October
3, 2005
Lost
FOI Request on Mental Health
In July
I sent a freedom
of information request to the Vancouver Coastal Health
Authority for documents pertaining to its redesign of mental
health services. Those documents were mentioned in its "Service
Redesign Plan" which is posted on its website.
My FOI request was followed by an article posted to StrategicThoughts
which referenced the Ministry of Health's 2002-2003 report
on health authority performance agreements. That report
stated that the goals for a new system of care for mental
health and addictions "…are improved mental health
of British Columbians as demonstrated through reduced disability,
increased resiliency and self-care, and decreased need for
health services." Unfortunately, none of the performance
measurements in the Ministry of Health or health authority
service plans quantify degree of disability, resiliency
or self-care. They appear to focus on measures of costs
to the government. Nevertheless, we can all hope that the
yet to be revealed documents focus on quality of life measurements
for those with mental illness and addiction issues rather
than just cost reduction.
Unfortunately,
after a complaint to the Office of the Freedom of Information
Commission, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) responded by
saying that they never received my freedom of information
request. Consequently, in addition to my original request,
in the letter copied below I have requested information
on the number of times VCH has made that claim.
If
anyone reading this column has experienced similar problems
with freedom of information requests to any health authority,
please let
me know.
Traci
de Pape
Freedom of Information (FOI) Coordinator
Vancouver Coastal Health by
fax to 604-708-5330
410 - 520 6th Ave W original
to follow
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H5
Dear
Traci de Pape:
Re:
VCH File 05-0903, OIPC File F05-26618
Thank
you for your letter of September 27, 2005. Starting with
this, all requests I send to Vancouver Coastal Health
will be by registered mail Perhaps Vancouver Coastal Health
should consider using the FOI tracking system developed
by the provincial government. That is the system that
was described by Ann Rees in the Vancouver Sun on March
20, 2004, used to identify and track certain journalists
and activists, including me, who make FOI requests and
whose request must be cleared by the minister's office
before it is released (see http://www.StrategicThoughts.com/record2004/foi_privacy.html).
My
original request dated July 18, 2005, to Vancouver Coastal
Health for certain documents pertaining to mental health
policy was followed by an article posted to my website,
http://www.StrategicThoughts.com/record2005/mentalhlthplns.html,
which included a link to a pdf version of my July 18th request.
I am aware that government communications and media monitoring
staff regularly visit that site as I have been contacted
by them when there is a quibble with an article. When I
did not receive confirmation of receipt of my request, I
followed it by fax on August 11th with a copy of the request
and a covering note which advised that time limits were
soon to be exhausted. I trust that since the request has
been drawn to the attention of the Office of the Commissioner,
time limits will be met starting from the date of your letter.
This
letter is a second information request for the number
of times during January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004
when Vancouver Coastal Health responded to complaints
regarding FOI requests by stating that the original request
could not be located, or words to that effect. Colleagues
inform me that they have received similar responses from
health authorities.
Sincerely,
David
D. Schreck
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