FOI Performance - FOI Response Register

In regards to the past 12 months or past calendar year:

Notes:

As a Scottish public authority, NHS Shetland is subject to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EISR)

Information about requests received by Scottish public authorities is published by the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner (OSIC) on their website: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/statistics

We have provided responses for the 2023 calendar year.

Figures published by OSIC are based on activity within a quarter. This means that a request received in one quarter (e.g. Q1 of 2023) may be responded to in – and therefore recorded against – a different quarter (e.g. Q2 of 2023). We have provided answers to your exact questions, but please be aware that, because of the different basis for counting FOI activity, the answers may differ from those published elsewhere.

1.    How many FOI requests have you received in your organisation?

810

2.    How many of these requests have not been completed within the 20 working day timescale?

143

3.    How many staff log/process FOI requests?

0.8 WTE staff – shared between two staff members, with additional support provided by other members of the Information Governance Department. Approvals of responses are carried out initially by the Head of Information Governance / FOI Lead and/or the Information Governance Manager, and then by the Senior Information Risk Owner (Director of Finance).

4.    What system is used to log and record Freedom of Information Requests? e.g. Ulysses, Excel

Excel

5.    Please provide the reasons that these requests were not completed within 20 working day timescale? E.g. lack of engagement, delay from departments who have the information, availability of staff, delay in approval process.

In accordance with FOISA s 17(1), NHS Shetland confirms that it does not hold the information requested. It is not always possible to identify the exact reason why a request has not been responded to on time and NHS Shetland does not systematically record the reasons for failure to comply.

Anecdotally, the most common reason why a request is not responded to on time is thought to be the pressure of work for staff in the departments that hold the information.

6.    Do all staff in your organisation have training on what a Freedom of Information Request is?

Information about FOI requests is included in the IG training module that is mandatory for all staff. FOI resources available on the NHS Shetland website and intranet, including an FOI Policy and FOI Procedure, which give guidance to staff on recognising and processing FOI requests.

7.    Have you implemented any changes to improve the Freedom of Information Request response rate within your organisation? E.g. staff awareness, invested in better systems, hired more employees.

NHS Shetland continually reviews its FOI performance and processes. A new FOI Policy was introduced in 2022 with an accompanying procedure for staff – all staff were alerted to these documents at their launch.

8.    If you have any other comments about responding to FOI requests or completing the requests within 20 working days, please write them here.

NHS Shetland, as with many other Scottish Health Boards has seen a significant and sustained increase in the number of FOI requests received since 2022/23 Q2 (Jul – Sep).

This sustained, high level of requests has placed considerable pressure on public resources and has made it more difficult for NHS Shetland to manage and respond to FOI requests on time.