Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Response to correspondence dated 9 March 2017
Request: Homeless People Admitted to Hospital for Drugs/Alcohol Problems
Applicant: Private
Reference: IGTFOISA3730
NHS Tayside has now considered your request dated 9 March 2017
NHS Tayside wishes to advise you that there are exemptions applicable to the
information requested. Please refer to the exemptions section of this correspondence.
Extract from Request
1. “How many homeless people (i.e. people with no fixed abode) have been admitted
to hospitals within NHS Tayside for problems related to drugs? Could you please
provide these figures for each of the last three calendar years?
2. How many homeless people (i.e. people with no fixed abode) have been admitted
to hospitals within NHS Tayside for problems related to alcohol? Could you please
provide these figures for each of the last three calendar years?”
Response
1. Acute hospital discharges1 with a diagnosis of drug misuse2 in any position where
the patient postcode is NF1 1AB3
Year
Number of discharges
2014
<5
2015
<5
2016
0
Notes:
1 - Data relates to number of discharges and so the same patient may be counted
more than once if they had more than one discharge within a year.
2 - ICD10 codes used to determine drug related discharges are F11-F16, F18, and
F19.
3 - Within national SMR definitions the postcode NF1 1AB denotes a patient with no
fixed address.
2. Acute hospital discharges1 with a diagnosis of Alcohol misuse2 in any position where
the patient postcode is NF1 1AB3
Year
Number of discharges
2014
5
2015
<5
2016
7
Notes:
1 - Data relates to number of discharges and so the same patient may be counted
more than once if they had more than one discharge within a year.
2 - ICD-10 codes used to determine Alcohol related discharges are E24.4, E51.2,
F10, G31.2, G62.1, G72.1, I42.6, K29.2, K70, K86.0,K852, O35.4, P04.3, Q86.0,
R78.0, T51.0, T51.1, T51.9, X45, X65, Y15, Y57.3, Y90, Y91, Z50.2, Z71.4,
Z72.1
3 - Within national SMR definitions the postcode NF1 1AB denotes a patient with no
fixed address.
IGTFOIS3730 Response
Page 1 of 3
Everyone has the best care experience possible
Headquarters: Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, DD1 9SY
Chairman, Professor John Connell FMedSci FRSE
Chief Executive, Ms Lesley McLay
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Response to correspondence dated 9 March 2017
Request: Homeless People Admitted to Hospital for Drugs/Alcohol Problems
Applicant: Private
Reference: IGTFOISA3730
Please note that this analysis has used the NF1 1AB postcode to identify patients with
no fixed address on discharge, within SMR01 data, there may be other individuals
treated in hospital whose living circumstances could mean they are considered
homeless, but it would not be possible to identify this from the information recorded on
their treatment by NHS Tayside.
Where the values of statistics provided in the tables above fall below 5 but are greater
than 0, these statistics are represented by ‘<5’. Due to the small numbers of patients
involved further detail cannot be provided as disclosure of the information may lead to
the identification of individuals.
Exemptions Section – application of Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
exemptions and Data Protection Act 1998 principles.
Document Ref.
IGTFOISA3730
IGTFOIS3730 Response
FOISA Exemption Applied
Section 38 –
Personal Information
Page 2 of 3
Justification
Disclosure of information which
would allow the identification of
individuals would be in breach of
confidentiality and Data Protection
principles.
Everyone has the best care experience possible
Headquarters: Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, DD1 9SY
Chairman, Professor John Connell FMedSci FRSE
Chief Executive, Ms Lesley McLay
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Response to correspondence dated 9 March 2017
Request: Homeless People Admitted to Hospital for Drugs/Alcohol Problems
Applicant: Private
Reference: IGTFOISA3730
Under section 20 (1) of the Act, if you are dissatisfied with the way NHS Tayside has
dealt with your request, you have a right to request a review of our actions and decisions
in relation to your request, and you have a right to appeal to the Scottish Information
Commission.
A request for an internal review must be made in writing no later than forty
working days from receipt of this response and addressed to:
Tayside NHS Board Secretary
Tayside NHS Board Headquarters
Ninewells Hospital & Medical School
Dundee
DD1 9SY
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right
to apply directly to the Scottish Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
If you have any queries about this correspondence, please contact:
Information Governance Team
Maryfield House
30 Mains Loan
Dundee
DD4 7BT
Telephone - 01382 740074 Ext 70203
E-mail: [email protected]
Information Governance
NHS Tayside
17th April 2017
IGTFOIS3730 Response
Page 3 of 3
Everyone has the best care experience possible
Headquarters: Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, DD1 9SY
Chairman, Professor John Connell FMedSci FRSE
Chief Executive, Ms Lesley McLay