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.
Due to historical differences in data collection/reporting across UHB and the former Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust some responses have been provided by hospital site.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
I am looking into incidents of trust staff or contractors improperly using messaging platforms (such as, but not limited to, WhatsApp) to communicate information relating to patients.
For each of the last five years (2014 to 2018 inclusive), please tell me:
1. How many staff or contractors at your trust have been investigated for doing so.
2
2. How many staff or contractors were sanctioned / disciplined for doing so. For each sanction, please say what it was: for example, it if was a monetary fine, please give the value; if it was a suspension, please give the duration.
2, formal disciplinary sanction
3. For each incident of a staff member or contractor being investigated and / or sanctioned, please say: 1) what messaging platform was involved; 2) that individual’s broad role at the trust, for example doctor (junior or consultant), nurse, management.
Facebook on both occasions, nurses on both occasions
4. For each incident of a staff member or contractor being investigated and / or sanctioned, please say whether the patient or patients concerned where informed that a possible misuse of their data had taken place
We do not hold this information
5. Does your trust have explicit rules against such use? If so, please point to them.
Please see attached: QEHBAcceptableUsePolicy
Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospital (HGS)
I am looking into incidents of trust staff or contractors improperly using messaging platforms (such as, but not limited to, WhatsApp) to communicate information relating to patients.
For each of the last five years (2014 to 2018 inclusive), please tell me:
1. How many staff or contractors at your trust have been investigated for doing so.
Zero
2. How many staff or contractors were sanctioned / disciplined for doing so. For each sanction, please say what it was: for example, it if was a monetary fine, please give the value; if it was a suspension, please give the duration.
Not applicable
3. For each incident of a staff member or contractor being investigated and / or sanctioned, please say: 1) what messaging platform was involved; 2) that individual’s broad role at the trust, for example doctor (junior or consultant), nurse, management.
Not applicable
4. For each incident of a staff member or contractor being investigated and / or sanctioned, please say whether the patient or patients concerned where informed that a possible misuse of their data had taken place.
Not applicable
5. Does your trust have explicit rules against such use? If so, please point to them.
Please see attached: HGSAcceptableUsePolicy
