Review of NHSGG&C paediatric haemato-oncology data

The aim of this report is to review NHSGG&C paediatric haemato-oncology data and investigate the suspected increase in environmental Gram-negative blood cultures in the paediatric haemato-oncology population. This report was produced as a management information report for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. Although the report is not an “Official Statistics” report, it has been produced to the same high standards and therefore these statistics voluntarily comply to the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics.

Users should be aware of the aspects of data quality and caveats surrounding these data, all of which are listed in this report. This report has been released due to the high level of public interest in its contents. Note that the analysis in the report is based on very small numbers and it has been necessary to redact some of the information to ensure it does not unintentionally identify any individual patients. This is explained in the paragraph below.

The Report has been redacted in line with exceptions outlined in the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“EIR”), as if a EIR request had been received. The redactions are justified using Regulation 11 (1) (Personal Information). The data that has been removed either relates to results where the pool contained either ten or less or five or less people (or the graphs relating thereto) or is directly personally identifiable. These Regulations have been applied due to the nature of the information being such that identities of individuals could be extrapolated from other information already prevalent in the public domain. There is an absolute exception under this Regulation should the proposed release breach the rights of a person (who may be identifiable) in relation to Article 5(1) of GDPR (the Data Protection Principles). In this instance, NSS are relying on that absolute exception. However, it is fair to consider the public interest test as a check and balance to NSS’s position, in whether the interest of the public outweighs the individual rights in this case as to the disclosure of the redacted information. As the redacted information would potentially identify individuals who received treatment at the hospital within the identified time frame, and given the nature of the current sad and difficult situations for the families who are in the eye of the media, the public interest test is not met in these circumstances and the rights of the individuals to their privacy prevail.

Disclaimer: Documents published before 16 March 2020 were produced by Health Protection Scotland (HPS).