NHS waiting times & dementia pathways: FOI release

Information requested

You requested the following information covering 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025:

• Copies of weekly/monthly dashboards and performance reports sent to ministers or DG Health covering patients waiting >52 weeks and delayed discharges
• Ministerial briefings, risk logs or vacancy reports relating to dementia assessment capacity, including memory clinic throughput
• Any instructions, emails or tracked changes from ministers or special advisers concerning the timing, presentation, or restatement of waiting-time statistics

Response

Copies of weekly/monthly dashboards and performance reports sent to ministers or DG Health covering patients waiting >52 weeks and delayed discharges

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs associated with locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. It is recommended that the scope of the request is reduced to cover the period 1 May 2025 to 31 July 2025 . You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourRights/Tipsforrequesters.aspx.

Ministerial briefings, risk logs or vacancy reports relating to dementia assessment capacity, including memory clinic throughput

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) publish NHS workforce statistics which includes psychiatry vacancy rates – this is publicly available information: Official Statistics on the workforce of NHS Scotland.

Scottish Government have published the findings and recommendations from the psychiatry working group’s report: Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group: final report - gov.scot.

Scottish Government have not provided any briefings or risk logs about the number of psychiatrists available to undertake dementia assessment capacity.

Any instructions, emails or tracked changes from ministers or special advisers concerning the timing, presentation, or restatement of waiting-time statistics

One document has been identified as applicable to the above request, which has been enclosed as part of the response. Parts of this document have been redacted because one of the following FOISA exemptions apply to the redacted information:

Section 30(b)(ii) – Free and Frank exchange of Views

Section 38(1)(b) – Personal Information

Exemptions under Section 30(b)(ii) are subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemptions.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500480953 - Information released - Document

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PDF

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93.4 kB