How NHS Forth Valley improved FOI performance: what made the difference?
Responding to Freedom of Information requests on time is essential to openness, accountability and public trust. When NHS Forth Valley’s performance fell below the required standard, the Commissioner escalated an intervention and set clear improvement expectations.
The challenges faced by NHS Forth Valley included the clearance of an accumulated backlog, securing additional staff resources and increasing visibility of FOI across the organisation.
NHS Forth Valley’s team worked positively and constructively with the Commissioner’s team to secure long-term and sustainable improvements.
The key factors that led to these improvements can apply across all sectors and are set out below:
Key factors that led to improvement
1 - Making the issue visible
Weekly reports to the Board’s senior leadership team brought FOI performance into clear view. They showed current performance, requests at risk of becoming overdue, progress against the backlog, and the areas where support or escalation was needed.
This regular visibility helped turn FOI from a specialist team issue into an organisational priority. Leaders had the information they needed to unblock delays and support services to respond on time.
2 - Clear ownership and leadership engagement
Senior leadership focus was reinforced through weekly position meetings chaired by the Medical Director. Representatives from Directorates and Services reviewed live issues, identified pinch points and agreed action before responses became overdue.
Giving leaders sight of individual requests helped enable timely, collaborative problem-solving. It also signalled that FOI compliance mattered and needed active ownership across the system.
3 - The right level — and type — of resource
Additional permanent Information Rights Officer capacity gave the FOI team sufficient resilience to manage current demand while also improving systems and processes.
A key learning was that improvement requires more than extra capacity. Across the organisation, FOI work needs people with the right skills, including communication, influencing, judgement and the authority to prioritise competing pressures.
4 - Tackling the backlog separately from current demand
At the start of the Improvement Action Plan, 202 overdue requests had accumulated. The team designated an experienced officer to focus specifically on the backlog, while others managed incoming requests.
This separation allowed the backlog to be addressed strategically and thematically. Straightforward cases were resolved quickly, while more complex requests received targeted engagement with services. The backlog was eliminated by 13 November 2025, six weeks ahead of schedule.
5 - Standardising local processes
Directorates adopted local Standard Operating Procedures using a standard template from the Information Governance Unit. These SOPs clarified roles, responsibilities, contacts, cover arrangements and local escalation routes.
Standardisation created a shared understanding of how requests should be managed and enabled more consistent practice across services.
6 - Using curiosity to understand how work really happens
Improvement work went beyond high-level assurance. Services reviewed how information requests actually moved through their teams and engaged in process mapping supported by the Quality team.
This helped identify where processes were unclear, where delays occurred and where practical changes could make the biggest difference. In one example, the Finance Directorate redesigned its approach and reduced the average time for providing information to 7.85 working days.
7 - Communicating consistently and positively
The FOI team strengthened communication through performance reporting, guidance, monthly ‘FOI Matters’ updates and the simple message that ‘Every Request Counts’.
Positive recognition also played a role. ‘FOI Stars’ helped celebrate colleagues who supported the process well, reinforcing constructive relationships and encouraging continued engagement.
What this means for improvement in practice
The FOI improvement journey shows that sustained improvement depends on a combination of visibility, leadership, curiosity, capacity, streamlined processes and communication. No single action delivered the change on its own; improvement came from aligning all of these factors around a shared purpose.
- Make the issue visible with timely, meaningful data.
- Give leaders enough detail to act, not just direction that action is needed.
- Match resource to the work, including the skills and authority required.
- Separate recovery work from live demand, where possible.
- Standardise processes while allowing services to adapt them locally.
- Use learning reviews to understand the causes of delay.
- Communicate regularly, recognise good practice and reinforce the shared goal.
Conclusion
NHS Forth Valley’s experience demonstrates that improvement is most effective when organisations combine clear accountability with practical support. By making performance visible, strengthening local processes and creating space to learn from real cases, teams can move from reactive recovery to sustainable improvement.
