Trust HQ
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Brockworth
Gloucester
GL3 4AW
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E-mail: freedomofinformation@ghc.nhs.uk Website: www.ghc.nhs.uk
DATE: 22/10/2021
Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 237-2122
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
1. At the point of registration/referral, in line with the Accessible Information Standard, does your trust currently:
• Ask all patients whether they have any information or communication support needs, and find out how to meet those needs?
• Routinely highlight or ‘flag’ in the person’s file or notes that they have information or communication needs which must be met?
• Routinely share this information with other providers of NHS and adult social care, when patients have given consent/permission to do so? Please see attached policy.
2. Barriers to compliance:
• If you have answered ‘no’ to 1A, what is the main reason why this is not currently done?
• If you have answered ‘no’ to 1B, what is the main reason why this is not currently done? • If you have answered ‘no’ to 1C, what is the main reason why this is not currently done? Please see attached policy. 3. If you have answered yes to 1B, what is the process by which patients’ needs are recorded and subsequently acted on? Please see attached policy.
4. In the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19., have you undertaken any audits to assess your compliance against the Accessible Information Standard or the provision of accessible information generally? If yes, please share any resulting reports/findings. Please see attached policy. 5. In the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19., how many complaints has your trust received which primarily related to patients not receiving information in accessible formats? Zero
6. Please provide figures for your trust’s spending on interpreting and translation into non-English languages if possible, excluding British Sign Language BSL. interpreting and translation of materials into easy read. for the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19. together, if possible, with the number of requests for interpreting/translation that this represents. We can’t provide a breakdown of numbers I’m afraid. 2018-19 – 130,000 both former organisations combined.
2019-2020 – 93.000 both former organisations combined – trust merged Oct 19. – 1,684 requests for interpreting. 2020-2021 – 60,828
Should you have any queries in relation to our response in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:-
– Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth
GLOUCESTER GL3 4AW
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E-mail: —
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office ICO. for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
On behalf of Gloucestershire Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust
FOI Request
Sent: 21 October 2021 17:54
To: Freedom of Information
Subject: RE: FOI 237-2122 - Clarification Required This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. If unsure, please contact ghcit@ghc.nhs.uk
Many thanks for your email – yes please if you could respond with the data available since the trust was formed that would be great. Thanks again for your help, From: Freedom of Information Sent: 19 October 2021 12:00
To: Gorman, Chris Subject: FOI 237-2122 - Clarification Required -------------------
Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 237-2122
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. In order to respond to your request our information teams are seeking the below clarification:
• Regarding Q3-Q6 Gloucestershire Health & Care NHS FT was formed in October 2019 therefore we couldn’t provide the full financial data you are requesting. Please confirm if you wish us to answer this request still but with data from October 2019 onwards?
Would you be able to provide clarification around the information you are expecting the response to include for this question?
Kind Regards,
Legal Services Officer Legal Services. Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Edward Jenner Court, Pioneer Avenue, Gloucester Business Park, Brockworth, GL3 4AW
Telephone: 0300 421 8357 Email: .uk Website: www.ghc.nhs.uk
This email originated from outside of the organisation. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. If unsure, please contact ghcit@ghc.nhs.uk
-------------------------FoI lead, Please find below a request under the Freedom of Information Act. This information would normally be provided by your trust’s patient equality lead/manager, possibly in conjunction with the leads for your patient administratioppointment-booking systems. Questions:
1 – At the point of registration/referral, in line with the Accessible Information Standard, does your trust currently:
• A - ask all patients whether they have any information or communication support needs, and find out how to meet those needs?
• B – routinely highlight or ‘flag’ in the person’s file or notes that they have information or communication needs which must be met?
• C – routinely share this information with other providers of NHS and adult social care, when patients have given consent/permission to do so?
2 – Barriers to compliance:
• A - If you have answered ‘no’ to 1A, what is the main reason why this is not currently done?
• B - If you have answered ‘no’ to 1B, what is the main reason why this is not currently done? • C - If you have answered ‘no’ to 1C, what is the main reason why this is not currently done?
3 – If you have answered yes to 1B, what is the process by which patients’ needs are recorded and subsequently acted on? eg via pop-up alerts within patient administration system, use of colour-coded stickers within paper records.
4 – In the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19., have you undertaken any audits to assess your compliance against the Accessible Information Standard or the provision of accessible information generally? If yes, please share any resulting reports/findings.
5 – In the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19., how many complaints has your trust received which primarily related to patients not receiving information in accessible formats? If it is not possible to provide these figures in full without incurring the Act’s Section 12 time/cost limit, please provide any figures you are able to within the limit eg figures for one year, any snapshot reports/audits.
6 – Please provide figures for your trust’s spending on interpreting and translation into non-English languages if possible, excluding British Sign Language BSL. interpreting and translation of materials into easy read. for the last three full financial years 2020/21, 2019/20 and 2018/19. together, if possible, with the number of requests for interpreting/translation that this represents.
If it is not possible to provide the details requested without incurring the Act’s Section 12 time/cost limit, please the information you are able to provide within the limit. I look forward to receiving your response. Please do not hesitate to contact me via chris.gorman@healthwatch.co.uk if you require any clarification. To avoid any potential confusion please note that this request has been submitted by Healthwatch England – a separate organisation to any local Healthwatch organisations which may operate in your area.
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Personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. and relevant data protection law. You can find information on the processing of personal data by us at www.healthwatch.co.uk/privacy. Statutory requests for information made under access to information legislation such as the GDPR and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 should be sent to