National Health Elective Surgery

Summary

A request was made for details on private healthcare providers commissioned for hip and knee replacements in the North West of England and surgery statistics at Noble's Hospital. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to provide the specific data as it is held by Manx Care, though they disclosed the preferred providers listed in the original business case.

Key Facts

• The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold the requested information, which is held by Manx Care.
• Spire Healthcare was the preferred choice for the business case at Wirral and Manchester sites.
• Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was the second option.
• The original business case proposed 100 hip and knee procedures at a rate of 20 per month over 5 months.
• The request was received on 2022-01-25 and the response was issued on 2022-02-14.

Data Disclosed

• 2022-01-25
• 2022-02-14
• 2022-02-15
• 2019
• 100
• 20
• 5
• 2212418

Exemptions Cited

• Section 11(3)a of the Act (Information not held)

Original Request

I was informed by Teressa Cope that 'On the 24th December, Manx Care was formally notified by DHSC that we have been successful in our business case for additional funding to offer patients on the waiting list for Hip and Knee replacements, the opportunity to have their surgery with a private healthcare provider in the North West of England. This will start to come into effect in early January 2022'. My request is - 1. Which North West of England private health care provider has been commissioned? 2. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements have the commissioned private health care provider completed since early January 2022? 3. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements been carried out by the Noble's Hospital since January 2919? Thank you.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Interim Chief Executive: Karen Malone Freedom of Information Team First Floor Belgravia House Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1AE

Our ref: 2212418 14 February 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received 25 January 2022 and which states:

"I was informed by Teressa Cope that 'On the 24th December, Manx Care was formally notified by DHSC that we have been successful in our business case for additional funding to offer patients on the waiting list for Hip and Knee replacements, the opportunity to have their surgery with a private healthcare provider in the North West of England. This will start to come into effect in early January 2022'. 1. Which North West of England private health care provider has been commissioned? 2. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements have the commissioned private health care provider completed since early January 2022? 3. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements been carried out by the Noble's Hospital since January 2919? Our response 1. Which North West of England private health care provider has been commissioned? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department of Health and Social Care ('the Department') is unable to provide the information that you have requested. This is in line with Section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested as it may be held by Manx Care. You may wish to re-submit your request to Manx Care which is an option available on the Freedom of Information request portal, who may be able to help you.

To provide advice and assistance, the Business Case submitted to DHSC noted the following below, any subsequent decision made after approval of the DHSC is information held by Manx Care. Spire Healthcare was the preferred/requested choice at their Wirral and Manchester hospital sites. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh (WWL) Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was the second option. 2. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements have the commissioned private health care provider completed since early January 2022? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department of Health and Social Care ('the Department') is unable to provide the information that you have requested. This is in line with Section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested as it may be held by Manx Care. You may wish to re-submit your request to Manx Care which is an option available on the Freedom of Information request portal, who may be able to help you. To provide advice and assistance, from the original business case it was proposed that “100 hip and knee procedures at a rate of 20 per month (over the course of a 5 month period)” 3. How many National Health Hip or Knee replacements been carried out by the Noble's Hospital since January 2019? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department of Health and Social Care ('the Department') is unable to provide the information that you have requested. This is in line with Section 11(3)a of the Act, as a practical refusal reason applies; namely we do not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested as it may be held by Manx Care. You may wish to re-submit your request to Manx Care which is an option available on the Freedom of Information request portal, who may be able to help you.

Please quote the reference number 2212418 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.