Freedom of Information Request: 0187 2019/20

1. The number of patients presenting at your A&E/urgent care centres whose address is recorded as no fixed abode or any other similar indicator the trust uses to categorise those who do not have a fixed address/are homeless during financial year 2018/19 433
2. The number of patients admitted to the hospital whose address is recorded as no fixed abode or any other similar indicator the trust uses to categorise those who do not have a fixed address/are homeless during financial year 2018/19. 771

Freedom of Information Request: 0185 2019/20

Would you please be able to provide the following information regarding appointments and / or consultations that are held in private settings (i.e. not settings where there is the potential for a breach of other patient’s confidentiality (e.g. group therapy sessions or bays in accident and emergency departments)):

Please note, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) completed a merger by acquisition of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) on 1st April 2018.   UHB includes Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Solihull Hospital and Community Services, Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield and Birmingham Chest Clinic. Policies and procedures are in the process of being aligned. The responses have been provided separately for Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) and Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals, Community Services and Chest Clinic (HGS)

1.  Does your Trust allow patients and / or their nominated representatives to make audio recordings of their appointments and / or consultations with a member of staff when they ask the staff member if it is acceptable to do so? Yes
2. Could you please provide the name(s) of the policy / policies and a copy of the specific section of the policy / policies that is used to inform staff of the policy / policies when a patient and / or their nominated representatives requests to audio record their appointment / consultation? HGS: Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) QEHB: There is currently not a policy or procedure in place
3. Does your Trust allow patients and / or their nominated representatives to make video recordings of their appointments and / or consultations with a member of staff when they ask the staff member if it is acceptable to do so? Yes
4. Could you please provide the name(s) of the policy / policies and a copy of the specific section of the policy / policies that is used to inform staff of the policy / policies when a patient and / or their nominated representatives requests to video record their appointment / consultation? HGS: Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) HGS QEHB: There is currently not a policy or procedure in place
5. Does your Trust allow patients and / or their nominated representatives to make audio recordings of their appointments and / or consultations with a member of staff without informing the member of staff about it (i.e. a covert recording)? The Trust has limited jurisdiction to prevent members of the public from using their mobile phones.
6. Could you please provide the name(s) of the policy / policies and a copy of the specific section of the policy / policies that is used to inform staff of the policy / policies if they discover a patient and / or their nominated representatives has audio recorded their appointment / consultation covertly? HGS: Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) QEHB: There is currently not a policy or procedure in place
7. Does your Trust allow patients and / or their nominated representatives to make video recordings of their appointments and / or consultations with a member of staff without informing the member of staff about it (i.e. a covert recording)? The Trust has limited jurisdiction to prevent members of the public from using their mobile phones
8. Could you please provide the name(s) of the policy / policies and a copy of the specific section of the policy / policies that is used to inform staff of the policy / policies if they discover a patient and / or their nominated representatives has video recorded their appointment / consultation covertly? HGS: Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) QEHB: There is currently not a policy or procedure in place
9. Should your Trust’s policies not allow patients and / or their nominated to make audio and / or video recordings (having informed the member of staff and / or covertly) of their appointments and / or consultations could you please provide a copy of your Trust’s policies regarding what procedures should be followed by both members of the Trust’s staff and the patient and / or their nominated representatives where there may be a specific need for the patient and / or their nominated representatives to audio and / or video record their appointments and / or consultations (e.g. medical issues such as dementia, the patient having nobody available to act as an advocate for them or any other need identified by the patient and / or their nominated representatives)? HGS: Personal Mobile Phone Usage Procedure (Visitors, Patients, Public and Staff) QEHB: There is currently not a policy or procedure in place
10. Could you please provide a copy of the impact assessment undertaken of the policy / policies cited in response to question 9? At the time this procedure was developed, an impact assessment was not required for procedures. In line with UHB policy, an assessment will be completed when the procedure is revised
11. Should your Trust’s policies not allow patients and / or their nominated representatives to make audio and / or video recordings (having informed the member of staff and / or covertly) of their appointments and / or consultations could you please provide a copy of the information that staff can give to the patient and / or their nominated representatives explaining why it is not allowed? We do not hold a document as described above
12. Should your Trust’s policies state that it is for the staff member to decide whether they are prepared to allow appointments and / or consultations to be audio and / or video recorded by the patient and / or their nominated representatives could you please provide the name(s) of the policy / policies and a copy of the specific section of the policy / policies that states what procedures should be followed by both members of the Trust’s staff and the patient and / or their nominated representatives when the member of staff states they are not prepared to be audio and / or video recorded but the patient and / or their nominated representatives are insistent on doing so? Not Applicable (see above)
13. Should your Trust have no policy regarding the situations as detailed in questions 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 or 12 could you please detail what procedures should be followed by both members of the Trust’s staff and the patient and / or their nominated representatives should any of the situations detailed occur? We currently do not have a procedure in place at QEHB.

Freedom of Information Request: 0183 2019/20

1. How many Band 5, 6, 7 and 8a Radiographers do you have?
   

   RADIOGRAPHERS	Headcount	FTE
   BAND 5	58	52.59
   BAND 6	175	154.62
   BAND 7	99	83.09
   BAND 8A	22	17.46
   BAND 8B	7	7

    

2. How many band 5, 6, 7 and 8a vacancies do you have?
   

   RADIOGRAPHERS	Vacancy
   BAND 5	12.07
   BAND 6	29
   BAND 7	-2.96
   BAND 8A	1.05
   BAND 8B	0

    

3. Do staff rotate across sites? No a) Do you have core staff in each modality? (core staff in this context are consider to spend greater than 50% of shift allocation in one modality) Yes b) If Yes: What bands are these staff? Band 7 c) Do they rotate across sites? No
4. Do band 5 Radiographers rotate to modalities? Yes b) If Yes: Which modalities do they rotate through? Plain imaging IP, OP. ED, Fluoroscopy, Theatres and mobiles.c) How is this decided? Rolling rota d) What time period do they spend in each modality? 1 week
5. Please provide anonymised copies of your rota’s to demonstrate patterns and shifts? (rotas to be from the 18/19 FY) Please see attached B6 CT rotation B6 Gen rotation Band 7 CT weekend cover Daily Rota General Rota PT staff rotation weekend rota

Freedom of Information Request: 0182 2019/20

1. How many inpatients developed food poisoning (relating to E.coli, listeria, campylobacter, salmonella or other) during a stay at  the hospitals in your trust between the end of May 1018 and the end of  May 2019? The Trust does hold this information, however, providing the data would require review of all patient records which have both the code for food poisoning and the specified infection types, and ascertain whether the infection occurred during their hospital admission. We estimate this would take far in excess of 18 hours. We are therefore withholding this information under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act.
2. How many inpatients developed food poisoning (relating to E. coli, listeria, campylobacter,  salmonella or other) during a stay at the hospitals in your trust between the end of May 2013 and the end of May  2014? The Trust does hold this information, however, providing the data would require review of all patient records which have both the code for food poisoning and the specified infection types, and ascertain whether the infection occurred during their hospital admission. We estimate this would take far in excess of 18 hours. We are therefore withholding this information under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act.
3. Are meals prepared on site or off the premises by an outside provider? Meals are prepared by external providers at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Some meals are prepared on site and some are purchased from external providers at Heartlands, Good Hope, and Solihull Hospitals.
4. How many complaints did you receive about hospital food between the end of May 2019 and the end of May 2018? 12
5. How many complaints did you receive about hospital food between the end of May 2013 and  the end of May 2014? 15

Freedom of Information Request: 0180 2019/20

I was enquiring to see if you could provide me with information regarding apprenticeship funding within the trust and how it is split across departments and also who is responsible/ in charge of allocating funding to different departments. 

Please can you provide me with the current split of apprenticeship funding levy across departments.

As a large UK employer, the Trust pays the Apprenticeship Levy to HMRC. In 2018/19, this cost the Trust circa £3.6 million. This funding is held in a digital account for the Trust, to be used for Apprentice training and assessments against approved standards and with registered providers.

It is important to note that the Levy cannot be used to pay apprentice wages, travel and subsistence, management costs, or the costs of setting up apprenticeship programmes.

As such, there is no fixed apprenticeship funding / budget split across the Trust. Each Trust (on behalf of the departments) will draw down the approved training costs back from the digital account. The amount drawn down will vary month to month depending on the number of apprentices in place and changes as people leave, start or finish their apprenticeships.

All departments are encouraged to recruit Apprentices; however, they must have the funding in place to pay the apprentice wages. The Trust is currently claiming back from the Levy significant less than is it contributing, therefore there is no detailed process for allocating Apprenticeship Levy funding to departments. This process is monitored by the Education department which is led by Louise Banks (Director of Education).

For specific enquires regarding Apprenticeships and UHB, the best contact is; Apprenticeships@uhb.nhs.uk

Freedom of Information Request: 0176 2019/20

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) completed a merger by acquisition of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT) on 1^st April 2018.  Due to historical differences in data collection/reporting across UHB and the former Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust this response has been provided by hospital site.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

Please provide me with the below information relating to staffing within the diagnostic radiography/medical imaging/ultrasound department (all modalities including: General X-Ray, CT, MRI, Mammography & Ultrasound)

1.  How many permanent staff are employed by the Radiography/Imaging department (Radiographers & Sonographers, not Radiologists)? Currently employ 316.46 FTE and 362 Headcount
2. How many permanent vacancies are currently open/unfilled within the Radiography/Imaging department (Radiographers & Sonographers, not Radiologists)?Current Vacancies 30.60 FTE
3. How many agency staff/locums are currently being used across the Radiography/Imaging department (Radiographers & Sonographers, not Radiologists)? 29.46 FTE
4. For agency staff/locums, what is the split in numbers between radiographers and sonographers? Radiographers- 27.12 WTE Sonographers- 2.34 WTE
5. How many bank temps are being used across the Radiography/Imaging department? 7.78 FTE
6. During the 2017-2018 financial year, how much did the Radiography/Imaging department spend on temporary agency staff? None
7. During the 2018-2019 financial year, how much did the Radiography/Imaging department spend on temporary agency staff? £2,052,337
8. During the 2018-2019 financial year, how much did the Radiography/Imaging department spend on temporary bank staff? £1,515,707
9. During the 2018-2019 financial year, how much did the Radiography/Imaging department spend on permanent finders/introduction fees through recruitment agencies? N/A
10. Does the Radiography/Imaging department have a dedicated breast screening unit? Yes
11. Please provide me with the following contact names within the authority: a) The name of the senior manager (Radiology Services Manager / Imaging Services Manager) with overall responsibility for the Radiography/Imaging department. Tina Jones b) The name of the head of temporary staffing. Wendy Lamey

Freedom of Information Request: 0175 2019/20

Would you be able to confirm whether your Trust produces a guideline document detailing the high cost drug pathway or stepped approach to biologic prescribing in Rheumatoid Arthritis other than the trust formulary itself?

The Trust does not hold any guidelines relating to the high cost drug pathway or stepped approach to biologic prescribing in Rheumatoid Arthritis. We follow the NICE guidance for the treatment pathway for RA including stepping up to biologic therapy. The choice of high cost drugs is dependant on the clinician and the patient in accordance with NICE guidance.

Freedom of Information Request: 0181 2019/20

I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Please find attached a request of information regarding your organisations use of agency and bank staff for the financial year 18/19.
Please see attached spreadsheet FOI 0181

Freedom of Information Request: 0174 2019/20

1. 1. Is decontamination/sterilisation handled in-house or outsourced? The decontamination is outsourced and is provided at 2 “off-site” locations
   2. What is the total number of trays process on a daily/monthly/yearly basis? From April 2018 to March 2019 there were 134,974 “trays reprocessed” for Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB)  and 155,269 trays reprocessed for Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals combined (HGS). These do not include “flexible endoscopy trays” reprocessed within the Hospitals themselves or supplementary items reprocessed off-site.
   3. How much does it cost to process and deliver trays? The total cost of reprocessing reusable instrument trays for April 2018 to March 2019 for QEHB was £2,417,127 and for HGS was £2,615,491.
   4. How much time is taken fully process one tray? This is variable based on the contents or composition of the tray and the complexity of the instrumentation contained within the tray. The individual stages of the reprocessing are also variable depending on the nature of the reprocessing required (e.g. manual pre-cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, automated washing and disinfection, sterilisation cycles required etc etc.) The times that trays are required to be returned also varies between 5 hours “fast-tracked trays” and 24 hours (normal turnaround). Some extended reprocessing of trays is also undertaken at weekends (up to 72 hours for infrequently used trays) Approximately 10% of trays are “prioritized” to be returned on the first delivery of the following daya and therefore the reprocessing time can be between 8 and 24 hours depending on when the trays are made available to the off-site reprocessing company. 
   5. How many times a day is surgical trays collected and processed? During weekdays, Trays are collected 5 times per day from the Q.E Hospital, 6 times a day at Heartlands Hospital and 4 times per day at Solihull and Good Hope Hospitals. During the weekends trays are collected 3 times per day at the QE & Heartlands Hospitals on Saturdays and 2 times per day at Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals. On Sundays there are 3 collection at  the QE, 2 at Heartlands and Good Hope and 1 at Solihull.
   6. How many individual instruments are cleaned? The Trust does hold the information you have requested, however we estimate that compliance with your request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. This is currently £450 and relates to the cost of obtaining and analysing data held in various locations.
   7. How many times can an individual instrument be reused? Instruments that can be reprocessed and reused have variable “life-times”. This can depend on the wear and tear associated with use. Some instruments are in use for more than 20 years. Some instruments are subject to maintenance and servicing agreements with the original equipment manufacturers and others are subject to repair or refurbishment on an as needs basis.
   8. What are the different surgical tray dimensions? QEHB 480x250x60mm 240x250x60mm  120x250x60mm  480x480mm  480x360mm from small blue poly trays to large customized containment. HGS – Wide range of containers used ranging from 15x20cm to 46x46cm with varying depths
   9.  What is the cost of the surgical equipment? The Trust does hold the information you have requested, however we estimate that compliance with your request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. This is currently £450 and relates to the cost of obtaining and analysing data held in various locations
   10. How much staff is required to process surgical trays? We do not hold this information. However we can tell you that the “off-site” provider employs approximately 220 staff. It should be noted however, that they also reprocess instrumentation for other local NHS organisations as well as for private sector healthcare organisations within this headcount

Freedom of Information Request: 0166 2019/20

1) How many of your acute services or units (if any) had to be suspended or closed to new admissions in 2016, 2017 & 2018? Please name the service/unit.

2) What was the duration of each suspension/closure?

3) What was the reason for each suspension/closure?

There is no record of any acute services being closed/suspended to new admissions in 2016, 2017 or 2018 within the Trust.

However, there have been a number of wards, or beds within wards, closed to admissions for short periods of time due to the needs of infection prevention and control (IP&C) at various points during this period. Alternative arrangements for the admission of acute patients have been made on each occasion within the organisation.