Freedom of Information – Stress Assessments: September 2026
Request details
Request
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
Could you please provide me with any/all “Stress Assessments “, “stress risk assessment ” or any document that you believe this may refer within the substance use programmes (residential rehab, MAT etc).
Could you also provide me with any/all records from exit interviews or similar for persons from Associate Director and below. You further clarified on the 13th August 2026 that the request for records related to exit interviews was also in reference to the substance misuse programmes.
Response
Healthcare Improvement Scotland will neither confirm nor deny whether information falling within the scope of your request is held.
Section 18(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) removes the obligation on a Scottish public authority, in limited circumstances, to confirm whether it holds requested information where, if it did exist and were held, the information would be exempt under a relevant exemption, and where to reveal whether the information exists or is held would be contrary to the public interest.
Given the nature of the information requested, revealing whether such records exist in relation to a small team of colleagues would itself be likely to disclose personal information relating to the health and wellbeing of identifiable individuals. Accordingly, Healthcare Improvement Scotland will neither confirm nor deny that such information is held on the basis that, if the information existed and were held, it would be exempt from disclosure under section 38(1) b.
Applied exemptions
The following exemptions have been applied to this response. If you wish to learn more about the relevant exemptions please visit the Scottish Information Commissioners website using the links below. You will leave the HIS website: FOISA exemptions
Section 38(1) b exempts information if its disclosure would contravene the data protection principles. As stress assessments will only take place where concerns are raised about the mental health of individuals, confirming the existence of such information with regard to a small group of colleagues would be highly likely to constitute special category data as defined in the UK GDPR. As there is no lawful basis for disclosing health data relating to identifiable individuals, responding to your request could contravene the first data protection principle.
Reviews and Appeals
For more information on our reviews and appeals, please visit: Freedom of information reviews and appeals – Healthcare Improvement Scotland