Information Commissioner's Office

Department of Health

30 August 2017, Central government

The complainant has requested information on the source of statistics used by the Secretary of State for Health in a speech promoting a seven day NHS. The Department of Health (DH) provided some information but explained that it did not hold other information falling within the scope of the request. The focus of the complaint is on information relating to the source of a figure of 6,000 for the number of excess deaths associated with admissions to hospital on a weekend. The Commissioner accepts that the DH did not receive this figure prior to it being provided directly to the Secretary of State for Health and therefore does not hold some of the requested information. However the request also seeks a copy of the communication by which the figure was provided to DH, regardless of whether this was before, or after the Secretary of State had received the figure. The DH has failed to satisfy the Commissioner that this information is not held. By failing to provide that information the DH has breached section 1 of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the public authority to provide the complainant with a copy of the communication by which it was provided with the source of the 6,000 figure used by the Secretary of State in his speech.

FOI 1: Partly upheld