FOI 2025/1204

I am interested in previously unassessed periods of care in continuing healthcare.

For 2022-23, 2023-24 and all available data for 2024-25, could you please list in an excel spreadsheet all requests to consider eligibility for previously unassessed periods of care. For each of these requests, could you please provide:

1. The month and year each PUPoC request was received
2. The duration of the past period of care requested for, and the year(s) they took place
3. Whether the individual represented in the request is deceased
4. The final outcome of the request i.e. a) request not accepted b) request accepted but did not pass CHC checklist screening c) request deemed ineligible after full CHC assessment d) request deemed eligible after full CHC assessment e) outcome pending
5. The month and year in which this final outcome decision on the request was reached
6. For PUPoC requests deemed eligible for CHC, the amount of money reimbursed by the ICB or due to be reimbursed by the ICB.

NHS Greater Manchester ICB (hereafter referred to as NHS GM) does hold the information requested for questions 1-5 of your request, however, on this occasion it is with regret that NHS GM are not able to process this part of the request further by virtue of sections 41(1) for all patients involved (living and deceased) and 40(2) for those living patients. This is because the information in questions 1 to 5 can only be responded to at a patient level. NHS GM is able to respond to question 6, as the information requested here is at an aggregate level.

Section 41(1) – Information Provided in Confidence

Section 41 of the FOIA states: “(1) Information is exempt information if— (a) it was obtained by the public authority from any other person (including another public authority), and (b) the disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person. (2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, the confirmation or denial that would have to be given to comply with section 1(1)(a) would (apart from this Act) constitute an actionable breach of confidence.”

This exemption applies to information which has been provided in confidence to a public authority. For NHS GM to use this exemption, the Act requires that:

• The information must be obtained by the public authority from another person (outside of NHS GM) and.
• Disclosure of the information to the public would constitute a breach of confidence.

The conditions for an actionable breach of confidence to be established would require that the information has a ‘quality’ of confidence (i.e. it is confidential in nature and not widely known) and that it has been imparted in circumstances that suggest there is a ‘obligation’ of confidence upon the receiver, or an expectation given to the provider of that information that it would be treated as confidential and the person to whom the information relates would have expected you to treat it as private and not share it further.

As the information requested relates to health records, this is considered to have been provided to the ICB in confidence, and the person providing the information would have expected it to be held privately. As such, in line with guidance provided by the Information Commissioner’s Office, it is considered that the exemption in section 41(1) applies.

Please Note:  The Access to Health Records 1990 Act applies to deceased patient which NHS GM must comply with this act.

Section 40(2) – Personal information

This exemption covers the personal data of third parties (anyone other than the requester) where complying with the request would breach any of the principles in the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (UK GDPR).

I can confirm that NHS GM does hold the information requested. However, this information is exempt from disclosure under section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as individuals could be identified and therefore disclosure would be in breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.

6. NHS GM was formed on the 1 July 2022 following the merger of the 10 former Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) of Greater Manchester (being NHS Bolton CCG, NHS Bury CCG, NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG, NHS Manchester CCG, NHS Oldham CCG, NHS Salford CCG, NHS Stockport CCG, NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG, NHS Trafford CCG and NHS Wigan Borough CCG), plus Greater Manchester Shared Services (GMSS, previously hosted by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust) and Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership (previously hosted by NHS England).

Commissioning responsibility for patients registered with Glossop based GPs, however, did not transfer to NHS GM, and instead transferred to NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB. As such, data up to 30 June 2022 is in respect of the 10 former CCGs (i.e. including Glossop patients) and data from 1 July 2022 is in respect of NHS GM (i.e. excluding Glossop patients). Data presented up to 30 June 2022 is presented aligned with the relevant former CCG.

Money reimbursed by the ICB

• 2022/2023 – £330,872.15
• 2023/2024 – £218,091.47
• 2024/2025 – £144,606.76

Note, the above figures represent the amounts which have been reimbursed by NHS GM. NHS GM is not able to provide values for the amount, which is expected to be reimbursed, as reviews of the individual cases are not yet complete, and therefore a payment value has not been determined.