FOI/2025/26/002

Request

 

1. How many paper medical records does the Trust have as a data controller?

Having completed enquiries within CLCH in respect of Section 1(1)(a), CLCH does hold information relating to your request, however, the obligation of Section 1(1)(b) cannot be met as CLCH does not hold all the information requested in a format that allows it to be retrieved within the time and cost limits of FOI.

When responding to a request for information under the terms of the FOIA, a public authority is not obliged to provide information if the authority estimates that the cost of the retrieval of the information requested would be in excess of £450 (equivalent to 18 hours work). The costs criteria relates to a request in its entirety, which means that if we cannot retrieve all of the information requested within the costs limit, we are not obliged to retrieve any of the information requested.

Section 12(1) of the FOIA states that a public authority is not obliged to:

“…comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.”

The following explanation outlines the difficulty CLCH has in answering your request:

Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (hereinafter CLCH) operates in various sites. It is therefore not possible to quantify the volumes of active paper clinical records held by the Trust as a data controller because these are held locally.

2. How many primary on-site record libraries are there? (Just looking for primary storage locations, not local departmental stores etc. as that would take a long time to reply to).

None. Papers records are held locally.

3. How many off-site record libraries are there?

None

4. Is records management outsourced for some paper medical records? 

Records Management is not outsourced. However, CLCH uses a third party for storage of its legacy and archival records  

5. Is records management outsourced for all paper medical records?

See above

6. How many records are Trust-managed and how many are outsourced to a records management provider?

All current and active paper records are held locally on CLCH sites. Legacy and archival paper records are managed by a third party.

The Trust applies to Section 12(1) of the FOIA which states, a public authority is not obliged to:“…comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.”

7. If some or all records management is outsourced, what is the records management provider(s) company name(s)?

The records storage provider for CLCH is Restore PLC.

8. Is the company (if more than 1, please list) a Data Controller and/or a Data Processor for the Trust?

It is a Data Processor

9. How many records has the Trust authorised and had destruction undertaken for within the last two years (2022/23 & 2023/24)?

None

10. Was destruction undertaken by a BS15713 provider? 

N/A

11. If yes, which of the following are they accredited to: BS15713:2009 or BS15713:2023?

N/A

12. If records management is outsourced, does this include active records (records that have been in active circulation within the last three years)?

No, it does not.

13. If records management is outsourced, does this include dormant records (records that have been in active circulation in the last four to eight years)?

See above

14. Can I have an OGL for this? Can you tell me how I go about doing that? 

This response is published on our FOI website [link]. Reuse of Public Sector Information (RPSI) guidance states that information that is already reasonably accessible to the requester (for example because it is on a website) would normally be available for re-use.