Hlth23 Numbers of people receiving electroconvulsive therapy in Wales

7 October 2010

Dear

Request for Information ATISN 4509

Thank you for your request which I received on 8th September 2010. You asked for:

- A breakdown by Trust/Health Board of the numbers of people receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Wales for the year April 2009 to March 2010 – should the information on the number of people not be available, the number of individual treatments would be acceptable (so long as it is clear which it is).

The information you have requested is contained at Annex 1 to this letter.

Any information released under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or Environmental Information Regulations 2004 will be listed in the Assembly Government’s Disclosure Log (at www.information.wales.gov.uk).

If you believe that I have not followed the relevant laws, or you are unhappy with this response, you may request an internal review by writing to:

Kate Chamberlain
Chief Statistician
Welsh Assembly Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.

When dealing with any concerns, we will follow the principles set out in the Assembly Government’s Code of Practice on Complaints which is available on the Internet at www.wales.gov.uk or by post.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.  Normally, however, you should pursue the matter through our internal procedure before you complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510
Email: enquiries@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Also, if you think that there has been maladministration in dealing with your request then you may make a complaint to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales who can be contacted at:

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
Ffordd yr Hen Gae
Pencoed
Bridgend
CF35 5LJ

Yours sincerely,

Sue Leake
Head of Health Statistics and Analysis Unit

Annex 1:
Request for Information ATISN 4509:

Notes:

1. The operation (OPCS) codes used are A838 and A839 which both cover Electroconvulsive Therapy.
2. The data above may not be complete as updated submissions of data may be received.  
3. The data above is also known to be under-reported as ECT episodes in Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board are either not submitted to or not appropriately coded in PEDW. Therefore, data has been requested separately from Cardiff and Vale University LHB.
4. Cardiff and Vale University LHB report that there were 50 people receiving ECT during the period