
exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation, or would otherwise
prejudice, or would be likely otherwise to prejudice, the effective
conduct of public affairs.

 

Reason why the exemption applies

 

The County Council’s Monitoring Officer, Victoria McNeill, is the
qualified person for the County Council and it is her opinion that the
grounds for section 36 (2) (c) is met for the following reasons:

 

This request asks for very specific information regarding a specified care
home.

 

The information being requested is held by Norfolk County Council, but
relates to, and is provided by, third party organisations, including the
Care Home and District Nurses along with Friends and Family of those
resident at the Care Home.

 

Care Homes report this information to us, and will only be under a legal
requirement to do so where a contractual obligation exists.  Subject to
this, the information is provided through a process that has taken hard
work and effort on the part of Council Officers to develop in order to
enable the County Council to assist and support these Homes. This system
is built on a trust that the information provided will be used only to
support the Care Homes and that it will be treated confidentially. This
information is not provided for the purpose of monitoring the Care Homes,
nor is it collated as a means of fault finding. Whilst we ask that all
such incidents are reported to us, we have to trust that this does in fact
happen, therefore, the information that we hold is limited in that it
requires the Care Homes to make a voluntary disclosure.

 

If such information were subject to release under the Act this would
clearly inhibit the free and frank exchange of information and the
Council’s ability to provide free and frank advice to these Care Homes.
Releasing this information could also inhibit our ability to effectively
support these Care Homes in a way that benefits the people of Norfolk.
Additionally, releasing such information could discourage these Care Homes
from disclosing such information to us in the future, which will affect
the support that can be provided to them.

 

Public Interest Test

 

It is acknowledged that there is a public interest in openness and
transparency leading to increased trust, confidence and engagement between
the public and government. 

 

We also note that there would be a public interest in this information
being released as it could assist the public in decision making as to
which Care Home to place a relative within.

 

But set against this, in order to receive the best outcomes, and for these
Care Homes to feel that they can disclose such information to us, it is
sometimes necessary to be able to do this in confidence.  If the Council
were not able to maintain this confidence, there is the likely detrimental
impact on the Council’s role in providing advice and support.

 

If the Care Homes do not feel that they can provide us with such
information, this could likewise mean that important matters are not
disclosed, which could result in more serious issues in the future.

 

On balance the Council has concluded that the public interest in
maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

 

Exemption Applied – Confidential Information

 

Section 41- Confidential Information

 

Section 41(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides an absolute
exemption for release of information if the information was obtained by
the public authority from 3^rd parties – including Care Homes -  and the
disclosure of the information by the public authority holding it would
constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

 

Reason why this exemption applies

 

This decision is based upon the following reasons:

 

The correspondence being requested is details of information disclosed to
Norfolk County Council by a specified Care Home on a voluntary basis.

 

The Care Home will have provided this information with the expectation
that it would be used confidentially and would only be used for the
purpose for which it is provided.

 

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your request you do have the
right of appeal through the County Council's internal complaints procedure
by setting out the grounds of your appeal in writing to:

[1][email address]

or Information Compliance Team

Room 101, North Wing

County Hall

Martineau Lane

Norwich

NR1 2DH

An appeal should be submitted within 40 working days of the date of this
notice and marked "FOI Appeal".

If you are still dissatisfied after pursuing the County Council’s internal
complaints procedure you may apply to the Information Commissioner under
Section 50 of the Act for a decision whether or not your request for
information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of
Part I of the Act.

 

Below are the contact details for the Information Commissioner.

First Contact Team
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Email: [2][email address]
[3]http://www.ico.gov.uk

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

Lewis Freeman

Information Compliance Officer

 

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