Protected Characteristics - FOI Response Register

FoI Number

2022-731

Subject

Protected Characteristics

Date Received

10/02/2023

Request and Response

In the context of the Freedom of Information [Scotland] Act 2002, I am writing to ask for access to data gathered by your Health Board in relation to the provision of inpatient and day case activity in 2017/18. I am particularly interested in such data gathering systems as are in place on patients and service users and being used to establish that your Health Board’s services are equally accessible to all and free from discrimination in such as access, waiting times, information provision as well as treatments and treatment outcomes.

1. As you will be aware, NHS Shetland has legal obligations in relation to the Equality Act 2010. Amongst these is an obligation to meet the general equality duty. According to data published by Public Health Scotland [Table 2 – inpatient and day case activity] for 2017/18, your health board handled 4,786 inpatient and day cases.

With reference to the 4786 inpatient and day cases this is the number of continuous inpatient stays during this time period however our statistics on this matter are measured using Episodes. The number of Episodes is slightly higher at 5028. This figure can also be seen in the PHS table by changing the “measure” to Episodes albeit it records 5019. The very small discrepancy is due to some of the complicating factors mentioned in the notes tab.

This response will answer with regards to the 5028 episodes.

For those cases, I would ask you to provide the following protected characteristic data, as set out in the Equality Act 2010, on all day case patients treated by your Board in that year, using the following format:

Protected characteristics of day case patients 2017/18
Sex	Male	Female
					4,786
Ethnicity	BME	White
					4,786
Disability	Yes	No
					4,786
Sexual Orientation	LGB	Heterosexual
					4,786
Religion	Protestant	Catholic	All other	None
					4,786

For the ethnicity of patients, these should be broken down into two cohorts – those who identify as Black Minority Ethnic people and those who identify as White people. For sexual orientation, these should be broken down into two cohorts – all lesbian, gay or bisexual people and all heterosexual people. For religion, the cohorts required are all Catholic people, all people who identify as Protestant/Church of Scotland, all people who identify as any other religion aggregated together, and all people who identify as having no religion.

Details provided below as table does not include the “Not Provided/Not Known” category.

Sex:

Female 2391

Male 2637

Ethnicity:

White 4017

BAME 37

Not Provided/Not Known 974

With regards to disability, sexual orientation, and religion in relation to this data then in accordance with FOISA s 17(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it does not hold the information requested.

2. How many of the 4,786 inpatient and day cases handled in 2017/18 were deemed successful for and by the patient, expressed as a percentage?

As well as the percentage, could you also please provide a brief explanation of what metrics are used to define ‘successful’?

In accordance with FOISA s 17(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it does not hold the information requested as we do not record whether cases were deemed successful for and by the patient.

3. How many of the 4,786 inpatient and day cases handled were deemed successful for and by the patient, and expressed as a percentage, by protected characteristic and using the following format:

Protected characteristics of day case patients 2017/18
Sex	Male	Female
					4,786
Ethnicity	BME	White
					4,786
Disability	Yes	No
					4,786
Sexual Orientation	LGB	Heterosexual
					4,786
Religion	Protestant	Catholic	All other	None
					4,786

See response to Q2.

4. In any examination of patient services data for evidence of discrimination it will be essential for the Board to have an understanding of the population served by the Board in terms of their protected characteristics. In this context, I would ask you to provide the following protected characteristic data, as set out in the Equality Act 2010, on the population served by the Board in 2017/18, using the following format:

Protected characteristics of population served by Board as at 2017/18
					Total population
Sex	Male	Female

Ethnicity	BME	White

Disability	Yes	No

Sexual Orientation	LGB	Heterosexual

Religion	Protestant	Catholic	All other	None

For the ethnicity of the population served, these should be broken down into two cohorts – those who identify as Black Minority Ethnic people and those who identify as White people. For sexual orientation, these should be broken down into two cohorts – all lesbian, gay or bisexual people and all heterosexual people. For religion, the cohorts required are all Catholic people, all people who identify as Protestant/Church of Scotland, all people who identify as any other religion aggregated together, and all people who identify as having no religion.

With regards to sex in accordance with FOISA s 16(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it holds the information requested but that it is exempt from disclosure under FOISA s 25(1) as the information requested is accessible without submitting a request under FOISA s 1(1). The information you have requested is available here:

https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20210313160229/https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/mid-year-population-estimates/mid-2017

Tab: Table 2

With regards to disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religion then in accordance with FOISA s 17(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it does not hold the information requested.

5. In addition to the above data, I would ask for copies of any analysis reports carried out by the Board on the protected characteristics of patient data sets gathered in 2017/18, as set out in the table at 1 above, and which sought to establish whether discrimination might exist [such as unequal waiting times, differential treatment success rates, unequal information provision] in the systems, practices and cultures of the Board.

N/A, no such analysis exists.

6. In addition to the above, I would ask for copies of any formal reports made to Board members which set out the findings from any analysis reports described in 5 above and which set out actions for the Board to take in meeting the general equality duty.

See response to Q5.

7. In the event that the Board has not gathered and is not gathering any of the protected characteristic data listed in the Equality Act 2010 on patients accessing the services of the Board, can you advise if the absence of this data being gathered is entered in the Corporate Risk Register of the Board ? If so, can you please provide a copy of the most recent entry in the Corporate Risk Register?

It is not entered.