Health and Social Care Winter Preparedness Plan 2024-25 correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. All correspondence sent by ministers or senior officials sent to all territorial health boards relating to Winter 2024-25.
2. Any correspondence with the following health boards:
3. NHS Lothian.
4. NHS Highland.
5. Scottish Ambulance Service.

It was further clarified in relation to section 2 of your request that it relates to any winter 2024-25 specific correspondence from senior officials or ministers to the named health boards.

Response

In relation to section 1 and 2 of your request:

Please find attached as part of this response, an email exchange between the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the NHS and Board Chief Executive of NHS Ayrshire and Arran regarding the Health and Social Care Winter Preparedness Plan 2024-25.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested. Exemptions under section 38(1)(b) and section 30(b)(ii) of FOISA apply to some of the information requested, as it relates to personal data of a third party or to the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation respectively.

The Section 30(b)(ii) exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public
interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of being an open and transparent government. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in allowing stakeholders reasonable space to provide free and frank feedback on the winter preparedness plan 2024-25, and that the published plan, which takes this feedback into account is also accessible in the public domain.

Winter Planning takes a comprehensive whole system approach in responding to a surge in demand for health and social care services, to ensure that people in Scotland receive safe and timely access to health and social care services and support over winter.

Direct strategic coordination regarding winter preparedness has taken place this year between ScottishGovernment policy teams across Health and Social Care, as well as consultation work with wider stakeholder partnerships such as Health Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and senior officials have oversight of winter planning, but are not directly involved in policy business as usual activity, such as the day to day correspondence or engagement with Scottish Government policy and external stakeholders on winter.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2024-25, the Cabinet Secretary is focused on the priority of ensuring high quality and sustainable public services, and has attended several meetings and events with officials in response to reducing delayed discharges ahead of this winter period. This work, although not directly related to winter will have an impact on service delivery over this period.

The Health and social care: winter preparedness plan 2024 to 2025, 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 provide assurances of system readiness, whilst also addressing the challenges brought about during surges in demand for essential health and social care services.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400436626 - Information Released - Annex

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