Aintree Hospital have they something to hide?

esmerobbo

I sent a FOI request to Aintree as below. I wish to challenge them as I don't think what they are saying about the cost of retrieving this information is correct.




Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Request for Information Reference: 1091.




Thank you for your request for information regarding car parking
enforcement at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.



1 What the total cost has been for Aintree NHS trust to pursue penalty
parking charges through the county courts.



2 How much Aintree NHS trust has recovered though Judgements obtained.



3 How much has been paid out to successfully defended claims.



We estimate it will cost more than the appropriate limit (£450.00) stated
in regulation to retrieve and extract the information you have requested
in full. It has been calculated that in order to collate relating
information for 2010/2011 alone, the estimated cost to compile would be
approximately £960.00.



We regret that we are unable to supply the information in full. If you
require a detailed breakdown of our estimated calculated costs, or if you
require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact us.



If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to Information Governance Team, FOI Requests, Aintree
House, University Hospital Aintree, Longmoor Lane, Liverpool, L9 7AL or
email [1][email address].uk stating the above reference number.



If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Trust. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.



Yours Sincerely,[/email]

Either they have the worst accounts system in the world or they are avoiding the questions. They had one day left to respond then asked a question, to reset the time then came back with the above.

Any ideas on what I should say or if I should ask another specific question.

I still have another FOI with them asking for the parking regulations they say have been breached when Trethowns issue their claims!

Trebor16

Have you posted this on Pepipoo as well?

I would ask them how they have arrived at their costings though.

peter_the_piper

I wonder if the same charges would apply if a newspaper enquired.

headpin

What you need to bear in mind is that it does cost money to retrieve information, collate it and then form a response. Why do you need to know this information? Remember that every £ any NHS trust, Local Authority, or other public body spends on providing information that is nice to know, but not of any real significance is a £ that they cannot spend on other more important services.

There are some matters that are important and an FoI may be justified, but I for one would rather my £ was spent on health care and not compiling some information about parking charges and the like.

The_Slithy_Tove

headpin wrote: »

What you need to bear in mind is that it does cost money to retrieve information, collate it and then form a response. Why do you need to know this information? Remember that every £ any NHS trust, Local Authority, or other public body spends on providing information that is nice to know, but not of any real significance is a £ that they cannot spend on other more important services.

There are some matters that are important and an FoI may be justified, but I for one would rather my £ was spent on health care and not compiling some information about parking charges and the like.

One would hope that the very information that is being requested would be precisely the basis of their car park charging rationale. If they don't have a handle on these costs, how can they possibly justify the level of charges they make and the justification of pursuing errant "customers"?

esmerobbo

That's the point of the request, the last one they tried cost them £376 to try and recover £50. They lost so never recovered anything. I too would rather they spent all their available money on treating people rather then chase people through the courts, which is costing more then they recover.
The only winners are Trethowns!

Inflatable_Armadillo

esmerobbo

It looks to me like they don't want to tell you and they are using the cost issue to not answer your questions.

The first thing you should do is request an internal review and see what they say, your claim being of course that you contend that this information would not cost more than the £450 limit and that these are simple accounting questions and this information should be easily and readily available. It might be worth asking them exactly how they have reached the estimate of £960 and to please supply a breakdown of their cost calculations. That will stump them, if they have just made the cost up!!!

If they avoid the questions again, by claiming that it will cost them as per the original estimate then you should escalate it to the information commissioner and say that you feel the costs looks too high for threvery basic financial information you have asked for and you feel they are using the minimum cost issue to avoid answering your questions.

At this point, you may find Aintree suddenly claim maybe their initial cost estimate was too high and send you the information!!!

Are you using http://www.whatdotheyknow.com for your FOI's?

bromsgrovebarry

headpin wrote: »

What you need to bear in mind is that it does cost money to retrieve information, collate it and then form a response. Why do you need to know this information? Remember that every £ any NHS trust, Local Authority, or other public body spends on providing information that is nice to know, but not of any real significance is a £ that they cannot spend on other more important services.

There are some matters that are important and an FoI may be justified, but I for one would rather my £ was spent on health care and not compiling some information about parking charges and the like.

I have some sympathy with your point but I also believe that there is a need for accountability in the public sector. This will ultimately save money that should be directed towards patient care. PFI has resulted in many hospitals being more concerned with income from peripheral 'services' rather than its core activity.

stone7

Could the three questions not be asked seperatley?

peter_the_piper

I would expect them to try to charge £450 for each question, they obviously do not want the answer to become public.

sarahg1969

headpin wrote: »

There are some matters that are important and an FoI may be justified, but I for one would rather my £ was spent on health care and not compiling some information about parking charges and the like.

They wouldn't be taking the money out of the healthcare pot to pay the expenses of answering this request. It doesn't work like that. They'd simply be getting someone at a desk to compile the information during the course of their working day. And there are plenty of people at desks in the NHS (bearing in mind it's the world's fourth largest employer).

It's quite clear that they are avoiding answering.