NHS winter planning correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. Any correspondence (including emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes, WhatsApp messages, or any other documents) between Scottish Government Officials and NHS Scotland regarding winter planning for the NHS in the winter of 2024/25. Information should include, but not be limited to, a detailed timeline (with dates) of any contact between Scottish Government Officials and Transport Scotland. Please provide this information between the dates of 1 May 2024 and 4 September 2024 inclusive.

2. If no correspondence can be found, can the Government confirm this is because planning has not been discussed?

Response

In relation to section 1 of your request:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance, the costs of locating, retrieving, and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600.

Due to the wide scope of section 1 of your request, the volume of correspondence in scope, and the required resources to redact and process all documentation, exceeds the upper cost limit of £600 in this instance.

Under section 12 of FOISA, public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. This could be achieved through narrowing the timeframe or further specifying:

• Subject matter
• Date range
• Policy area or Subject
• Type of correspondence

You may also find it helpful to consult the Scottish Information Commissioner’s "Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs" on his website at: Tips for Requesters. In relation to section 2 of your request:

The Health and Social Care Winter Preparedness Plan, which was published on the Scottish Government website on 24 September 2024, is produced annually in partnership with CoSLA and sets out key priorities and actions that have been aligned across policy areas and local systems to ensure that people in Scotland receive safe and timely access to health and social care services and support over winter.

Winter Planning takes a comprehensive whole system approach in responding to a surge in demand for health and social care services and the plan sets out the key actions to help relieve pressure points across the system, written in consultation with relevant external partners.

About FOI

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