Materials relating to Dumbarton Health Centre and the primary care programme: FOI release

Information requested

The following information:

1. A note of the decision makers i.e. who determined the successful projects;
2. A copy of any guidance issued to decision makers;
3. If additional to such guidance, a copy of any scoring matrix issued;
4. A copy of the information issued to decision makers on the relative merits / requirements for each project;
5. A copy of any recommendations made to decision makers by officers or third parties;
6. Confirmation of whether Health Board recommendations were part of any part of the assessment;
7. A copy of any completed scoring matrices or scoresheets indicating the relative scoring of all projects considered, including the Dumbarton proposal;
8. If some other selection methodology was used other than a scoring matrix, a copy of the guidance/ rules of such methodology and all working papers or documentation which gave rise to the selection of the projects listed in Annex B;
9. If no written methodology or documentation exists to explain the selection of these projects over other projects, including the Dumbarton proposal, then it would be helpful to have a clear explanation of how the decision was arrived at and in particular, any factor or factors which saw the projects listed in Annex B prioritised over other projects and in particular the Dumbarton proposal.

Response

The answers to your questions regarding Dumbarton Health Centre and the primary care programme are as follows:

1. A note of the decision makers i.e. who determined the successful projects
Final decisions on prioritisation were taken by Ministers, with advice from officials and Special Advisers.

2. A copy of any guidance issued to decision makers
The primary analytical tool was a standardised spreadsheet used across NHS Scotland. This was shared with territorial Health Boards and officials and is available via the NHS Scotland Assure platform. Where access is not available, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde can provide the local analysis on request. I would suggest you contact Andrew Baillie (andrew.baillie@nhs.scot), Director of Estates at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde who can help.

3. If additional to such guidance, a copy of any scoring matrix issued
The spreadsheet includes weighted criteria and scoring fields which together form the scoring matrix.

4. A copy of the information issued to decision makers on the relative merits / requirements for each project
Officials explained the methodology and outputs of the analytical tool to Ministers and Special Advisers to inform decision making.

5. A copy of any recommendations made to decision makers by officers or third parties
There were around 30 projects across NHS Scotland, including the proposal for replacing Dumbarton Health and Care Centre, which we identified as having a strong and valid case for investment. All identified projects, including Dumbarton, represented viable and important potential investments.

6. Confirmation of whether Health Board recommendations were part of any part of the assessment
The prioritisation process and final selection was led by the Scottish Government.

7. A copy of any completed scoring matrices or scoresheets indicating the relative scoring of all projects considered, including the Dumbarton proposal
The spreadsheet outputs contain relative scores used to inform consideration. Individual project scores were not issued as standalone documents.

8. If some other selection methodology was used other than a scoring matrix, a copy of the guidance/ rules of such methodology and all working papers or documentation which gave rise to the selection of the projects listed in Annex B
The spreadsheet sets out the methodology, criteria and weightings used. We would be happy to discuss the approach further if helpful.

9. If no written methodology or documentation exists to explain the selection of these projects over other projects, including the Dumbarton proposal, then it would be helpful to have a clear explanation of how the decision was arrived at and in particular, any factor or factors which saw the projects listed in Annex B prioritised over other projects and in particular the Dumbarton proposal
While the Dumbarton proposal demonstrated a strong and credible case, Ministers were required to consider a balanced geographical distribution of investment across Scotland. This limited the number of projects that could be taken forward from any one region, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

If helpful, you may wish to contact Alan Morrison, Deputy Director Health Infrastructure and Sustainability (alan.morrison@gov.scot), who would be happy to meet to discuss the issue in more detail including when we might be able to take forward the project.

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