NHS Forth Valley says it can reduce FOI backlog and stop enforcement action

Daily Record

a day ago

Local health board wants assurances that all departments will play their part in responding to FOI requests.
NHS Forth Valley's board has been assured that the local health service will be able to tackle a backlog of FOI requests to stop the threat of enforcement action by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
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As a public body, NHS Forth Valley has an obligation to respond to Freedom of Information requests within 20 days but it has faced a persistent backlog since 2022.
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The information commissioner, David Hamilton, raised his concerns in November 2023 and again the following year and in recent months his team have been meeting regularly with NHS Forth Valley.
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The board heard that efforts have been made to get back on track, which included taking on additional staff and getting temporary support.
However, NHS Forth Valley has not been able to sustain the improvements needed and earlier this month, the commissioner escalated his concerns to level three, which means he considers that there is "serious systemic practice failure".
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Mr Hamilton wrote to chief executive Ross McGuffie, highlighting his concerns about the lack of progress and outlining specific targets and timescales for NHS Forth Valley to meet.
The Commissioner wants to see: • An average of 80 per cent of all requests to be responded to within 20 working days by the end of September. • An average of more than 90 per cent of all requests to be responded to within 20 working days by the end of December.
If NHS Forth Valley fails to meet these targets, enforcement action will be taken.
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A report to the health board this week said it is "fully recognised that the Board's performance in responding to FOI enquiries is not where it needs to be and efforts continue to improve local response times and reduce delays".
However, members were assured that steps have already been taken to respond to the demand for action and NHS Forth Valley is in dialogue with the commissioner's office.
The board heard that the team responsible for responding to Freedom of Information requests now has two new members of staff, who started this month, taking the total number of staff to four.
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Members heard that the backlog, which was reported to the meeting as 202 overdue requests, is steadily reducing and that should become quicker as the new staff settle in.
The commissioner is also expecting to see an improvement in how internal reviews - when a requester asks an authority to review its handling of their information request - are handled.
At the time the report was written, there were 12 open internal reviews, 11 of which are overdue.
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These are an important step in the appeals process and the commissioner wants 90 per cent of all reviews to be responded to within 20 working days by end of September.
However, the report highlighted that improvements are needed across the whole organisation and all departments will have a responsibility to provide the FOI team with requested information quickly.
Several board members asked for assurances that departments have the capacity to support the response, especially given how tight the timetable is.
Sarah Hughes-Jones, Head of Information Governance, told members that she was confident that departments are now being supported to respond to requests and that the new arrangements will allow them to meet the commissioner's targets.
Andrew Murray, medical director, added that the senior leadership team would take responsibility to monitor the situation and make sure that the necessary improvements are delivered.