Staff Counselling Services and Occupational Health Referrals (2016/17 and 2017/18)

The request was partially successful.

Dear University of Bristol,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you could provide the following information relating to Counselling and Mental Health services and Occupational Health referrals in respect of those employed by your University. You will find that I have issued FOI request of your institution in respect of previous years, for which I am grateful for your response. The current FOI constitutes a follow-up.

QUESTION ONE: COUNSELLING AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
The total number of staff that accessed University counselling and mental health services in 2016/17 and 2017/18. Please present in a table showing figures separately for each academic year (e.g. 2016/17, 2017/18) or by each calendar year, where data is collected in this way - according to the following categories:-

a) How many were academic staff?
b) How many were professional services staff?
c) How many were male?*
d) How many were female?*

*Please note that some institutions now collect non-binary gender information. Where your institution collects information in this way, please provide in that format. Where data relating to gender is not collected, please simply highlight “n/a”.

Where you, or an external provider (e.g. EAP/EAFP), also breaks down this information by category (e.g. anxiety, bereavement/loss, work-related etc.), please also provide a separate table with this information.

QUESTION TWO: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
During the last two full academic years (please present in a table showing figures for each academic year i.e. 2016/17 and 2017/18) or by each calendar year as appropriate, how many staff members were referred to Occupational Health (please highlight by year, whether these were self-referrals, management referrals, or referrals falling into different categories)?

Where the information is available (i.e. either collected by you or held for you by an EAP/EAFP), please separate into the following categories (for each year):-

a) How many were academic staff?
b) How many were professional services staff?
c) How many were male? *
d) How many were female?*

*Please note that some institutions now collect non-binary gender information. Where your institution collects information in this way, please provide in that format. Where data relating to gender is not collected, please simply highlight “n/a”.

QUESTION THREE: EAP/EAFP PROVIDER CHANGES
Please also indicate whether you have changed EAP/EAFP since 2015 and if so, in what year. If you are able to provide a link to the provider in question, or forward the EAP/EAFP reports from 2016/17 and/or 2017/18 so that I can see the reporting methodology that would be helpful.

FURTHER NOTES FOR CLARIFICATION
- If the decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in the Data Protection Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.
- If you need any clarification then please do not hesitate to contact me. If some parts of this request are easier to answer than others, I would ask that you release the available data as soon as possible.
- Where some parts of the information requested cannot be presented in the format requested above, or has not been collected by the University (or where applicable, an external provider collecting and holding this information for the University), in a way that satisfies the FOI request, please exercise your duty under section 16 and highlight what information you are able to provide.
- Please note that this information is being collected as part of a follow-up pan-HEUK study of trends in Counselling Services and Occupational Health in respect of HEI staff.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you within the 20 working day statutory time period. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

Nicky Michaels

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Thank you for your e-mail.  The University will endeavour to respond to
your request under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days.

However, we are currently short staffed and have a backlog
of requests which we are working through as quickly as we can. This means
that some responses may be delayed beyond the statutory 20 days.  We
apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause. We have contacted the
Information Commissioner’s Office to explain the situation.

We may need to ask you certain questions to clarify your request to ensure
we fully understand what information is being requested. If so, the 20
working day deadline will be calculated once we have received such
clarification. 

 

The University's A-Z index can help in locating information that is
publicly available on the University's
website: [1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/

 

Our Publication Scheme is available
at: [2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

 

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) annually publish certain
data about students and higher education, and also have a bespoke data
request service: [3]https://www.hesa.ac.uk/

 

For further information about the University's FOI procedure, please
see: [4]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/
2. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...
3. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/
4. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Freedom of Information Request FOI19243

 

I refer to your Freedom of Information Request received on 11th June 2019

 

Your Request and Our Response

 

Further to Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the “Act”) we
confirm that the information requested is held by the University of
Bristol (the “University”).

 

QUESTION ONE: COUNSELLING AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
The total number of staff that accessed University counselling and mental
health services in 2016/17 and 2017/18. Please present in a table showing
figures separately for each academic year (e.g. 2016/17, 2017/18) or by
each calendar year, where data is collected in this way - according to the
following categories:-

a) How many were academic staff?
b) How many were professional services staff?
c) How many were male?*
d) How many were female?*

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Staff Role | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Academic | 134 | 142 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Professional Services | 153 | 207 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Other | 33 | 34 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
|   |   |   |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Male | 87 | 101 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Female | 233 | 282 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

QUESTION TWO: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
During the last two full academic years (please present in a table showing
figures for each academic year i.e. 2016/17 and 2017/18) or by each
calendar year as appropriate, how many staff members were referred to
Occupational Health (please highlight by year, whether these were
self-referrals, management referrals, or referrals falling into different
categories)?

Where the information is available (i.e. either collected by you or held
for you by an EAP/EAFP), please separate into the following categories
(for each year):-
a) How many were academic staff?
b) How many were professional services staff?
c) How many were male? *
d) How many were female?*

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Staff Role | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Academic | 43 | 46 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Professional Services | 126 | 119 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
|   |   |   |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Male | 66 | 57 |
|-----------------------------+---------------------+--------------------|
| Female | 103 | 108 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

*staff within the University are unable to make self-referrals. All
referrals are submitted through HR in discussion with the members of
staff’s line manager.

 

QUESTION THREE: EAP/EAFP PROVIDER CHANGES
Please also indicate whether you have changed EAP/EAFP since 2015 and if
so, in what year. If you are able to provide a link to the provider in
question, or forward the EAP/EAFP reports from 2016/17 and/or 2017/18 so
that I can see the reporting methodology that would be helpful.

 

The University of Bristol started using CareFirst in July 2018 -
[1]https://www.care-first.co.uk/

 

Internal Review Procedure

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request then you have a
right under Section 50 of the Act to request an internal review.  All such
requests must sent to us within 40 days and must clearly state your
reference number and your reason for your request for an internal review. 
We will aim to respond to your request for an internal review within 20
working days of receipt.

 

Your request for an internal review should be sent to:

 

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Secretary’s Office

University of Bristol

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Bristol

BS8 1QU

 

Or you can email your request to [2][University of Bristol request email],
quoting your FOI reference number at the head of this letter.

 

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Should you remain dissatisfied with the final outcome of the internal
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Body responsible for overseeing the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
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Please note the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the
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More information can be found at the ICO’s website
at [3]http://www.ico.org.uk

 

Kind Regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

University of Bristol

 

A top 10 UK university (QS Rankings 2019)
A top 2 UK university with leading employers (High Fliers 2019)
A top 5 UK university for research (THE analysis of REF 2014)
A top 6 European university for teaching (THE 2018)

 

 

References

Visible links
1. https://www.care-first.co.uk/
2. mailto:[University of Bristol request email]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear University of Bristol FOI mailbox,

Thank you for your response. I now raise a query about your figures.

In the context of this latest FOI, I sought figures for two years – 2016/17 academic year and the 2017/18 academic year. In a previous FOI (URL is: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...), which sought the same data running back for eight years prior to the date of raising that FOI, you also provided data for 2016/17. I find a very substantial series of discrepancies with the figures that you have declared on two occasions relating to the same academic year. In the absence of an explanation I cannot trust the information you have provided, and I am left somewhat concerned as to the methodology you use in arriving at those figures.

In that earlier FOI for the 2016/17 academic year you report the following in relation to Counselling:

Prof Services 351
Academic 146
Male 98
Female 399
(The Total = 497)

In contrast, quite some time later you now come to report the figures very differently indeed.

Here you highlight for the *same* academic year (2016/17)
Prof Services 153
Academic 134
Other 33
Male 87
Female 233
(The Total = 320)

This is a very significant disparity, and I would be grateful if you could explain it.

I have noticed the same trend with other Higher Education Institutions, and I am concerned that these figures end up being retrospectively changed quite some time after the point at which the final report will have been provided by the relevant EAP or provider, and/or Occupational Health dept. What makes these figures particularly stand out is by virtue of the number of staff declared as accessing counselling has *massively* reduced. If it is the case that you or the EAP/department in question has changed the methodology for reporting across a period of time, I would be grateful to learn of this. In terms of the research community, declarations of that sort are critical for ensuring the integrity of data.

A similar query can be posed of Occupational Health Figures, although here the figures look somewhat more plausible.

In the earlier FOI you declared OH referrals for 2016/17 as arriving at a total of 58. This was declared to be correct as of 24th July 2017 so I would assume that those figures would not yet be complete.
In this latest FOI you highlight OH referrals for the same period as 169.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Nicky Michaels

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Thank you for your e-mail.  The University will endeavour to respond to
your request under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days.

However, we are currently receiving a high volume of requests, and we
would be grateful if you could bear with us if, on occasion, we are unable
to respond within the statutory time-frame. We apologise for any
inconvenience that this may cause.

We may need to ask you certain questions to clarify your request to ensure
we fully understand what information is being requested. If so, the 20
working day deadline will be calculated once we have received such
clarification. 

 

The University's A-Z index can help in locating information that is
publicly available on the University's
website: [1]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/

 

Our Publication Scheme is available
at: [2]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...

 

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) annually publish certain
data about students and higher education: [3]https://www.hesa.ac.uk/.
Bespoke datasets can be requested from
Jisc: [4]https://www.jisc.ac.uk/tailored-datasets.

 

For further information about the University's FOI procedure, please
see: [5]http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

References

Visible links
1. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/index/
2. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/s...
3. https://www.hesa.ac.uk/
4. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/tailored-datasets
5. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/secretary/foi/

University of Bristol FOI mailbox, University of Bristol

Dear Mr Michaels

 

We write in reply to your email of 13 October 2019. We apologise for the
discrepancies between the responses to your two freedom of information
requests, and for the delay in responding to your query. We have a backlog
of requests due to staff shortages in autumn 2019, and we not always able
to respond to follow-up queries as quickly as we would like.

 

Regrettably, the member of staff who was likely to have compiled both sets
of data in relation to the Staff Counselling Service has now left the
University. We have made enquiries with colleagues, but are unable to
determine the method used to arrive at the figures for 2016/17 on each
occasion.

 

In relation to the Occupational Health figures, we can confirm that the
most recent set of figures is correct. Colleagues in Occupational Health
advised us that there was an error with the report run in July 2017 that
was not detected, but the report run in July 2019 did provide an accurate
record of referrals to the Occupational Health Service.

 

Kind regards

 

Freedom of information team

University of Bristol

 

 

To: SecOInformation Governance
([University of Bristol request email])
From: Nicky Michaels ([FOI #581179 email])
Title: Re: Response to Freedom of Information Request: FOI19243 EAP
Etc
E-mail title: Re: Response to Freedom of Information Request: FOI19243 EAP
Etc(Id nr.: 241989)
Sent: 13/10/2019 16:37

Dear University of Bristol FOI mailbox,

Thank you for your response. I now raise a query about your figures.

In the context of this latest FOI, I sought figures for two years –
2016/17 academic year and the 2017/18 academic year. In a previous FOI
(URL is:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...),
which sought the same data running back for eight years prior to the date
of raising that FOI, you also provided data for 2016/17. I find a very
substantial series of discrepancies with the figures that you have
declared on two occasions relating to the same academic year. In the
absence of an explanation I cannot trust the information you have
provided, and I am left somewhat concerned as to the methodology you use
in arriving at those figures.

In that earlier FOI for the 2016/17 academic year you report the following
in relation to Counselling:

Prof Services 351
Academic 146
Male 98
Female 399
(The Total = 497)

In contrast, quite some time later you now come to report the figures very
differently indeed.

Here you highlight for the *same* academic year (2016/17)
Prof Services 153
Academic 134
Other 33
Male 87
Female 233
(The Total = 320)

This is a very significant disparity, and I would be grateful if you could
explain it.

I have noticed the same trend with other Higher Education Institutions,
and I am concerned that these figures end up being retrospectively changed
quite some time after the point at which the final report will have been
provided by the relevant EAP or provider, and/or Occupational Health dept.
What makes these figures particularly stand out is by virtue of the number
of staff declared as accessing counselling has *massively* reduced. If it
is the case that you or the EAP/department in question has changed the
methodology for reporting across a period of time, I would be grateful to
learn of this. In terms of the research community, declarations of that
sort are critical for ensuring the integrity of data.

A similar query can be posed of Occupational Health Figures, although here
the figures look somewhat more plausible.

In the earlier FOI you declared OH referrals for 2016/17 as arriving at a
total of 58. This was declared to be correct as of 24th July 2017 so I
would assume that those figures would not yet be complete.
In this latest FOI you highlight OH referrals for the same period as 169.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Nicky Michaels

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