Track and Trace in Schools
Dear Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland,
I am a parent of an immuno suppressed child in primary school education in northern ireland. My child is a transplant recipient.
Now that the PHA have taken over contact tracing in Northern Ireland schools and schools are obliged to take direction from the PHA, I would seek the following information -
1. A copy of the guidance PHA has for schools in respect of notifying the parents of immunosuppressed children when covid is suspected or confirmed in the school.
2. A copy of the guidance to which PHA and its contract tracing staff are following internally when it comes to the advice they are giving to primary schools when a suspected or a confirmed case of covid has been identified and how to advise the parents of immuno suppressed children within that school cohort. The tracing staffs prompt sheet for example, if one exists
As COVID is a notifiable disease and there are therefore provision for the sharing of data, I would like the following information
3. The advice which confirms that once a case of covid is either suspected or confirmed within a primary school, that it is permitted to inform the parents of vulnerable children, such as those that are immunosuppressed, that the school is investigating a possible or confirmed case of COVID in the school.
As PHA have now taken on responsibilities in respect of tracing contacts, as a Corporate Entity it has adopted a Corporate Parenting role in respect of the decisions it takes relating to the health and well being of children in a school setting and also any risks associated with the guidance it is following and the guidance it is issuing to primary schools, therefore I wish to access the following
4. The document, in whatever format that might be, where it was agreed that the PHA would advise primary schools NOT to inform the parents of vulnerable immunosuppressed children of a suspected or confirmed COVID case in their primary school
5. The legal advice which PHA are in receipt of where this risk to a vulnerable childs health has been considered and that risk has been accepted and become Corporate policy that primary schools are NOT to inform the parents of vulnerable immunosuppressed children that they are investigating a suspected or confirmed case of COVID
NOTE, at present, schools will inform parents of immunosuppressed children when there is an outbreak of chicken pox, for example, I wish to understand why there might be a deviation from standard procedures in terms of COVID notification
Please feel free to supply me with whatever additional document you have, whether emails or other, which would satisfy me that your tracing staff and your organisation have considered immunosuppressed children and are advising that their parents are advised by the school as soon as a suspected or confirmed case is identified.
Yours faithfully,
Roger Bradley
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Dear Mr Bradley
Ref: Freedom of Information Request 148/21
Thank you for your request for information. Your request was received by the Public Health Agency on 13 September 2021. This request will be processed under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, within the statutory timescale of 20 working days. While we will endeavour to provide you with a response within this timescale, in the event of disruption to services due to COVID-19 there may be delays. Should any delays arise, we will endeavour to keep you informed with a revised, estimated date for response. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.
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Yours sincerely
FOI Team
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Dear Mr Bradley
Ref: Freedom of Information Request 148/21
Please find attached a response to your recent Freedom of Information Request.
You will note that some redactions have been undertaken in line with section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act. (See Appendix 4 for further details).
If you have any queries about this communication, please do not hesitate to contact me. It would be helpful if you could quote the reference number above in any future communications relating to this request.
Yours sincerely
Carol Hermin
OBO FOI Team
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