Trust hides information on waiting times in transparency breach
- Vital information about the performance of Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hospitals has been hidden from the public
- In defiance of transparency guidelines laid down by the information watchdog, the ICO, the West Herts NHS Trust recently removed previous years’ Board minutes from its website. The oldest available minutes are from February 2024.
- These national transparency rules state that trusts must publish minutes going back at least three years. This allows the public to compare performance as reported to the Board, including A&E and surgery waits.
- In a further move which shows its determination to prevent public access to this important information, the Trust has, it seems, also ensured that it is impossible to find the previous years’ minutes through internet search. Just try Googling ‘board minutes West Herts 2022’.