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December 2025

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requests that have been received by NHS 24 during December 2025.

Reference

FOI/00120 – Records relating to Belvidere Hospital and Victoria Infirmary (1995 to 1996)

Response date

03/12/2025

Information requested

The following information request includes ‘main’ files and ‘see references’ files, draft letters, documents as well as e-mails, memos and minutes of meetings relating to the undernoted request. All references relate to Belvidere Hospital from 1995 to 1996:

1. Detailed reports made for any refurbishment work where the removal or repair of asbestos was necessary;

2. Detailed reports made for any repair work where the removal or repair of asbestos was necessary;

3. Detailed reports of risk assessments for refurbishment work to be carried out;

4. Detailed reports of risk assessments for repair work to be carried out;

5. Asbestos surveys;

6. Asbestos registers;

7. Detailed reports of any remediation work that involved removing, covering or coating any asbestos products;

8. Detailed reports in respect of the type of structure that was used in the hospital buildings and residences;

9. Demolition records relating to the Victoria Infirmary.

Response

After reviewing your request, we have determined that it falls under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), as the requested information relates to environmental matters.

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This 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, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

We confirm that we do not hold the information you have requested. Under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs, a Scottish public authority may refuse to make environmental information available if the information is not held at the time the request is received. NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested.

Regulation 9 of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 places a duty on public authorities to provide advice and assistance where possible; this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information. This duty is similar to the obligation set out in Section 15 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by the local territorial NHS Board where the hospitals are located. The FOISA contact details of each of the territorial Boards can be found via the links here: https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/ please remember if requesting this information from the boards to submit your request as an Environmental Information request under the EIRs.

Reference

FOI/00122 – Access to health records

Response date

04/12/2025

Information requested

I would like to access all my child’s medical records

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and concluded that the requested information is regarded as “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Therefore, because the information you have requested is your son’s personal information, for which you are acting on their behalf, it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and we are refusing your request by way of a formal notice in accordance with section 16 of FOISA.

For your future reference if you are asking an organisation for personal data that they may hold, then you should submit it as a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR), that way they will deal with it as a DSAR and not an FOI which may help expedite the request process.

In this instance however, as NHS 24 is a telephone triage service we therefore only hold information relating to any calls you may have made to the 111 service regarding your son. If it is the medical records held by your General Practitioner and/or any hospitals you may have attended or any community health services your son may have engaged with, then you should submit a Data Subject Access Request direct to your GP and/or territorial Health Board respectively.

However, if you require information held by NHS 24, please confirm this by email at: DP@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk.

Reference

FOI/00123 – Anti-VEGF injections

Response date

04/12/2025

Information requested

How many intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections were administered to patients in Scotland between 01/01/2024 to 01/01/2025? 2. How many intravitreal injections of each anti-VEGF type were administered during this time period?

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. NHS 24 is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Public Health Scotland (PHS). If you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email: PHS.FOI@phs.scot

Address: Corporate FOI team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh EH12 9EB

Or

Webpage: Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests

Reference

FOI/00124 – Budget for endometriosis

Response date

02/12/2025

Information requested

1. Any programme budgeting or internal costing that separately identified endometriosis (ICD – 10 N80)

2. Annual spend on endometriosis diagnosis/treatment (surgery, imaging, outpatient clinics, specialist centre budgets) for the last 5-7 years.

I am aware Costs Book is by speciality, and I am seeking any condition level internal analyse.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. NHS 24 is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS). If you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email: nss.foi@nhs.scot

Address:
NHS National Services Scotland
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Or

Webpage: Freedom of information

Reference

FOI/00125 – Access to health records

Response date

04/12/2025

Information requested

Access to child’s health records

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and concluded that the requested information is regarded as “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Therefore, because the information you have requested is your child’s personal information, for which you are acting on their behalf, it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and we are refusing your request by way of a formal notice in accordance with section 16 of FOISA.

In this instance however, as NHS 24 is a telephone triage service we therefore only hold information relating to any calls you may have made to the 111 service regarding your son. If it is the medical records held by your General Practitioner and/or any hospitals you may have attended or any community health services your son may have engaged with, then you should submit a Data Subject Access Request direct to your GP and/or territorial Health Board respectively.

However, if you require information held by NHS 24, please confirm this by email at: DP@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk.

Reference

FOI/00126 – Number of employees suspended on full pay

Response date

04/12/2025

Information requested

I would like to ask the following information:

1. In each year since 2020-21, including the current year to date, how many employees at this public body have been suspended with full pay? Where an employee’s suspension covers multiple financial years, please only include the year where they were initially suspended.

2. In relation to Q1, what is the respective salary of these employees?

3. Please provide as much detail as possible on why these employees were suspended. E.g. Disciplinary issues, poor quality of work etc.

Response

Thank you for your request dated 13 November 2025 for information relating to the number of employees suspended on full pay, their salary, and specific details around the reason for suspension made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

NHS 24 has considered your request and confirms that it holds the information you have asked for. However, in instances where the number of staff involved is fewer than five, there is a risk that individuals could be identified from the data provided.

In accordance with section 38(1)(b) of FOISA, we have withheld specific details to protect the personal data of third parties. Disclosure of this information would contravene the data protection principles set out in Article 5(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018, particularly in relation to fairness, lawfulness, and necessity.

As such, where applicable, we have indicated “fewer than 5” to prevent the potential identification of individual staff members. This ensures we comply with the data protection legislation.

 

Year

Band 2

£25,694 -£27,900

Band 3

£28,011 – £30,230

Band 4

£30,353 -£33,016

Band 5

£33,247 – £41,424

 

Band 6

£41,608 -£50,702

 

 

Band 7

£50,861 -£59,159

 

 

Band 8B

£74,003 – £79,164

 

20/21 <5<5<5<5  
21/22<5<5  <5<5<5
22/23 <5 <5<5  
23/24 <5 <5<5  
24/25 <5 <5   
25/26 <5 <5   


We have also withheld information relating to the reasons for suspension because we consider this to also be the personal data of one or more third parties. In doing so, we are relying upon the exemption available in section 38(1)(b) of FOISA as cited above.

Whilst NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, note that FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions (exceptions) listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish public authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Reference

FOI/00127 – Employee retention

Response date

04/12/2025

Information requested

With particular reference to the need to gather information on the retention of employees as measured by their length of service, I am writing to ask under the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 that the Board provides me with the following information on employees:

  • The average length of service of all current employees expressed as a single figure in years and months
  • The average length of service of all employees and allocated to 10-year groupings, i.e. up to 10 years, between 10 and 20 years, between 20 and 30 years, between 30 and 40 years, and between 40 and 50 years
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of sex, with an average for all men and another for all women [sex as defined by the Supreme Court in April 2025 as biological and binary]
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of sex, with an average for all men and an average for all women, and allocated to 10-year groupings, i.e. up to 10 years, between 10 and 20 years, between 20 and 30 years, between 30 and 40 years, and between 40 and 50 years
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of sex at the point they leave employment with the Board, with an average for all employees, an average for all men and another average for all women
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of ethnicity using these sub-groupings [BME – Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Group, Asian Pakistani, Asian Indian, Asian Bangladeshi, Asian Chinese, Asian Other, African, African Other, Caribbean, Black, Caribbean or Black Other, Arab and Other Ethnic Group – White Minority – White Irish, White Gypsy/Traveller, White Polish and White Other – All Other White British – White English, White Northern Irish, White Welsh and White Other British]
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of ethnicity using these 3 sub-groups [BME – Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Group, Asian Pakistani, Asian Indian, Asian Bangladeshi, Asian Chinese, Asian Other, African, African Other, Caribbean, Black, Caribbean or Black Other, Arab and Other Ethnic Group – White Minority – White Irish, White Gypsy/Traveller, White Polish and White Other – All Other White British – White English, White Northern Irish, White Welsh and White Other British], and allocated to 10 year groupings, i.e. up to 10 years, between 10 and 20 years, between 20 and 30 years, between 30 and 40 years, and between 40 and 50 years
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of ethnicity at the point they leave employment with the Board, with an average for all employees and average for each of the above three sub-groups
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of disability, with an average for all disabled people and another for all other employees not identifying as disabled
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of disability, with an average for all disabled people and an average for all employees not identifying as disabled, and allocated to 10-year groupings, i.e. up to 10 years, between 10 and 20 years, between 20 and 30 years, between 30 and 40 years, and between 40 and 50 years
  • The average length of service of all employees according to the protected characteristic of disability at the point they leave employment with the Board, with an average for all employees, an average for all disabled people and an average for all employees not identifying as disabled.

In addition to the above, can you please explain why the Board has not gathered, used and published data sets similar to the above on the workforce in pursuit of the Public Sector Equality Duty?

Response

Thank you for your request dated 14 November 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information relating to the average length of service of NHS 24’s staff.

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested, attached as Appendix A.

Please note the following:

  • The information shared reflects the position of the organisation on 30 September 2025.
  • At this time, we employed 2203 staff members.
  • During the period 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, 274 staff members left NHS 24.
  • We have shared a breakdown of the staff composition as a percentage of the total workforce, and leavers as percentages of the total number of leavers, which is consistent with how we report data in our Workforce Equality Monitoring Report. The Equality and Human Rights Commission encourages public bodies to seek to anonymise data where staff groupings are low and publishing this information could lead to the identification of individuals.
  • Some figures have been rounded up or down where appropriate, and this may account for some very slight differences in the data reported.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Response documents

FOI/00127 – Response Appendix A (PDF | 202KB)

FOI/00127 – Review Response (PDF | 175KB)

Reference

FOI/00128 – State Hospital (Carstairs) patient statistics

Response date

08/12/2025

Information requested

1. How many patients/people are in Carstairs with a) a diagnosis (or primary diagnosis) of autism or b) with a learning disability?

2. How many of these patients (i.e. patients with a diagnosis of autism and or learning disability) were referred from the community not the courts or have not been referred following a conviction?

3. What is the longest period of time in years any of these patients has spent in Carstairs?

4. What is the longest period of time in days any of these patients has spent in Carstairs?

5. What is the average time they have spent in Carstairs?

6. And what are the ages of these particular patients?

7. How much does it cost the NHS each year to keep one of these patients at Carstairs?

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (Information not held). NHS 24 is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by The State Hospitals Board for Scotland (TSH). If you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email: tsh.foi@nhs.scot

Address:
The State Hospitals Board for Scotland
Carstairs
Lanark
ML11 8RP

Or

Webpage: https://www.tsh.scot.nhs.uk

Reference

FOI/00129 – Employee/staff networks

Response date

11/12/2025

Information requested

For your organisation, can you please provide me a list of:

  • Employee/Staff Networks recognised by your organisation.
  • Details of any funding provided to that network by your organisation or external source e.g. charity and how that funding has been spent for the past three financial years, broken down by year where possible.
  • Details of any administrative support provided to the organisation, including a breakdown of time/banding of employee providing said support.
  • Any facility/protected time that the network lead (chair, vice chair etc) gets as part of their role.
  • Details of any executive/senior management responsibility for the network.
  • A copy of the terms of reference/memorandum of understanding/network agreement for each network recognised by your organisation, where this document exists.

Please note, I am not looking for the personal details of junior employees. If the network has a shared email address, please provide this.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested below:

Employee/Staff Networks recognised by your organisation.

There are two live Employee networks as follows:

Carers Network/Group

This group brings together staff members from across the organisation who are either carers themselves or allies. Its purpose is to enhance support, resources, and information available to staff with caring responsibilities. The remit also includes progressing Carer Positive awards. Additionally, the group provides input to the Staff Experience Group on matters that may benefit carers.

  • Funding: Currently, the group has not received direct funding from the organisation or external sources. However, peer benchmarking and support have been offered free of charge by other NHS organisations. In 2026, we will strengthen collaboration with VOCAL, who will co-design manager training at no cost to NHS 24.
  • Admin support: The Carers Group is led and administered by the Wellbeing and People Manager (Band 7) at NHS 24. This responsibility has been part of the role since 2023 as the organisation advances its work in this area. Approximately five hours per month are dedicated to this, supported by a Communications Manager (Band 6) for around two hours per month. There is no protected time for the chair (Wellbeing and People Manager), as this work currently falls under the remit of advancing NHS 24’s Our Wellbeing Matters strategy.
  • Terms of Reference: At present, there is no formal Terms of Reference for the group. Therefore section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA applies.
  • Exec/Senior Management responsibility: From a governance perspective, it connects with the Staff Experience Group and, through Workforce channels, feeds into the Staff Governance Committee in that way.

Anti Racism Staff Network

A collaborative group, established in November 2025 to support NHS 24’s commitment to tackling racism and promoting equity. The network will help implement and monitor the Anti Racism Action Plan, as well as create a safe and inclusive space for staff to share experiences and ideas and promote cultural diversity across the organisation.

  • No specific funding
  • Admin support provided by Engagement Manager and OD, Leadership and Learning Facilitator at Band 7, approximately 4 hours per month combined
  • Facility/protected staff time
  • Exec/senior management responsibility: We have joint Exec sponsors for the Anti Racism Action Plan, of which the network forms part, directors from both Workforce and Transformation, Strategy, Planning and Performance directorates. Exec leads do not attend the Anti-Racism Staff Network, unless specifically invited, to ensure it remains a staff led space. A member of NHS 24’s board is a member of the newly formed Anti Racism Staff Network.
  • Terms of Reference – in draft format attached

Previous Employee/Staff Networks:

Menopause Group

As a test of change, a local menopause group was established at Lumina contact centre in 2023/2024. This group reported/fed into the local Staff Experience Group. The remit of the group was peer support and sign posting to resources. The group was led by the Wellbeing team manager in our Lumina centre. This group is no longer in operation.

  • No specific funding
  • No facility/protected staff time

No terms of reference. Therefore section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA applies.

Other Groups

In addition to the networks above NHS 24 host Staff Experience Groups as follows, open to all staff.

In 2023, we relaunched Staff Experience Groups (SEGs) across our service following a short pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The opportunity was taken during this time to review the groups and consider the best way to establish them locally within each centre. The groups represent all staff and are based at the following centres:

  • Aberdeen
  • Aurora (Clydebank)
  • Dundee
  • Cardonald (Glasgow)
  • Norseman (South Queensferry)

Details of any funding provided to that network by your organisation or external source e.g. charity and how that funding has been spent for the past three financial years, broken down by year where possible.

NHS 24 provides no funding.

Details of any administrative support provided to the organisation, including a breakdown of time/banding of employee providing said support.

Administration support is provided by administration assistants who are Band 3, Team Managers Band 5, also work collaboratively with the chair. The time is generally an hour per month per centre.

Any facility/protected time that the network lead (chair, vice chair etc) gets as part of their role.

Chair undertakes this role as part of their duties, so time to do so is available and management time is planned accordingly.

Details of any executive/senior management responsibility for the network.

The Regional Staff Experience Groups report into Regional Head of Clinical Services.

A copy of the terms of reference/memorandum of understanding/network agreement for each network recognised by your organisation, where this document exists.

The following statement is a copy of the information regarding our Staff Experience Groups taken from the NHS 24 staff on 26/11/2025:intranet

“The purpose of our Staff Experience Groups is to support and promote staff experience, organisational culture and values across all centres, consider local issues raised by staff members and take forward actions to support improvements in staff experience. Each group supports and promotes a culture that encourages behaviours that will help us to maintain a working environment in which everyone feels included, respected and valued.

Each group has a lead, who has overall responsibility for their local group. An open invite goes out to all staff working within that centre to come along and take part in the meetings. Collectively the group and its members are responsible for developing actions and activities to bring about improvements. They also:

  • ensure each centre identifies opportunities and challenges and proactive measures to ensure positive staff experiences for all
  • proactively supports local communication and engagement with staff
  • ensures improvements in our culture and values is at the heart of everything that we do
  • supports the local delivery of the Staff Governance Standard.

Local groups are responsible for the development their local Action Plan, which captures and reports against all activities agreed by the group, and forms the core part of the meeting. The lead ensures a progress report based on the Action Plan is submitted to their respective Local Partnership Forum in advance of its regular meeting.”

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold some of the requested information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA. We have indicated in our responses where to section 17(1) of FOISA applies.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish public authorities to provide advice and assistance wherever possible, however in this instance we are unable to advise because the requested information is not held elsewhere.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Response documents

FOI/00129 – Anti-Racism TOR draft (PDF | 115KB)

Reference

FOI/00130 – State Hospital (Carstairs) patient statistics

Response date

11/12/2025

Information requested

This request relates to your organisation as an NHS Board in Scotland.

For each of the last seven financial years (for example: 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25, or the last seven financial years for which you hold data), please provide:

1. Total expenditure

a) The total annual expenditure on translation and interpretation services.

b) Please confirm whether these figures include:

  • Face-to-face interpreters
  • Telephone interpreting
  • Video-remote interpreting
  • British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting
  • Written translation of documents and patient information
  • Any other communication support services (please specify)

2. Breakdown by service type

For each of the same financial years, please provide the annual expenditure broken down (where recorded) into:

a) Face-to-face spoken language interpreting

b) Telephone interpreting

c) Video-remote interpreting

d) BSL or other sign language interpreting

e) Written translation (e.g. patient letters, leaflets, consent forms)

f) Any other distinct categories you use internally (please specify).

3. Breakdown by language

For each financial year, please provide any breakdown you hold of expenditure by language. If a full language-by-language breakdown is not readily available within the FOISA cost limits, please provide:

a) The top 10 most-used languages by expenditure in each year, with spend for each; or

b) The most granular language breakdown you hold in existing reports or management information.

4. Breakdown by provider

For each financial year, please provide any breakdown you hold of expenditure by provider/supplier, including:

a) The name of each external provider of translation/interpreting services; and

b) The total annual amount paid to each provider.

If you use internal/in-house interpreters or translators, please state this and, where recorded, provide the annual cost of in-house provision (e.g. staff costs, where these are separately identified in your records or management reports).

5. Volumes / activity data

For each financial year, please provide any activity data you hold, including (where recorded):

a) The total number of interpreting appointments/assignments arranged (face-to-face, telephone, video-remote) – ideally broken down by type.

b) The total number of documents translated (or, if you record it differently, any other available measure of volume such as number of translation jobs or word count).
If you do not hold this information in a reportable format, please confirm that this is the case.

6. Contracts and procurement arrangements

Please provide:

a) Details of any current contracts or framework agreements for translation and interpretation services, including:

  • Name of contractor(s)
  • Contract start and end dates (including any extension periods)

Whether the contract is call-off from a national framework (and, if so, which one)

b) The estimated or maximum contract value for each contract, where this information is held.

Format and FOISA considerations

  • Please provide the information in an electronic format, preferably as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file where possible, with clear headings for years, categories, languages, and providers.
  • If you do not hold some of the requested information, please state which parts you do not hold.
  • If providing all of the above in full would exceed the appropriate cost limit under FOISA, please:
    a. Provide the information that can be disclosed within the cost limit; and
    b. Prioritise items 1, 2, and 3 (total expenditure, breakdown by service type, and any language breakdown), and indicate which parts of the remainder (4–6) could be provided within the cost limit.
  • If any of the information is already available publicly (for example, in board papers or annual reports), please direct me to the relevant documents and page numbers.

Response

Thank you for your request dated 20 November 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information relating to Translation and Interpretation Services.

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that it does not hold all the information requested but has appended to this letter, the information which it holds.

Question 1 – please see Appendix 1.

* Telephone interpreting charges were not segregated out from a managed service invoice pre-April 2021 as such we do not have any detail on this for 18/19, 19/20 or 20/21.

** For face-to-face interpreting, video-remote interpreting, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting and other communication support services we are unable to segregate the spend by these classifications. We have disclosed the entire spend of the suppliers used for such services for Question 4.

Question 2 – please see Appendix 1.

Question 3 – we do not have a full language-by-language breakdown available for face-to-face interpreting, video-remote interpreting, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting, written translation of documents and patient information or any other communication support services.

In relation to Telephone interpreting, we are unable to disclose this information as it is commercially sensitive.
The only information we have to provide is the top 10 most-used languages by expenditure in each year for telephone interpreting. This is disclosed in Appendix 1

Question 4 – please see Appendix 1.

Question 5 – we do not have the information recorded that you have requested for language-by-language breakdown available for face-to-face interpreting, video-remote interpreting, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting, written translation of documents and patient information or any other communication support services.

In relation to telephone interpreting, we are unable to disclose this information as it is commercially sensitive.

Question 6 – there are no contracts in place for the suppliers used for face-to-face interpreting, Video-remote interpreting, British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting, written translation of documents and patient information or any other communication support services as the spend is usually below our procurement thresholds.

In relation to telephone interpreting the contract is part of a managed service contract for a number of services. Start Date: 31/10/2025, End Date: 31/10/2026.

Where we are withholding information because we regard it as commercially sensitive, we are relying upon the exemption available in section 33(1)(b) of FOISA. Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA provides that information is exempt information if its disclosure under FOISA would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person.

NHS 24 is relying on this exemption as we consider that our commercial interests would, or would be likely to, be harmed by disclosure.

We believe that disclosure of the information requested would be likely to impact our ability to secure best value in the procurement of this contract in the future, as potential suppliers would gain a strong indication of the level of bid that might secure contracts of similar nature and scale, resulting in bidders submitting less competitive bids in future.

Whilst NHS 24 acknowledges the public interest in openness and transparency, we are of the view that, on this occasion, the public interest favours application of the section 33(1)(b) exemption.

In considering the public interest in favour of disclosure, NHS 24 recognises the public interest in disclosing information held by Scottish public authorities. However, having considered all the circumstances of this case, we are of the view that the public interest in openness and transparency is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption and avoiding substantial prejudice to NHS 24’s commercial interests.

The Section 33(1) exemption is a qualified exemption, so NHS 24 is required to consider the following tests in relation to that exemption:

  • The Public Interest test
  • The Harm test

The Public Interest Test

This test is not defined within the Act, but it is generally accepted to be ‘something which is of serious concern and benefit to the public’. NHS 24 consider that there is nothing within the withheld information which would further benefit the public interest and that, in fact, withholding this information is in the public interest to ensure that NHS 24 can provide health care services to the people of Scotland.

The Harm Test

This is generally accepted to be where disclosure would prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person (including, without prejudice to that generality, a Scottish Public Authority). NHS 24 considers that to provide commercial information of the type and detail requested would prejudice substantially the ability of NHS 24 to ensure good value to the public in the use of public funds. Providing cost and budget information may compromise the ability of NHS 24, when entering into a commercial agreement, to ensure that the value of the agreement is to the benefit of NHS 24 and the Scottish public.
Accordingly, this is a partial release.

Where we do not hold some of the requested information, this is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held). Whilst NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, on this occasion, we do not hold all of the requested information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, however on this occasion we do not believe the requested information that we do not hold, is available from another Scottish Public Authority.

Response documents

FOI/00130 – Response  Appendix 01 (CSV | 2KB)

FOI/00130 – Response  Appendix 01 (XLSX | 13KB)

Reference

FOI/00132 – Cataract information for Scotland

Response date

19/12/2025

Information requested

Could you please provide information on the the following:

On an annual basis from 2015 to 2025, in Scotland and by Health Board:

1. How many patents were awaiting Cataract procedures?

2. What was the mean and maximum waiting time from Optician/Doctor referral to Consultant review?

3. What was the mean and maximum waiting time from Consultant referral to procedure(s) being completed

Response

Thank you for your request dated 21 November 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for the following information:

Could you please provide information on the following:

On an annual basis from 2015 to 2025, in Scotland and by Health Board:

1. How many patents were awaiting Cataract procedures?

2. What was the mean and maximum waiting time from Optician/Doctor referral to consultant review?

3. What was the mean and maximum waiting time from consultant referral to procedure(s) being completed

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible. Therefore, in this instance we advise that Public Health Scotland may hold the information.

Should you wish to submit your request to Public Health Scotland you can do so via the following ways:

Email: PHS.FOI@phs.scot

or

Post to:
Corporate FOI team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Further information about how you can submit a Freedom of Information request to Public Health Scotland, including an online form, can be found on its website at:

https://publichealthscotland.scot/contact-us/freedom-of-information-foi-and-environmental-information-regulation-eir-requests/

Reference

FOI/00133 – Contract information

Response date

17/12/2025

Information requested

I request information for your current provider of Telephony, voice, unified communications platform and contact centre.

Please could you provide the following details for any current contract(s).

  • Contract title
  • Start date
  • End date
  • Current supplier
  • Total Contract Value
  • Framework used (if any)

If any of the information is outside the scope of the FOIA, please answer what you can and advise & assist on the best way to uncover the remaining information.

Response

Thank you for your request dated 26 November 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that it does not hold all the information requested but has included in this letter, the information which it holds.

Current Supplier

 

         Contract Title

Start date

End Date

Total Contract Value

Framework Used

BT

Global

EE Mobile Voice and Data Services

30/06/2023

29/06/2028

See exemption below

National Framework Agreement

BT

Global

Connect Services Agreement SFLA Lot 2 Agreement 2015

26/10/2015

27/10/2026

See exemption below

Framework Agreement

Coforge

SERVICES CONTRACT relating to the development and supply of an integrated CC/CRM system.

12/10/2024

11/10/2029

See exemption below

Services Contract

Vodafone

Extension of 111 Services in Scotland and NHS 24 as a Cluster Member

01/04/2025

31/03/2027

See exemption below

Call-off Contract CCN

Vodafone

Mobile Phones RM3808-Lot6-Vodafone Ltd

04/06/2021

Rolling

See exemption below

National Framework Agreement

NHS 24 aims to provide information wherever possible. However, regarding the “Total Contract Value”, we do not hold this information, and this is subject to Section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held).

The contracts you have requested include a range of additional services within their overall scope. Because of this, costs are not itemised in a way that would allow us to provide figures for individual services.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Reference

FOI/00134 – Staff use of pronouns

Response date

17/12/2025

Information requested

I’m writing to request information about your organisation’s position and practice regarding the use of pronouns by staff.

1. Staff use of pronouns

  • How many staff currently include pronouns in their official work email signatures?
  • If exact numbers aren’t held, please provide any monitoring, estimates, or internal data you have.

2. Organisational position

  • Is the inclusion of pronouns in email signatures mandated, encouraged, or left entirely optional within your organisation?
  • Please provide any policies, internal guidance, or communications that set out your approach.

3. References to external resources

  • How many staff include a link to pronouns.org (or similar websites) in their email signatures or internal profiles?
  • Does your organisation promote, endorse, or direct staff toward pronouns.org or similar guidance? Does your organisation endorse the content of pronouns.org?
  • Please share any documents, training materials, or communications that reference or recommend this website.

4. Internal communications and staff responses

  • Please provide copies of any communications or briefings sent to staff regarding the use of pronouns in email signatures.
  • Has your organisation received any objections, complaints, or concerns from staff in relation to pronoun guidance or expectations?
  • If so, please provide the number of cases and any summaries you hold, including whether any issues were raised by staff with gender-critical beliefs or staff citing religious beliefs.

5. Impact considerations

  • Have any Equality Impact Assessments or similar assessments been carried out regarding your organisation’s approach to pronoun use?
  • If so, please provide copies or summaries of these assessments.

Response

Thank you for your request dated 04 December 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information relating to the inclusion of pronouns within email signatures at NHS 24.

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide a response to each of your questions, attached as Appendix A.

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold some of the requested information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA. We have indicated in our responses in Appendix A attached, where section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA applies.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish public authorities to provide advice and assistance wherever possible, however in this instance we are unable to advise if the requested information is held elsewhere.

This is a full release of all the information you requested where it is held.

Response documents

FOI/00134 – Response  Appendix A (PDF | 31KB)

Reference

FOI/00135 – Endometriosis budgets

Response date

29/12/2025

Information requested

I am submitting an FOI request for the following:

1. Annual programme budgeting on gynaecology services and procedures.

2. Specific breakdown of expenditure on gynaecology procedures (cervical screenings, laparoscopies, endometrial biopsies, transvaginal ultrasounds).

3. Manuel review of theatre lists for period of 5-7 years, identifying the number of procedures carried out in relation to endometriosis. Including cost per procedure/diagnosis.

I am aware Costs Book is by speciality. However, I am seeking a specific breakdown of costs related to gynaecology procedures.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (Information not held) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Public Authorities in Scotland to provide ‘advice and assistance’ where possible. We can advise you that in this instance, the information may be held by the territorial health boards in Scotland. If you wish to re-direct your request to each territorial health board, the relevant contact details for each are available via the link below.

https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/

Reference

FOI/00136 – Access to health records

Response date

29/12/2025

Information requested

Mental health records

Response

We confirm that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information. This is because NHS 24 is Scotland’s digital health and care service provider, and we only hold patient records relating to contacts with and made to NHS 24 services.

As NHS 24 does not hold the requested information, your request is subject to section 17(1) (information not held) of FOISA.

FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, and in this instance, we advise you that, based on the address information provided in your request, the information may be held by your local health board, which is likely to be NHS Ayrshire & Arran or by your General Practitioner (GP).

Should you wish to re-direct your request to NHS Ayrshire & Arran, you can email it as a ‘Data Subject Access Request’ to:

SubjectAccessRequest@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.

Further information on other ways to contact NHS Ayrshire & Arran can be found on its website at:

https://www.nhsaaa.net/website-policies/data-protection-notice/

Please note that in this case, the requested information is deemed as “personal information” as set out in section 38(1)(a) of FOISA, for which you are the data subject. If NHS 24 did hold the requested information, your request would have been exempt under FOISA and instead would be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as a Data Subject Access Request.

We would suggest that if requesting personal data in the future, that you do so as a Data Subject Access Request instead of requesting it under FOISA. This would ensure that your request was directed to the correct team and may enable the responding organisation to process your request sooner.

Reference

FOI/00139 – Parental leave policy

Response date

17/12/2025

Information requested

I would please like to know:

1. Your parental leave policies, including paternity leave and pay and maternity leave and pay. If you have different policies for medical and non-medical staff, please include all different policies.

2. In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members were eligible for paternity leave?

3. In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members took paternity leave, and for how many weeks on average?

4. In the last three years for which you have data, what was the average salary for staff who were eligible for paternity leave? (If it is not possible to provide this, please provide the average salary for all the trust’s staff instead)

For queries 2 – 4, please provide separate data for medical and non-medical staff, but if this is not possible, please provide combined data for both instead.

If you are unable to answer all of these questions, please prioritise answering them in order.

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that it does not hold all the information requested but has included in this letter, the information which it holds.

Outlined below are the responses to your specific request:

1. Your parental leave policies, including paternity leave and pay and maternity leave and pay. If you have different policies for medical and non-medical staff, please include all different policies.

Please see the links to the attached policies which are applicable to both medical and non-medical staff.

Maternity Policy Maternity Policy Overview

Shared Maternity and Adoption Leave Policy Maternity Policy Overview

New Parent Support Policy (Paternity Leave) New Parent Support Policy Overview

2. In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members were eligible for paternity leave?

On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore this element of your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

We regret that we are unable to provide the total number of employees (both medical and non-medical) who were eligible for support under the Once for Scotland New Parent Support Policy for each of the past five calendar or financial years.
Eligibility for support is determined by specific criteria outlined in the policy, which states:

  • For new parents to access support: Employees must meet the service requirements and provide the necessary documentation confirming their parental status.
  • For partners or secondary carers: They must meet the relevant employment and service criteria as set out in the policy.

While all employees who meet these criteria are eligible to access support, we do not routinely collect or record data on employees’ parental status. As such, we are unable to identify which individuals would meet the full eligibility criteria in any given year.

However, we are committed to supporting all staff in accessing their entitlements and ensure that comprehensive information and guidance on the New Parent Support Policy is readily available to employees and managers via the Once for Scotland portal which can be accessed here NHS Workforce Policies.

3. In the last three years for which you have data, how many staff members took paternity leave, and for how many weeks on average?

In the last 3 years within the date range of 01/12/2022 – 30/11/2025 there has been 35 instances of paternity leave. The average calendar days was 10 and average weeks is 1.49 weeks per episode/request.

4. In the last three years for which you have data, what was the average salary for staff who were eligible for paternity leave? (If it is not possible to provide this, please provide the average salary for all the trust’s staff instead)

Given we cannot provide details on who was eligible it is not possible to provide their salary either. Therefore, as we do not hold this information this element of your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

However, section 15 of FOISA, requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ where possible. As such, to assist, we have provided the average salary for NHS 24 staff. This is as follows:

  • 24/25 – £28,435.02
  • 23/24 – £26,605.00
  • 22/23 – £25,356.04

For queries 2-4 the data is combined with medical and non-medical staff.

As indicated above, we do not hold some of the requested information, and these are therefore subject to section 17(1) (information not held) of FOISA. Whilst NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, note that FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish public authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

  • Last updated: 30 January 2026

Related Information

Board papers

Records of the decisions made at our monthly board meetings

Plans

Our aims and ambitions for the future of NHS 24

Reports

How we have performed against our policies and plans

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]]> December 2025 https://www.nhs24.scot/publications/board-papers/december-2025/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 13:41:27 +0000 https://www.nhs24.scot/?post_type=publication&p=23115 December 2025 Downloads Item 00 – NHS 24 Board Agenda – December 2025 4 pages, 152 KB | PDF Item 03 – NHS 24 Board Minute – 30 October 2025 – TBR 7 pages, 182 KB | PDF Item 04a – NHS 24 Board Rolling Actions Log – December 2025 1 page, 117 KB | […]

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December 2025

Downloads

Item 00 - NHS 24 Board Agenda - December 2025

4 pages, 152 KB | PDF

Item 03 - NHS 24 Board Minute - 30 October 2025 - TBR

7 pages, 182 KB | PDF

Item 04a - NHS 24 Board Rolling Actions Log - December 2025

1 page, 117 KB | PDF

Item 07 - Executive Report to Board December 2025

7 pages, 176 KB | PDF

Item 09.1 - 2025-26 Corporate Delivery Plan Update

31 pages, 500 KB | PDF

Item 09.2 - Risk Management Update Redacted

18 pages, 411 KB | PDF

Item 09.3 - CESP Annual Report 2024-25

44 pages, 698 KB | PDF

Item 09.4 - Staff Governance Monitoring Return 2024-25 v2

16 pages, 405 KB | PDF

Item 09.5 - Patient Service User Feedback Annual Report 2024_25

19 pages, 2,496 KB | PDF

Item 10.1 - Corporate Performance Report - November 2025

22 pages, 1,305 KB | PDF

Item 10.2 - Finance Performance Report M08

8 pages, 418 KB | PDF

Item 11.1a - CGC(M) 07.08.25 - FINAL

11 pages, 214 KB | PDF

Item 11.1b - CGC Highlight Report 06.11.25

3 pages, 150 KB | PDF

Item 11.2a - SGC(M) 31.07.25 - FINAL

12 pages, 169 KB | PDF

Item 11.2b - SGC Highlight Report 03.11.25

4 pages, 141 KB | PDF

Item 11.3a - ARC(M) 14.08.25 - FINAL

8 pages, 200 KB | PDF

Item 11.3b - ARC Highlight Report 20.11.25

2 pages, 118 KB | PDF

Item 11.4a - PPC(M) 04.08.25 - FINAL

10 pages, 231 KB | PDF

Item 11.4b - PPC Highlight Report - 10.11.25

2 pages, 149 KB | PDF

Item 11.5a - IGC(M) 24.06.25 - FINAL

4 pages, 114 KB | PDF

Item 11.5b - IGC Highlight Report 04.12.25

3 pages, 126 KB | PDF

Item 12.1 - Corporate Governance Framework Update 2025

191 pages, 4,970 KB | PDF

Item 12.2 - Board and Committee Schedule of Meetings 2026_27

5 pages, 232 KB | PDF

Item 12.3 - Board and Committee Workplans 2026_27

37 pages, 263 KB | PDF

The post December 2025 appeared first on NHS 24.

]]> FOI November 2025 https://www.nhs24.scot/publications/freedom-of-information-requests/foi-november-2025/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 11:10:43 +0000 https://www.nhs24.scot/?post_type=publication&p=22749 Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requests that have been received by NHS 24 during November 2025.

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November 2025

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requests that have been received by NHS 24 during November 2025.

Reference

FOI/00104 – Board hospitality costs

Response date

04/11/2025

Information requested

How much has been spent on any catering and/or hospitality costs for any and all Board meetings in each of the following financial years: 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 (most recent)?

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested in appendix 1 attached.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Response documents

FOI/00104 Response appendix data (XLSX | 17KB)

FOI/00104 Response appendix data (CSV | 1KB)

Reference

FOI/00105 – Executive management team salaries and allowances

Response date

13/11/2025

Information requested

I am looking for information regarding the number of Executive Management Team staff and their salaries/allowances. As such, please provide the following information, as of 1st October 2025 (or most recent):

  1. Number of Executive Management Team staff.
  2. Breakdown of salaries, including how many earn over £100k, over £110k, over 120k etc.
  3. Breakdown of all expenses/allowances for the Executive Management Team, broken down by each financial year from 2019/20 to 2024/25.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and provided you with the information you have requested in in the attached Excel workbook.

You will note from that attached workbook that we have provided several salary and expenses monetary ranges and included the number of ‘Executive Management Team’ members whose salaries fall within each of those ranges.

Regarding the third element of your request, we have based our response on a combined figure of expenses for the whole of the Executive Management Team.

NHS 24 considers this to be a full disclosure of all the information requested.

Response documents

FOI/00105 Response appendix data (XLSX | 19KB)

FOI/00105 Response appendix data (CSV | 1KB)

Reference

FOI/00106 – Staff probationary

Response date

05/11/2025

Information requested

Please provide the total number of former employees at your organisation who failed their probation and had their employment ended, broken down into a table to reflect every financial year since 2021-22.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested. NHS 24 does not operate a formal probationary period as part of its standard employment contracts under Agenda for Change (AfC) and has not done so since 2021-2022.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Reference

FOI/00107 – Scottish Ambulance Service response times

Response date

13/11/2025

Information requested

a) The Scottish Ambulance Service’s median and 95th centile response times for ‘high/red’ category incidents (a) on 18 December 2022 (b) on average, for the 12 preceding months.

b) The Scottish Ambulance Service’s median and 95th centile response times for ‘immediately life-threatening/purple category incidents (a) on 18 December 2022 (b) on average, for the 12 preceding months.

c) The Scottish Ambulance Service’s median and 95th centile waiting times for patient handover at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital (a) on 18 December 2022 (b) on average, for the 12 preceding months.

d) The Scottish Ambulance Service’s policies, procedures, protocols, guidance, and other documents on the dispatch of resources, including the use of Rapid Response Cars and other resource types including community responders and managers.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Scottish Ambulance Service – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email Contact: sas.foi@nhs.scot

Postal Address:

Freedom of Information Officer
Scottish Ambulance Service – National Headquarters
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Reference

FOI/00108 – Cancer and mortality rates – Caithness

Response date

14/11/2025

Information requested

Cancer rates and mortality rates in Caithness

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Public Health Scotland – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email Contact: PHS.FOI@phs.scot

Postal Address:

Corporate FOI Team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh

Reference

FOI/00109 – Cancer rates per head of population

Response date

14/11/2025

Information requested

The cancer rate per head of population in Caithness and a comparison figure for Scotland rates.

The mortality rate from cancer in Caithness and a comparison figure for Scotland rates.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (Information not held).

However, section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where that Public Authority does not hold the requested information.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Public Health Scotland – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email Contact: PHS.FOI@phs.scot

Postal Address:

Corporate FOI Team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Reference

FOI/00111 – Board member training costs

Response date

14/11/2025

Information requested

How much has been spent on all Board training or professional development courses/workshops/programmes for all board members (both executive and non-executive members) in each of the following financial years: 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26 (most recent)?

Response

All Board training is provided by another Scottish Health Board and as such there are no costs to NHS 24 for this.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email: nes.foi@nhs.scot

Postal Address:

Planning and Corporate Resources
NHS Education for Scotland
Westport 102
Westport
Edinburgh
EH3 9DN

Reference

FOI/00112 – Pest control

Response date

14/11/2025

Information requested

  1. How many times have pest control services been called out by your health board for each of the financial years from 2019/20 to 2025/26 (most recent)?
  2. Please provide a breakdown by i) reason for call out (e.g., vermin, wasp nest, rodent, etc.) ii) location of pest in hospital and outcome (e.g. pest removed successfully). iii) cost of call out?
  3. How much money was spent on pest control for these call outs for each financial year from 2019/20 to 2025/26 (most recent)?

Response

  1. Response: Please see Appendix 01 attached.
  2. Response: Please see Appendix 01 attached.
  3. Response: NHS 24 does not hold this information because call outs are organised by our landlords as part of Service Level Agreements or service costs that we pay directly to our landlords.

    As we do not hold the requested information in the detail required it is therefore subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held).

    Whilst NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, note that FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish public authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

NHS 24 considers this to be a full disclosure because we have provided you with all the requested information that is held.

Response documents

FOI/00112 Response appendix data (XLSX | 22KB)

FOI/00112 Response appendix data (CSV | 6KB)

Reference

FOI/00113 – Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) usage and expenditure

Response date

18/11/2025

Information requested

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) usage and expenditure across NHS Scotland.

Could you please confirm the most appropriate public authority to direct this request to? My request seeks:

  1. Total expenditure and patient numbers by financial year.
  2. Data on licensed/off-label use and adverse events.
  3. Reported adverse events

Does NHS 24 or a single central body, hold or coordinate responses for this type of detailed, nationwide medicines data?

If not, must I submit the request separately to each of the Health Boards or Trusts?

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) (information not held) of FOISA.

Whilst FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation, FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Public Health Scotland – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

Email: PHS.FOI@phs.scot or

Corporate FOI Team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Alternatively, the information may be held by local health boards. The contact details for individual health boards can be found here:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/

Reference

FOI/00114 – Breathing Space – phones in Scottish Prisons

Response date

04/11/2025

Information requested

Access to Breathing Space was withdrawn from Prisoners being held by the SPS in December 2023, supposedly as a temporary pause. Why is this and when will it be reinstated?

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the following information.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) installed phones in some cells with direct access to the Breathing Space helpline. However, as Breathing Space was unable to identify the specific location of the caller this service was paused due to safety concerns. Caller location is essential for Breathing Space to provide immediate intervention for those in extreme distress or at high risk.

Current technology does not support this requirement for caller location to be shared between SPS and NHS 24 services. NHS 24 and SPS continue to discuss potential solutions, but at present there is no information available regarding when access will be reinstated. NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore this part of your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority. In this instance we can advise that we do not believe the requested information will be held elsewhere.

Reference

FOI/00115 – Access to health records

Response date

21/11/2025

Information requested

Access to mental health records

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, and so it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

Accordingly, we will be dealing with your request as a data subject access request pursuant to the DPA. Your request has been passed to the Data Protection Team who have sent out the required paperwork for you to complete to allow them to progress with your request.

All personal information will be accessible to you unless that information is subject to an exemption under the DPA.

Reference

FOI/00116 – Staffing

Response date

19/11/2025

Information requested

The numbers of staff on Pay Band 2 who are employed in a 111 Call Handling capacity broken down between male/female.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested below:

  • Female 56
  • Male 15
  • Grand Total 71

NHS 24 operates the 111 service in Scotland, and the figures provided reflect this staffing group. These figures are based on responses to our Equality Monitoring questionnaire, which is completed by successful applicants to these posts. Completion of this questionnaire is voluntary.

Applicants are asked: “What is your sex? – Male/Female/Prefer not to say.” For the staffing group requested, 100% of respondents selected either Male or Female. Please note that this information is self-reported and reflects the individual’s own selection, not a legal or biological determination of sex.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Reference

FOI/ 00117 – Vacant posts

Response date

19/11/2025

Information requested

Information relating to medical consultants and SAS doctors in NHS 24 (see below for details).

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested as follows: (Responses in bold font)

1. As at 30 September 2025, what is the number of medical consultant posts (all consultants regardless of specialty including NHS and honorary) in your board by WTE for the following (please note that all posts should be counted under ONE category only):

I. posts occupied by a permanent consultant.
There are less than 5 WTE medical consultant posts within NHS 24.

II. newly created posts which have not yet been advertised
There are no newly created posts which have not yet been advertised.

III. vacant posts according to the ISD definition (“a post which has been cleared for advert after being through the redeployment process (internal or external advert) and remains a vacancy until an individual starts in the post”)
There are currently no vacant medical consultant posts within NHS 24.

IV. vacant posts which are awaiting approval for recruitment N/A

V. posts which although currently unfilled are not under active recruitment, e.g. where a previous recruitment exercise has been unsuccessful N/A

VI. all posts occupied by a locum consultant (including consultants re-engaged as locums who previously held a permanent post and those locum consultants employed via an agency)
NHS 24 does not currently employ any locum consultants.

VII. posts that have been recruited to but applicant not yet in post (e.g. deferred start due to pending CCT) N/A

VIII. The number of consultants that are on fixed term contracts N/A as counted under question 2.

IX. other (please be specific) N/A

2. As of 30 September 2025, how many of the posts listed under iii-viii above have not been occupied by a permanent substantive post holder since 31 March 2025?

NHS 24 currently has less than 5 WTE filled by secondment.

3. As of 30 September 2025, what is the number of SAS (Specialty doctors, Specialists, Associate Specialists or staff grades) doctors in your board by WTE for the following (please note that all posts should be counted under ONE category only):

NHS 24 does not employ SAS doctors.

i. posts occupied by a permanent SAS doctor N/A

ii. newly created posts which have not yet been advertised (including new Specialist posts) N/A

iii. vacant posts according to the definition “a post which has been cleared for advert after being through the redeployment process (internal or external advert) and remains a vacancy until an individual starts in the post” N/A

iv. vacant posts which are awaiting approval for recruitment N/A

v. posts which although currently unfilled are not under active recruitment, e.g. where a previous recruitment exercise has been unsuccessful N/A

vi. all posts occupied by a locum SAS doctor (including those locum specialty doctors employed via an agency) N/A

vii. posts that have been recruited to but applicant not yet in post N/A

viii. The number of SAS doctors on fixed term contracts N/A

ix. other (please be specific) N/A

4. As of 30 September 2025, how many of the posts listed under iii – viii above have not been occupied by a permanent substantive post holder since 31 March 2025?

0 – NHS 24 do not employ SAS doctors.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Reference

FOI/00118 – Payments

Response date

25/11/2025

Information requested

Details of all invoices paid later than 30 days, not just those where late payment compensation or interest was paid

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that it does not hold all the information requested but has appended to this letter, the information which it holds. 

We calculate the invoices paid later than 30 days from the received date not the invoice date as we frequently receive invoices much later than the invoice date.

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold all this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held. 

We are unable to provide the detail of invoices over 30 days from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022 as we had a different payment processing system until 1 April 2022. The information within the appendix details the information from then.

Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA provides that information is exempt information if its disclosure under FOISA would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. NHS 24 is relying on this exemption as we consider that our commercial interests would, or would be likely to, be harmed by disclosure.

As a number of suppliers are currently going through tender processes (or are in the near future) and as such the spends are commercially sensitive. For these suppliers we have removed the figures however we have shown how many invoices there were.

We believe that disclosure of the information requested would be likely to impact our ability to secure best value in the procurement of this contract in the future, as potential suppliers would gain a strong indication of the level of bid that might secure contracts of similar nature and scale, resulting in bidders submitting less competitive bids in future.

Whilst NHS 24 acknowledges the general public interest in openness and transparency, we are of the view that, on this occasion, the public interest favours application of the section 33(1)(b) exemption.

In considering the public interest in favour of disclosure, NHS 24 recognises the general public interest in disclosing information held by Scottish public authorities. However, having considered all the circumstances of this case, we are of the view that the public interest in openness and transparency is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exemption and avoiding substantial prejudice to NHS 24’s commercial interests.

The Section 33(1) exemption is a qualified exemption, so NHS 24 is required to consider the following tests in relation to that exemption:

  • The Public Interest test
  • The Harm test

The Public Interest Test

This test is not defined within the Act, but it is generally accepted to be ‘something which is of serious concern and benefit to the public’. NHS 24 consider that there is nothing within the withheld information which would further benefit the public interest and that, in fact, withholding this information is in the public interest to ensure that NHS 24 can provide health care services to the people of Scotland.

The Harm Test

This is generally accepted to be where disclosure would prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person (including, without prejudice to that generality, a Scottish Public Authority). NHS 24 considers that to provide commercial information of the type and detail requested would prejudice substantially the ability of NHS 24 to ensure good value to the public in the use of public funds. Providing cost and budget information may compromise the ability of NHS 24, when entering into a commercial agreement, to ensure that the value of the agreement is to the benefit of NHS 24 and the Scottish public.

NHS 24 have also considered that a small amount of the requested information is “personal information” of one or more third parties, and we are therefore withholding this by relying upon section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). The exemption in section 38(1)(b) regulates the relationship between FOISA, the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

There are 2 suppliers where the suppliers’ names are the individuals’ names so these have been removed because disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exemption is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.

More Information on our Payment Policy can also be found on page 31 of the NHS 24 2024/25 Annual Accounts available from the publications section of our website. For convenience this is also stated below:

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting business in the current economic situation by paying bills more quickly.

The intention is to achieve payment of all undisputed invoices within 10 working days, across all public bodies.

  • In 2024/25, NHS 24’s average credit taken was 14 days (2023/24 – 17 days)
  • In 2024/25, NHS 24 paid 89.0% of invoices by value (2023/24 – 80.0%) and 71.7% by volume (2023/24 – 60.3%) within 10 days
  • In 2024/25, NHS 24 paid 98.2% of invoices by value (2023/24 – 96.5%) and 91.4% by volume (2023/24 – 88.0%) within 30 days

The above figures relate only to non-NHS suppliers.

Response documents

FOI/00118 Response appendix data (XLSX | 50KB)

FOI/00118 Response appendix data (CSV | 81KB)

Reference

FOI/00119 – PANS PANDAS steering Group

Response date

25/11/2025

Information requested

1. Recognition of Updated Guidance

Does NHS 24 recognise that the 2023 PANS PANDAS Steering Group Statement supersedes the 2021 BPNA Consensus Statement?

2. Actions Taken in Response to the PPSG Letter

Has information about PANS and PANDAS been shared with frontline services?

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested.

Response

NHS 24 has responded as follows:

Question 1 – Yes

Question 2 – No direct action required by NHS 24 (see below)

Parents who notice the sudden onset of symptoms such as those associated with PANS and PANDAS and want to seek a diagnosis and effective care for their child as quickly as possible, will normally have to do so through their own GP, and most likely be referred into pathways/services provided by their own territorial health board where available.

The PANS PANDAS Working Group Statement says ‘it [the statement] is relevant to Primary and Secondary Care physical and mental health NHS services that may come into contact with children and young people presenting with acute onset neuropsychiatric symptoms’ which is mainly referring to territorial board care provision, with the PANS PANDAS Steering Group (PPSG) recommending that all NHS Trusts to develop multidisciplinary team services to review and treat children with these presentations.

Although NHS 24 (through the 111 service in Scotland) may handle 3rd party calls from parents who believe their child is experiencing a sudden onset of symptoms such as those associated with PANS and PANDAS, the child will be triaged by the 111 service in accordance with their presenting symptoms to an appropriate clinician or clinical setting for immediate care at that time.

No formal assessment or diagnosis of PANS/PANDAS would be given by NHS 24 as this is the role of the child’s own GP and relevant local NHS Board services.

Therefore, there is no impact of the updated guidance on the delivery of NHS 24 frontline services.

However, on reviewing our NHS inform platform we note that there is no specific information on PANS/PANDAS, and therefore we plan to review this at our next Clinical Change Governance Group meeting in December 2025. We can decide at that meeting whether clinical content needs to be added. Also, we would be grateful if you could share your clinical guideline once published so we can review it against any clinical content NHS inform may have and update as appropriate.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Reference

FOI/00121 – Information relating to NHS 24 Information Governance & Security Team

Response date

25/11/2025

Information requested

1. Please provide details of roles (role title and reporting structure), including information relating to Agenda for Change bandings as well as copies of any job descriptions. Please be advised I am not looking for personal details relating to post holders, such as the names of any individual staff members.

2. Could you please confirm, for each post, the source of funding e.g. funded by internal budgets (and which budget e.g. medical), funded by Scottish Government etc.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested.

1. We have attached an organisation chart which shows each role title and reporting structure as well as banding. We have also included a job description for each role:

  • Head of Information Governance and Security and DPO
  • Deputy Head of Information Governance and Deputy DPO
  • Information and Cyber Security Manager
  • Information Governance Officer
  • Information Security Officer

2. The Information Governance and Security Team is part of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Directorate and is funded by the internal budget for that Directorate.

This is a full release of all the information you requested.

Response documents

FOI/00121 NHS 24 Information Governance and Security Structure (PDF | 72KB)

FOI/00121 Head of IG and Security and DPO JD (PDF | 243KB)

FOI/00121 Deputy Head of IG and Deputy DPO JD (PDF | 250KB)

FOI/00121 Information and Cyber Security Manager JD (PDF | 223KB)

FOI/00121 Information Security Officer JD (PDF | 278KB)

FOI/00121 Information Governance Officer JD (PDF | 209KB)

  • Last updated: 18 December 2025

Related Information

Board papers

Records of the decisions made at our monthly board meetings

Plans

Our aims and ambitions for the future of NHS 24

Reports

How we have performed against our policies and plans

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Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 request responses

From October 2025, NHS 24 will publish responses to Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requests that have been received.

Further information on how to submit an Freedom of Information request

2025

October

November

December
  • Last updated: 30 January 2026

Related Information

Board papers

Records of the decisions made at our monthly board meetings

Plans

Our aims and ambitions for the future of NHS 24

Reports

How we have performed against our policies and plans

The post Freedom of Information (FOI) requests appeared first on NHS 24.

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October 2025

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 requests that have been received by NHS 24 during October 2025.

Reference

FOI/00087-2025-26 – Supply payments

Response date

01/10/2025

Information requested

This is a request under FOISA for details of instances in which NHS 24 (including, where applicable, any agencies, bodies, or units for which it is ultimately responsible for supplier payments) has failed to pay its suppliers on time, thereby causing liabilities for late payment compensation and/or interest on late payments to be incurred for the public purse……..

We request under FOISA that you provide, (in a machine readable format, preferably Microsoft Excel or CSV) the following information in respect of suppliers which were not paid in within 30 days for the period starting 1 April 2019 to the date of this request:

1. Supplier Name

2. Invoice Date

3. Invoice Received Date

4. Gross Invoice Value

5. Payment Date

6. Late Payment Compensation or Interest Paid (if any)

We reiterate that this request:

(a) is limited to information which should (if proper records are kept) be readily available from a purchase ledger system and should therefore be possible to retrieve without any difficulty and without imposing any significant burden;

(b) relates to organisations (not individuals) who are entitled to be paid out of public funds for public services, and we do not require the disclosure of any personal information of any individual person;

(c) does not require the disclosure of any confidential information or information to the production of which there could be any other lawful objection.

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that it does not hold all the information requested but has appended to this letter, the information which it holds.

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold all this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

We are unable to provide the detail of invoices over 30 days from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022 as we had a different payment processing system until 1 April 2022. The information within the appendix details the information from then.

From our understanding of your request the information listed is in relation to the one and only supplier we have been charged late payment fees for.

Response documents

FOI/00087 Response appendix data (XLSX | 12KB)

FOI/00087 Response appendix data (CSV | 2KB)

Reference

FOI/00088-2025-26 – Pharmacy contacts

Response date

13/10/2025

Information requested

I am writing under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to request information held by NHS 24 in relation to the NHS Inform service directory of community pharmacies in Scotland.

NHS National Services Scotland has advised me (FOI-2025-000247) that NHS 24 holds the following information fields for community pharmacy contractors which were not provided by NSS:

  • Website URL (if held)
  • Services provided (as recorded in the NHS Inform directory)
  • Opening hours for each day of the week (Monday to Sunday), including multiple intervals where applicable, and any notes on lunchtime closures or contractual variations
  • The date that each record was last updated in your system

For clarity, I am seeking this information as part of a consolidated dataset of all community pharmacy contractors in Scotland, equivalent in scope to the “Pharmacy Contractor List” published by NHS Business Services Authority for England, which includes contractor names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and opening hours in a machine-readable file.

I therefore request a full extract of the above fields for all current community pharmacy contractors in Scotland, ideally in a machine-readable format such as CSV or Excel.

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and is pleased to provide the information requested.

Please note, NHS 24 relies on each of the individual 14 territorial (regional) health boards within Scotland, for notification of any updates relating to opening times or services and cannot be held liable for any out-of-date information.

NHS 24 holds most of the information requested which has been provided in the Excel workbook attached to this response. Whilst NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, on this occasion, we do not hold all URLs requested, and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that NHS 24 does not have all the information you have requested.

Response documents

FOI/00088 Response appendix data (XLSX | 153KB)

FOI/00088 Response appendix data (CSV | 401KB)

Reference

00089-2025-26 – Medical Records

Response date

13/10/2025

Information requested

I would like to request all my family nurse records

Response

NHS 24 has considered your request and concluded that the requested information is regarded as “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Therefore, because the information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

For your future reference if you are asking an organisation for personal data that they hold on you then you should submit it to them as a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR), that way they will deal with it as a DSAR and not an FOI which would help expedite you getting your personal data from them.

Typically, we would now deal with your request as a DSAR, however, we can advise that NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested and so your FOI request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

This is because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service, if you are looking for information regarding GP and/or Hospital records you will need to contact them directly.

Reference

FOI/ 00090-2025-26 – Information relating to the evacuation of ill children and their families from Gaza to Scotland

Response date

14/10/2025

Information requested

All correspondence, memos, briefings and/or reports sent and received by the NHS 24 Board Chair, Dr. Martin Cheyne, between September 12, 2025 and September 16, 2025 that address, or relate to, the evacuation of ill children and their families from Gaza to Scotland for medical treatment.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. We do not hold this information because there is no correspondence within scope of your request.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Reference

FOI/00092-2025-26 – ICT Procurement

Response date

15/10/2025

Information requested

Q1. Can you please list the number of devices deployed by your organisation for the following?

Q2. Does your organisation have plans to procure any of the below services, if yes then please provide information in the below format?

Q3. Does your organisation have any plans to procure the below services, if yes then please provide required information in the below format?

Q4. Does your organisation have any plans to procure below services, then please provide required information in the below format?

Q5. Has your organisation implemented any form of AI or Automation services, and if not, what is the reason for not implementing?

Response

Thank you for your request dated 25 September 2025, made pursuant to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) for information relating to information requested in the attached spreadsheet.

NHS 24 has considered your request and can confirm that not all the request information is being provided. However, in accordance with our obligations under FOISA, we have provided the information that is held and deemed disclosable in the appended spreadsheet accompanying this response.

Where NHS 24 holds relevant information, this has been included in the spreadsheet. Each response is clearly marked and, where applicable, information that we do not hold or information that has been withheld includes contextual exemption notes to support understanding.

In response to the questions relating to procurement of our security and IT services, NHS 24 is applying Section 33(1)(b) of FOISA. This exemption provides that information is exempt information if its disclosure under FOISA would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the commercial interests of any person. NHS 24 is relying on this exemption as we consider that our commercial interests would, or would be likely to, be harmed by disclosure.

We believe that disclosure of the information requested would be likely to impact our ability to secure best value in the procurement of this contract in the future, as potential suppliers would gain a strong indication of the level of bid that might secure contracts of similar nature and scale, resulting in bidders submitting less competitive bids in future.

NHS 24 is also applying Section 35(1)(a) of FOISA. This exemption applies where disclosure of the information would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the prevention or detection of crime. We have considered the public interest in disclosing this information and concluded that maintaining the exemption is appropriate in this instance.

Where we do not hold the requested information, we are relying upon section 17(1) of FOISA which provides an exemption when information is not held by a public authority. In this instance, NHS 24 does not hold the information requested because these elements of the request are not relevant to NHS 24. NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible, whilst FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions relied upon, FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish public authorities to create new information. This is a formal notice that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information in these elements.

Response documents

FOI 00092 Questionnaire Response (XLSX | 622KB)

FOI 00092 Questionnaire Response (CSV | 3KB)

Reference

FOI/00093 – Personal information

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

Request to forward “medical forms to new GP”.

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, and so it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested. NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service in Scotland. if you require access to information relating to your GP and/ or Hospital records you will need to contact them direct.

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. However, FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Reference

FOI/00094 – Hospital drug usage within NHS Scotland

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

I would like to request data on hospital drug usage within NHS Scotland, similar to the Secondary Care Medicines Data (SCMD) list published by NHS England.

Please could you provide the following information for your Health Board/hospital(s):

A list of medicines used within secondary care, including the total quantities dispensed or issued, for the most recent 12-month period available.

Where possible, please provide this information broken down by:

  • Medicine name (generic and/or brand)
  • Strength and formulation
  • Total quantity used/dispensed
  • Associated costs (if available)

If the full dataset is not available, I would be grateful if you could provide any reports, summaries, or datasets that most closely match the request.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls and contacts made to our services.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by Public Health Scotland – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to: PHS.FOI@phs.scot or

Corporate FOI Team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB

Alternatively, the information may be held by local health boards. The contact details for individual health boards can be found here: https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the information requested.

Reference

FOI/00095 – GP records

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

Request for a GP summary of medical records.

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

Access to personal data should be requested under the relevant provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.

In this instance however, we can advise that NHS 24 does not hold the information you are requesting.

This is because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service.

If you are looking for information regarding GP and/or Hospital records you will need to contact them direct and request the information under the Data Protection Act 2018.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the information requested.

Reference

FOI/00096 – Pest control services

Response date

27/10/2025

Information requested

Please provide the following information for the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025, broken down by financial year:

1) Total expenditure by the Trust/organisation on pest control services, including both in-house provision and external/contracted services.

2) If any services are contracted out, please provide the supplier name(s) and the contract value(s).

3) The number of call-outs/treatments by species category (e.g. rats, mice, pigeons, gulls, foxes, grey squirrels, wasps, bedbugs, cockroaches—please use your own categories if recorded differently).

4) For any lethal control commissioned or carried out by the Trust/organisation, the number of animals killed by species and, where recorded, the method used (e.g. trapping, poisoning, shooting).

5) A copy of any policy, guidance, or standard operating procedure relating to the Trust/organisation’s pest control service or contractors.

Please also provide the information in CSV, Excel, or another machine-readable format where possible.

If any part of this request is unclear, or if fulfilling it would exceed the statutory cost limit, please.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held).

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

Please accept this as a formal notice that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Whilst section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, on this occasion, we are unable to advise you where you would be able to obtain the requested information.

Reference

FOI/00097 – Implementation of single-sex wards/facilities NHS England

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

I request the following documents for the period 1 January 2024 to 29 September 2025:

  1. Any risk assessments, internal memos, or incident reports regarding patient safety, delayed admissions, reduced bed capacity, or potential fatalities linked to implementing single-sex ward/facility segregation.
  2. Cost estimates or financial modelling of retrofitting NHS facilities, staffing changes, or training requirements to comply with guidance.
  3. Correspondence, briefing notes, or board papers between DHSC, NHS England, and individual NHS trusts regarding feasibility, operational challenges, or risk mitigation.
  4. Legal advice concerning potential litigation, enforceability, or compliance risks associated with implementing guidance.
  5. Any commissioning of external consultants or experts to evaluate patient safety, operational feasibility, or financial impact.
  6. Any internal reports or briefings assessing the broader impact on NHS capacity, patient flow, or service provision.

Please provide electronic copies of all documents. If the cost of complying with this request exceeds the statutory limit, please prioritise the most recent or highest-priority documents relating to patient safety, operational feasibility, and costs.

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. We do not hold this information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the information requested.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by individual health boards in England. If you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to the emails of the different health boards in England.

Reference

FOI/00098 – Reports of rape or sexual assaults in hospitals

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

  1. In the years 2020 – 2021, 2021 – 2022, 2022 – 2023, 2023 – 2024, 2024 – 2025, how many reports of rape or sexual assault were recorded in your hospitals? Please provide a breakdown by hospital and financial year
  2. Of the incidents recorded in Q1, how many were alleged to have been carried out by NHS staff? Please provide a breakdown by hospital and financial year
  3. Of the incidents recorded in Q2, how many were alleged to have taken place on hospital wards? Please provide a breakdown by hospital and financial year
  4. Of the incidents recorded in Q1, how many of these allegations were referred to the police? Please provide a breakdown by hospital and financial year
  5. Of the incidents recorded in Q4, how many of these resulted in an arrest, charge, or conviction? Please provide a breakdown by hospital and financial year

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

We do not hold this information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by local health boards – if you wish to re-direct your request, the contact details for individual health boards can be found here: https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/

Reference

FOI/00099 – Request for hospital records

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

Request for hospital records.

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, and so it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

We can advise that NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested and is therefore subject to section 17(1) of FOISA. We do not hold the requested information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

As you have submitted other FOI requests related to your personal data and those requests relate to information likely held by NHS Lothian then, as per the other responses we would advise you to contact NHS Lothian. You can find information on how to submit a Data Subject Access Request to NHS Lothian at:

Requests for Personal Information including Health Records: Subject Access Requests – Your Rights & Privacy

You can contact them by email at: Loth.sarteam@nhs.scot
Or write to them at:

SAR Team
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA

Reference

FOI/00100 – Request for personal data

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

Request for personal data held by NHS Lothian

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, and so it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

We can advise that NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested and is therefore subject to section 17(1) of FOISA.

We do not hold the requested information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by NHS Lothian – if you wish to re-direct your request you can find information on how to submit a Data Subject Access Request to NHS Lothian at:

https://www.nhslothian.scot/yourrights/data-protection-privacy/requests-for-personal-information-including-medical-records-subject-access-requests/

You can contact them by email at: Loth.sarteam@nhs.scot

Or write to them at:

SAR Team
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA

Reference

FOI/00101 – Request for health records

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

Request for health records held by NHS Lothian

Response

NHS 24 have considered your request and concluded that the information is “personal information” under section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).

The information you have requested is personal information of which you are the data subject, and so it is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

We can also confirm that NHS 24 does not hold the information you have requested, and your request is therefore subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held).

We do not hold the requested information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service. if you are looking for information regarding GP and/ or Hospital records you will need to contact them separately.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

The information may be held by NHS Lothian – if you wish to re-direct your request you can find information on how to submit a Data Subject Access Request to NHS Lothian at:

Requests for Personal Information including Health Records: Subject Access Requests – Your Rights & Privacy

You can contact them by email at: Loth.sarteam@nhs.scot

Or write to them at:

SAR Team
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA

Reference

FOI/00102 – NHS Scotland’s fertility policy

Response date

17/10/2025

Information requested

We are currently checking that we have the right information on NHS Scotland’s Fertility policy.

Please could you confirm the most recent fertility policy?

Response

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. However, on this occasion, we do not hold the requested information and therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held).

We do not hold this information because NHS 24 is a telephone triage service and only retains records relating to calls made to the 111 service.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held.

This is a formal notice under section 17 of FOISA that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish Public Authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, this also applies where the requested information is not held by that Public Authority.

In this instance we can advise the information may be held by the individual health boards – if you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to the contact details for individual health boards which can be found here:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/freedom-of-information-foi/

Reference

FOI/00103 – Sexual Assault Response Coordination Services (SARCS)

Response date

31/10/2025

Information requested

I would like to request information regarding the Sexual Assault Response Coordination Services (SARCS). Specifically, I would appreciate details on the following:

  1. The range of services provided by SARCS.
  2. The number of people who have accessed these services (please include the most recent available data, ideally by year).
  3. The goals and targets of SARCS.
  4. Any available performance data or evaluations relating to SARCS.

If any part of this request is unclear or likely to exceed the cost limit, please let me know, and I will be happy to narrow the scope.

I would prefer to receive the information electronically via email.

Response

  1. The range of services provided by SARCS. NHS 24 does not hold this information.

  2. The number of people who have accessed these services (please include the most recent available data, ideally by year). NHS 24 hosts the SARCS national telephone number and therefore only holds information relating to the number of calls we have received via the SARCS telephone line. We are however, withholding this information and in doing so, we are relying upon the exemption available in Section 25 of FOISA (Information otherwise accessible).

    Section 25 of FOISA allows for a public authority to withhold information where it is reasonably available elsewhere to the requester. In this instance, the information held by NHS 24 is available on the Public Health Scotland website.
    Section 15 of FOISA requires public authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible. In this instance, we can advise that the information held by NHS 24 in relation to your request, is available on the Public Health Scotland website in the 2025 statistical report “NHS Sexual Assault Response Coordination Service (SARCS) following a recent rape, sexual assault or child sexual abuse”

    Similar reports for 2023 and 2024 can also be found on the Public Health Scotland website.

    https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/analytics-and-intelligence-for-people-who-access-sarcs/analytics-and-intelligence-for-people-who-access-sarcs-2023/

    https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/analytics-and-intelligence-for-people-who-access-sarcs/analytics-and-intelligence-for-people-who-access-sarcs/

  3. The goals and targets of SARCS. NHS 24 does not hold this information.

  4. Any available performance data or evaluations relating to SARCS. NHS 24 does not hold this information.

NHS 24 endeavours to provide information whenever possible. On this occasion, we do not hold this information therefore your request is subject to section 17(1) of FOISA (information not held). NHS 24 does not hold the requested information because it is a telephone triage service in Scotland.

FOISA gives you the right to recorded information held by Scottish public authorities, subject to the exemptions listed in the legislation. FOISA does not impose a duty on Scottish Public Authorities to create new information, only to provide the information which is routinely recorded and held. Please accept this as a formal notice that NHS 24 does not hold the requested information.

Section 15 of FOISA requires Scottish public authorities to provide ‘advice and assistance’ wherever possible, in this instance, we advise that the information may be held by NHS Ayrshire & Arran or Public Health Scotland If you wish to re-direct your request, you should send it to:

NHS Ayrshire & Arran
Freedom of Information Officer
14 Lister Street
University Hospital Crosshouse
Kilmarnock
KA2 0BB
or email: foi@aapct.scot.nhs.uk

Public Health Scotland
Corporate FOI team
Public Health Scotland
Gyle Square
South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH12 9EB
or email PHS.FOI@phs.scot

  • Last updated: 1 December 2025

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