FOI 25-102 Response Times to Ports
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-102 Response Times to Ports
- Request Date
- 08 Mar 2025
- Response Date
- 14 Mar 2025
- Information Requested
I am collating data on the specifics of response times vs target times in order to determine the impact of demand from cruise lines utilising NHS resources to disembark their patients to local hospitals and therefor request data regarding your targets vs your actual response times. I am proposing a nationwide contract in which ports will reduce the usage of NHS resources therefore creating a release on pressure and demand on vital ambulances by utilising highly regulated private ambulance providers. I'm specifically looking for data surrounding major ports such as Edinburgh
- Response
Public authorities are not required to create information in order to answer a request. There’s a distinction between creating new information, and compiling information. Where a request can be answered by compiling information from readily-available resources held by the public authority, this is not the same as creating new information. However, if collation of the information would require skill and complex judgement, the information is not held. I have concluded that, in the case of data about the specific location of ‘Ports’, we are unable to produce this information without complex skill and judgement.
This is because, although we hold information about incidents at specific locations and can only report this at a postcode level, to report this at an individual address level we would be required to apply complex judgement. The reason for this is that there are multiple addresses within a postcode, there is also the potential for an incident to occur outside a premises and therefore not be attributed to a specific address. In addition, we do not hold incidents against a category of ‘Ports’. It is for this reason that we have applied the exemption Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002 as information not held.
