Request
Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act I would like to request details relating to plans for efficiency savings being made up until 2014.
In particular, I would like to request the following information:
All document, including e-mails, letters, consultations, briefings or reports, produced or commissioned by Primary Care Trusts, Acute Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities concerning:
a. Current efficiency saving and/or planned future efficiency savings
b. Plans, considerations or consultations regarding re-configuration of services
c. Any considerations, plans, discussions or consultations of any proposals for changes to staffing levels and/or cuts in staffing level
d. Any considerations, plans, discussions or consultations on compulsory redundancies
e. Any predictions for or considerations of reducing staff by way of natural wastage, including but not limited to the likely savings made from such natural wastage
f. Plans, considerations or consultations regarding the freezing or reduction of pay progression increments
g. Plans, considerations or consultations regarding reductions to the number of pay points in Agenda for Change bands
h. Any considerations, plans, discussions or consultations of reconfiguration of the ratio of clinical to non-clinical staff
i. Plans, considerations or consultations regarding changes, amendments, variations or other alterations to the net and total expenditure on external suppliers and contractors
j. Plans, considerations or consultations regarding changes to sickness management for staff with the object of reducing or minimising the amount of time lost to sickness
Any financial predictions, estimates, reports, or accounts produced by Primary Care Trusts, Acute Trusts or Strategic Health Authorities, within your possession in respect of the requests above.
Any financial predictions, estimates, reports and/or accounts produced by Primary Care Trusts, Acute Trusts, or Strategic Health Authorities, within your possession regarding or pertaining to amendments, variations, reductions or changes to the level of pension entitlement for staff and the date(s) when any such changes to entitlements shall or are expected to become effective.
Our Response
I refer to your email requesting information in respect of NHS East Midlands efficiency savings.
We have established that it would take more than 18 hours to locate all the information you have asked for in relation to efficiency savings and we therefore consider that the exemption offered to us in S.12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) relating to disproportionate cost is engaged. As you will be aware this is not an exemption which requires us to consider the application of the public interest test.
However, in the spirit of S.16 of the Act which places a duty on us to offer advice and assistance to the applicant, we are able to provide two recent papers which went to the NHS East Midlands Board Meeting in January 2010 and summarises our position on:-
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plans for financial/efficiency savings in 2010/11 and beyond drawn up by NHS East Midlands
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details of workforce plans drawn up by NHS East Midlands; and
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details of changes to Next Stage Review visions drawn up by NHS East Midlands
The papers, on the Financial Strategy and the Towards Excellence programme, can be accessed on our website via the following link:
http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/about-us/the-board/
NHS East Midlands is developing workforce plans which will reflect the Quality and Productivity Challenge. These will reach their final form towards the middle of this year. Our plans to improve services for patients are outlined in our region-wide vision for the future of healthcare, Better Health, Better Care,
http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/about-us/publications/strategic-plan/?locale=en
and From Evidence to Excellence,
http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/about-us/publications/from-evidence-to-excellence/
With regard to the programme for the Strategic Health Authority, budgets for the forthcoming period will be in line with the requirements set out in the Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2010/11. Specific plans will be coming to the Board through a series of Board Papers in coming months. At that point, we do intend to make these plans publicly available via our website and the information relevant to this part of your request is therefore exempt under S.22 of the FOIA. This exemption requires us to consider the public interest test and since our plans have not been finalised, premature publication at this stage might give wrong and misleading information to the public. We are assured that the exemption is engaged and that the balance of the public interest favours non disclosure at this point in time.
Once you have had an opportunity to consider the information that we have signposted to you, you might decide to refine the terms of your request to enable us to provide a fuller response.
I hope that this information is of use. If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review our decision by writing to:-
Mr Kevin Orford
Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance
NHS East Midlands
Octavia House
Interchange Business Park
Bostock's Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG
If at the conclusion of any review you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:-
The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
