Health

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following information regarding your use of insourcing for haematology, histopathology, and/or microbiology services between 1 April 2024 and the date of this request (i.e., the last 12 months):

Service Usage:

Does your trust currently use (or has it used in the last 12 months) insourcing providers for any of the following services?

a) Haematology
b) Histopathology
c) Microbiology
d) Oncology
(If yes, please specify which specialties)

Provider Details:

For each insourced specialty above, provide:
a) The name(s) of the external provider(s).
b) The start and end date(s) of the contract(s).

Scope & Volume:

A brief description of the services covered (e.g., “blood film reporting,” “biopsy analysis,” “infection screening”).

Estimated annual spend (or total spend) on these insourcing arrangements for 2023/24.

Procurement Method:
Was the contract awarded via a framework (e.g., NHS SBS DPS, Crown Commercial Service)? If yes, state which one.

If no insourcing is used for these specialties, please state “None.”

I am contacting you with a FoI request for the benefit of RNID.

Please can you provide the name and contact details for the current Head of Adult Audiology for Gloucestershire Health and care NHS foundation trust.

If this role does not exist in your Trust, please provide the name and contact details for the most senior member of staff responsible for audiology services.

I would like to submit a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) regarding cases of food poisoning due to incorrect identification or inappropriate preparation of wild food.

Please provide the relevant information for the period between 1 April 2020 and the most recent date for which data is available. Please could you provide the following:

A yearly breakdown of the number of cases of food poisoning due to incorrect identification or inappropriate preparation of wild food.
The type of wild food that caused the food poisoning (for example: fungi, plant, berries, etc…). Please include the specific species if known.
The symptoms experienced by the patient and the recovery time (for example: overnight stay or discharged within a couple hours)
The location where this food was picked. We would define ‘wild or foraged’ foods to be either: Wild, naturally growing food which was picked and consumed by an individual Wild, naturally growing food which was consumed by an individual, but was served in a restaurant environment, having been picked in the wild within the UK.

If you need to carry out a key terms search to locate these records, please include the terms “foraged”, “foraging”, “wild food”, “forager”, “wild ingredients”. If you would document these cases in another way, please include these results as per the spirit of my request.

If you feel that my request is unclear or too broad, I would be grateful if you could provide me with some guidance as to how I could refine it.

I understand that whilst the Sexual Health team do not provide routine treatment regarding certain implants, exceptions may be made for certain groups. Please could you share a copy of the exceptions list / exceptions policy?

As you will be aware, the recently released Wheelchair Alliance report has highlighted the postcode lottery experienced by wheelchair users, and the many long waits. I am interested in the underlying data.

Please provide the following information separately for each of the wheelchair services in your area. This data is ‘essential’ or ‘basic’ information relating to each referral and should be easily extracted from the relevant Case Management System, Electronic Patient Record, or similar. Please feel free to provide the data in alternative formats, e.g. an Excel spreadsheet, if appropriate.

1a) How many open referrals does the service have for ADULTS?
1b) Of those open referrals, how many have been open for LESS than 18 weeks?
1c) Of those open referrals, how many have open for MORE than 18 weeks?
1d) Of those open referrals, how many have been open for MORE than 52 weeks?
1e) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘low need’ (per NHS Wheelchair Data Collection definition)?
1f) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘medium need’?
1g) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘high need’?
1h) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘specialist need’?
1i) Of those open referrals, how many are for powered wheelchairs?

2a) How many open referrals does the service have for CHILDREN/YOUNG PEOPLE?
2b) Of those open referrals, how many have been open for LESS than 18 weeks?
2c) Of those open referrals, how many have open for MORE than 18 weeks?
2d) Of those open referrals, how many have been open for MORE than 52 weeks?
2e) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘low need’ (per NHS Wheelchair Data Collection definition)?
2f) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘medium need’?
2g) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘high need’?
2h) Of those open referrals, how many are ‘specialist need’?
2i) Of those open referrals, how many are for powered wheelchairs?

I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I would like to request the following information regarding the use of processed meats containing nitrates or nitrites in meals provided by your authority.

1. Does your organisation procure or serve processed meat (such as bacon, ham, sausages, or other cured meats) that contain nitrates or nitrites as preservatives?

2. If so, please provide details of the types of processed meat served and any guidance or policies in place regarding their procurement.

I am submitting this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to obtain data on NHS treatment of complications arising from surgical procedures performed overseas.

Request Details

1. NHS Admissions for Complications Following Overseas Surgeries
• The total number of hospital admissions where the NHS has treated patients for complications resulting from surgeries conducted abroad.
• A yearly breakdown from January 2020 to January 2025 (or the most recent available period).

2. Breakdown of Patients Treated
For each year, please provide where available:
• Age group of patients (e.g.: under 18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+).
• Gender of patients.

3. Data Classified Under Relevant ICD-10 Codes (or their NHS equivalents):
Please provide a breakdown of cases recorded under the following ICD-10 codes related to complications of surgical procedures:
• T81 – Complications of procedures (e.g., infections, wound disruption, foreign bodies left in the body).
• T82-T85 – Complications of prosthetic devices, implants, and grafts.
• T86 – Failure and rejection of transplanted organs and tissues.
• T87 – Complications of amputations and reattachments.
• T88 – Other complications of surgical and medical care (including anaesthesia-related complications).
• Y60-Y69 – Surgical errors and misadventures (e.g., accidental punctures, foreign objects left inside patients, failure of sterile precautions, inappropriate procedures).
• Y70-Y79 – Medical devices associated with adverse incidents.
• Y83-Y84 – Abnormal patient reactions or complications following surgery or other medical procedures.

4. Specific Details on Procedures Leading to NHS Admissions
Where available, please provide:
• The type of surgery the patient originally underwent abroad (e.g., cosmetic surgery, weight loss surgery, orthopaedic surgery, dental work, etc.).
• The intended purpose of the surgery (e.g., aesthetic enhancement, weight loss, joint replacement, reconstructive surgery, etc.).
• The type of complication requiring NHS intervention (e.g., infection, implant failure, excessive bleeding, wound breakdown, nerve damage, sepsis).

5. NHS Cost of Treating Complications from Overseas Surgeries
• The total annual cost incurred by the NHS in treating complications from overseas surgeries.
• If available, an estimated breakdown of costs by procedure type.

We would like to place a Freedom of Information request, wishing to obtain an Install Base report for Monitoring systems within high acuity areas at your NHS hospitals.

Additional Questions

• How many anaesthetic rooms do you have in Theatres?
• How many theatre rooms do you have?
• Do you have a telemetry system for coronary care?
• How many telemetry systems do you have?

I am conducting an analysis on the uptake of biosimilar use for Ustekinumab.

I would be grateful if you could please tell me how many patients were treated with Ustekinumab (for any disease) for the three-month period specified within the questions.

Q1 – How many patients were treated with Ustekinumab and its biosimilars (for any disease) from the start of October 2024 to the end of December 2024?
Please use the latest available 3 months if October to December is not available and specify which 3 months have been used.

Q2 – How many patients were treated with Stelara and its biosimilars (for any disease) in the months October 2024, November 2024, and December 2024?
Please use the latest available 3 months if October to December is not available and specify which 3 months have been used.

This FOI request seeks to establish the types, numbers, costs and timings of Helicobacter pylori tests performed by your Trust (or on its behalf) for primary care providers.

Question 1: Your Trust
In your response to this FOI request, could you please specify the identity of the parts of your Trust for which this FOI is relevant, and for which you are responding.

Question 2: Types of Tests and Providers Which types of tests relevant for the primary care diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (e.g., stool antigen test, urea breath test, serology) do you perform within your Trust, or have performed on your behalf by a Third party? If outsourced, could you please specify the Third party used.

Question 3: Test Types and Volumes
How many Helicobacter pylori tests of each of these types were performed by your Trust or on its behalf in the most recent 12-month period, or other defined accounting period for which data is available?

Question 4: Requirements for in-Person Testing Which types of tests required the in-person attendance of the patient at your Trust or its Third-party provider for testing, how many such in-person attendances were required, and what was the average time taken between patient arrival and departure?

Question 5: Turnaround Time for Test Results Specifying each type of Helicobacter pylori test performed by your Trust, or on its behalf, could you please provide the average time (in hours) between receipt of sample to transmission of test result to the GP practice?

Question 6: Test costs and Tariffs
For each type of Helicobacter pylori test performed by your Trust or on its behalf, what is the total cost of performing the test to your Trust or the Third party provider (i.e., personnel, infrastructure, reagents and consumables, etc)? What does your Trust charge for performing each of these tests? Do these tests correspond to standard NHS tariffs or HRG codes? If so, could you please specify the tariff code and amount charged for each test type.

I would like to make a Freedom of Information request regarding the provision of vestibular assessment and rehabilitation by your Trust’s Falls Prevention Service (or equivalent).
World Guidelines for Falls Prevention and Management for Older Adults: A Global Initiative published in September 2022 (see below link) recommend routinely asking about dizziness and undertaking follow up assessment to identify causes, including vestibular. They reference the high incidence of BPPV and vestibular dysfunction in those presenting with falls and suggest managing vestibular issues should be considered as part of a multifactorial approach.
World Guidelines for Falls Prevention and Management for Older Adults: A Global Initiative | British Geriatrics Society (bgs.org.uk)

The request therefore has 3 specific questions:
1. Does your falls prevention team (or equivalent) have staff trained to assess and treat vestibular dysfunction?
2. If so, from which profession(s)?
3. Do you have any plans to develop this part of your falls prevention service?

I am submitting a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like to obtain data regarding the number of hospital admissions related to sunbed injuries. Specifically, I request the following information in whichever format is easiest to provide: SNOMED, ICD-11, or free text.

1. Sunbed Admissions (SNOMED)
The number of hospital admissions for patients presenting with sunbed-related injuries, classified under:
• 403588002 – Addiction to sunbed use (disorder)
• 242537009 – Exposure to man-made ultraviolet light (event)
• 466293001 – Ultraviolet tanning device (physical object)
If possible, please also include:
• Age group (e.g.: under 18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, 75-84, 85-94, 95-100, over 100)
• Gender of the patient
• Brief description of the reason for admission
• Treatment received for the injury
2. Sunbed Admissions (ICD-11)
The number of hospital admissions for patients presenting with sunbed injuries, categorised under:
• EJ41 – Burn from exposure to artificial source of ultraviolet radiation
o EJ41.0 – Burn from exposure to therapeutic ultraviolet radiation
o EJ41.Y – Other specified burn from exposure to artificial source of ultraviolet radiation
o EJ41.Z – Burn from exposure to artificial source of ultraviolet radiation, unspecified
If possible, please also include:
• Age group (as above)
• Gender of the patient
• Brief description of the reason for admission
• Treatment received for the injury
3. Sunbed Admissions (Free Text)
The number of hospital admissions for patients presenting with sunbed injuries, provided in free text format.
If possible, please also include:
• Age group (as above)
• Gender of the patient
• Brief description of the reason for admission
• Treatment received for the injury
Timeframe
For each month over the past five years (2019–2024), please provide the total number of individuals recorded.

I am writing to formally request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
regarding the use of mechanical ventilation within your hospital trust, specifically for patients
undergoing an MRI scan and those requiring in-hospital transportation while intubated.
Please provide responses to the following questions:

1. What is the current policy for mechanical ventilation of patients undergoing an MRI scan
within your NHS trust?
2. Which department has the primary responsibility for overseeing the mechanical
ventilation of patients in the MRI suite? Is it the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or the MRI
department?
3. Which mechanical ventilators are currently used when conducting MRI scans on patients
within your MRI department?
4. Please provide the make, model, and age of the current mechanical transport
ventilators used within your trust.
5. Could you list the specific MRI-compatible ventilators currently in use within your trust?
6. Please provide the contact details (name, job title, and email/telephone) of the lead
clinical person overseeing the use of mechanical transport ventilation within your trust.
7. Please provide the name and contact details of the technician responsible for
overseeing the usage and maintenance of these ventilators within your trust.

I am writing to submit a formal request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I kindly request the following details:

1. What are the biggest challenges your organisation currently faces in surveying and geospatial activity?

2. Are you confident in your full knowledge of the condition and knowledge of your impact on our local environment?

3. What are your organisation’s key strategic objectives for the next 12-24 months, and how does surveying and geospatial fit into these?

4. Please detail any planned development of sites or assets

5. Do you have a supplier for drainage mapping and surveying?

6. If so, please can you supply details of the contractual arrangements in place including date of award, details of any Framework used or link to the advertisement, contract value and duration

7. If not, please can you indicate what evaluation of the requirement for surveying and geospatial works have been undertaken?

8. Please share your planned procurement pipeline for surveying and geospatial works for the next 12 months

9. How do you engage with potential new suppliers—through open tenders, direct engagement, or supplier days?

10. Please can you confirm the individual responsible for managing your surveying and geospatial contracts or wider development contracts and provide their contact details and role title?

11. Please provide a list of frameworks that you procure related services through

12. Do you plan to repurpose any sites for renewable energy or solar farms?

13. Do you have any issues with subsidence in your properties? If so, where?

14. When developing/purchasing/selling a site, how do you verify that the boundaries are correct?

I would be most grateful if you would provide me, under the Freedom of Information Act, details in respect to the below.

1. Please list all providers that currently provide NHS audiology services in your region.

2. Please provide a copy of the current and most up to date service specification as contained in the relevant contract particulars for adult hearing care.

3. Please provide the date the adult hearing care service last was commissioned.

4. If adult hearing care is part of a wider service specification i.e. ENT, then please provide a copy of the current and most up to date service specification as contained in the relevant contract particulars.

5. If adult hearing care is part of a wider service specification i.e. ENT, then please provide the date this service was last commissioned.

Please provide information regarding Respiratory Services providing on call services i.e. physiotherapy and/or outreach department.

In the last 12 months – for both adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) has your trust instructed someone to give a second opinion on a patient that is receiving treatment for an eating disorder?

In the last 12 months – for both adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) has your trust refused to give a second opinion on a patient that is receiving treatment for an eating disorder?

In the last 12 months – for both adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) where second opinions have happened, who did the trust instruct to give the second opinion?

Of the second opinions given in adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) was the second opinion arranged by the clinical team or the patient/family?
Of the second opinions given in adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) who paid for it?

Of the second opinions given in adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) was it internal or external?

Of the second opinions given in adult and children eating disorder services (both inpatient and outpatient) what was the outcome?

Dear FOI team, My name is Jiakun Yu and I am a doctor working at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. I would like to make the following FOI request: 1. Could you provide a list of all NHS hospital at home or virtual ward available in your region as well as their email contact information please. Many thanks, Jiakun Yu

I’d like to request the following records under the FOI act.

Virtual wards

• The total number of virtual ward beds you had open as of 15 January 2025
• The total number of VW beds, broken down by the different specialties served by those virtual wards
• The beds occupancy rate as of 15 January 2025, broken down by specialty
Patient initiated follow-up

• A list of the specialities for which you offer patient initiated follow-up
• The proportion of outpatient attendances discharged to PIFU pathways, as of 15 January 2025 (or the most recent data point – please specify the date if different from 15/1/25).
• The names of each technology supplier and the product used by the trust to run its PIFU pathways

A list of your sites that are under PFI / PF2 / PPP contracts that are expiring in by the end of 2030.

– The name of the site, the value of the contract, along with the date of the expiry.
– The name of your Director of Estates & Head of Procurement.

1. The name of your soft facilities management service provider/providers (if this is managed in-house please say)
2. The date/dates that your contract/contracts with your soft FM provider ends
3. The name of your hard facilities management service provider/providers (if this is managed in-house please say)
4. The date/dates that your contract/contracts with your hard FM provider ends
5. The name of your waste management service provider/provider
6. The date/dates that your contract/contracts with waste management provider ends
7. The name of your security provider/providers
8. The annual sum spent on security each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25 (for 2024/25 if you don’t have the total that you will spend then please provide a figure to-date).

Dear Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust,

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act to request information relating to Patient Transport Services in the NHS Trust. I have set out the information I require below:

– Please can you outline the procurement process for Patient Transport Service contracts.

– What is the criteria for Patient Transport Service contracts.

– Which organisation sets the criteria for Patient Transport Service contracts.

– Which organisation decides the successful bid for Patient Transport Service contracts.

– Is there any criteria for Patient Transport Service contracts attached to terms and conditions and pay of staff.

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding hospital admissions related to hiking injuries.

Please provide data for the past five calendar years (from 1 January [2020] to 31 January [2025]), broken down annually and 2025 so far, on the following:

Hospital Admissions

• The number of hospital admissions where the reason for admission was linked to hiking.
• If available, the number of admissions identified through:
Text-based documentation (i.e., where “hiking” or a related term was explicitly mentioned in records).
The ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics code XE5BS (Type of sport or exercise activity, hiking).
The age and gender of those admitted.
• A brief description of the incident or injury, if recorded.

I’m writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information about the rate of sodium nitrite poisoning in your hospital trust. Please note I am asking about sodium nitrite, not sodium nitrate. For the past five years, up to and including 6 February 2025, I’d like to know the following:

How many cases of sodium nitrite poisoning were there? Please break this down into cases of a) intentional poisoning (eg suicide) and b) unintentional poisoning. A. Of the cases of sodium nitrite poisoning, how many of them were administered Methylene Blue? How many deaths were there where sodium nitrite poisoning was listed as the, or a, cause of death? Please break this down into how many deaths were caused by a) intentional poisoning (eg suicide) and b) unintentional poisoning. A. Of the deaths caused by sodium nitrite poisoning, how many of them were administered Methylene Blue?

I am submitting this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and would appreciate your assistance in providing the following details regarding your NHS Trust’s expenditure on staff uniforms:

1. **Total uniform expenditure** for the last financial year (April 2022 – March 2023) and, if available, the current financial year to date (April 2023 – present).

2. **Breakdown of uniform items purchased**, including:
– Type of uniform items (e.g., tunics, trousers, scrubs, polo shirts, jackets, etc.).
– Number of each item purchased.
– Unit price of each item.

3. **Suppliers**: A list of uniform suppliers used by the Trust.

4. **Procurement Process**: Details of any existing contracts or agreements for uniform procurement, if applicable.