Request 1
The form used by your Trust that police must complete in order to request confidential medical information under s29 of the Data Protection Act 1998.
Response 1
Not held. Northamptonshire Police along with other forces that contact us provide their own documentation, which meets the Trusts requirements and therefore a Trust form is not needed.
Request 2
All local guidance and policy documents available for the member of staff that will be making the decision whether to disclose under s29 (I do not need the NHS Code of Confidentiality just local policy documents).
Response 2
See attached Office Procedures for Data Protection document – Section 2. This document is currently under review. This is in addition to Trust documents dealing with record keeping and patient confidentiality available to all staff on the Trusts intranet.
Request 3
A list of the roles/officers that these policy guidance documents are circulated to (e.g. all staff, only senior management etc.)
Response 3
The Data Protection Office
Other documents relating to confidentiality of patients and record keeping are available to all staff via the Trusts intranet.
Request 4
Any information/statistics that are maintained by the Trust regarding requests made by police for access to confidential information without patient consent under the provisions of s29 of the Data Protection Act 1998. (please provide statistics for the last 3 years if possible)
Response 4
Although we maintain hard copies of the requests made, we do not maintain statistics. S29 is not separated from other patient consented requests.
Request 5
Any information/statistics maintained regarding numbers of requests granted and refused. (please provide statistics for the last 3 years if possible)
Response 5
Although we maintain hard copies of the requests made, we do not maintain statistics. Refused requests are not separated from those granted. In the case of those refused, we will make a note on the request.
The information regarding the number of requests granted/refused is not held centrally. We have estimated that to locate and collate all the information that you have requested would exceed the appropriate limit as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 as it would require us to manually extract the information from approximately 850 records.
Therefore, to locate the record and search for the information requestedwould take an average of 2 minutes per record, in excess of 28 hours at cost of more than £700. The limit set down by regulations for public authorities is £450, which amounts to a maximum of 18 hours of search and retrieval time charged at £25 per hour, the hourly rate also specified in the regulations. Under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Trust is therefore not obliged to provide this information to you. Please be aware that this is not an exemption which requires us to consider the application of the public interest.
Request 6
Any information/statistics regarding why requests were granted/refused (e.g. not in public interest etc.) – please provide information for the last 3 years if possible
Response 6
As question 5.
Request 7
Please indicate whether all requests were considered by the Caldicott Guardian. If not can you please provide the title/role of the person making the decision and the number of decisions they made.
Response 7
Requests are not considered by the Caldicott Guardian, but by the Data Protection Officer who is the currently the Trust’s Police Liaison Officer. Senior Managers are available for staff to consult should a query arise.
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