NHSLanarkshire Board

KirklandsHospital

Fallside Road

Bothwell

G71 8BB.


Date27 February 2012

ReferenceFOI/ED

Enquiries toLinda Brownlie

Telephone01698 858 110


Dear MsNorrie,

Further to your recent enquiry under the Freedom of Information Act received on 30 January 2012, please find answers to each of your questions below.In your request you asked for the following information:-

1. How many people have been tested for Lyme disease in the NHS Lanarkshire area over the last ten years?

2. How many of those tested received positive ELISA and/or Western Blot tests?

Response:

Lyme disease tests on Lanarkshire residents are carried out by the nationally recognised testing centre at RaigmoreHospital in Inverness.

Referrals for tests are sent directly to Raigmore from a number of sources including individual hospital departments and individual GPs.

This information is not centrally recorded nor is the number of those who received a positive ELISA and/or Western Blot test as positive results are sent back to the source of the original request.

Accordingly I regret to advise that I am unable to provide you with details of the number of people from Lanarkshire who have been tested for Lyme disease over the past 10 years nor the number who have received a positive ELISA and/or Western Blot testresult. To find this information would require a manual check of each individual patient record including GP records to ascertain who had been sent for a Lyme disease test and who had tested positive for an ELISA and/or Western Blot test. This information gathering would exceed the charging threshold prescribed in the Regulations made by the Scottish Ministers which constitutes a ground of exemption in terms of Section 12 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

This information may be available by contacting RaigmoreHospital directly by writing to RaigmoreHospital, Old Perth Road, Inverness, Inverness-shire, IV2 3UJ.

3. How many people who tested negative on the ELISA/Western Blot tests have been treated for Lyme disease?

Response:

I regret to advise that I am unable to provide you with details of the number of people who tested negative on the ELISA/Western Blot test and were then treated for Lyme disease as this information is not centrally recorded.

A patient who decided to seek treatment for Lyme disease after a negative test result may choose to do so in a number of ways which could include through their own GP, an outpatient clinic or seek treatmentprivately. Accordingly, I must advise that in terms of Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 the information sought on the number of individuals who were treated for Lyme disease after testing negative for ELISA and/or Western Blot test is not held.

I hope this is to your satisfaction. If you have any further queries regarding this response please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you are not satisfied with this response to your original request we can advise you that you do have a right to a review under section 20 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. For this review you should write to Ian Ross, Director of Strategic Implementation Performance and Planning, NHS Lanarkshire Board, KirklandsHospital, Fallside Road, BothwellG71 8BB or by mail to within 40 working days of 27 February 2012.

If, following the outcome of a request for review, you are still dissatisfied I can advise you that you have the right to make application for a decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner under Section 47(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. The Commissioner can be contacted at Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9DS or by telephone on 01334 464610, by fax on 01334 464611, and by E-mail at

Yours sincerely

Linda Brownlie

Freedom of Information Officer

NHS Lanarkshire