Costs relating to external prescribing advisors and prescribing advice services

​​​Request ​839895450

Please can you tell us:

1. How much money the government/States has paid for external prescribing advisors and prescribing advice services each year for the last six years?

2. How much money the government/States has paid for internal (i.e. employee) prescribing advisors and prescribing advice services each year for the last six years?

Response

1. The Government holds an agreement for services with an external company, the majority of which can be broadly considered as ‘prescribing advice’. The exact value of the contract is deemed commercially sensitive and would ordinarily be exempt under Article 33(b) (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

However, information regarding the fees paid has previously been published and presented to the States Assembly by the Chief Minister. A precedent therefore exists to publish similar information using the banding categories applied in the Chief Minister’s report.

The value of the service falls within the following bands over the past six years.

2020 Band £100,000 to £125,000

2021 Band £100,000 to £125,000

2022 Band £100,000 to £125,000

2023 Band £100,000 to £125,000

2024 Band £125,000 to £150,000

2025 Band £150,000 to £175,000

2. The Government of Jersey does not employ staff specifically to act as ‘Prescribing Advisors’. The Government is responsible for the running of the Hospital Pharmacy and employing pharmacists and technicians, some of whom will offer advice on prescribing from time to time as part of their wider roles.

However, it is not possible to calculate the time, and thereby cost, associated with prescribing advice as distinct from the other activity undertaken by these roles. Under Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, public authorities are not required to create, manipulate, or compile new information in order to answer a request. On this basis, the information requested is not held.

Articles applied:

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person

(including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public Interest Test

Article 33 (b) is a prejudice-based exemption. That means that in order to engage this exemption there must be a likelihood that disclosure would cause prejudice to the interest that the exemption protects. In addition, this is a qualified exemption, and consideration must be given to the public interest in maintaining the exemption.

The Scheduled Public Authority (SPA) considers that providing the exact contract values would likely prejudice the commercial interests of the Government of Jersey and the thirdparty supplier.

Disclosure of detailed pricing information could be used by competitors in future procurement exercises and may undermine the supplier’s future negotiations.

There is a public interest in transparency and accountability in relation to public expenditure. However, this must be balanced against the need to protect commercial interests and ensure fair competition. On balance, it is considered that the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by the potential for commercial and/or financial damage. In order to support transparency where possible, information has been provided in banded ranges.

Article 3- meaning of information held

Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Access to information held by a scheduled public Authority​