Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 327-2022
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
I am writing regarding funding provided by the government in 2019-20, distributed to your Trust via Health Education England HEE., to improve rest facilities for junior doctors in line with the BMA Fatigue and Facilities Charter.
I understand from HEE that your Trust was provided with of this funding.
Please detail how this money was spent on improving rest facilities for junior doctors.
Core psychiatry trainees undertook a project to make improvements to the Doctors Mess at Charlton Lane Hospital in Cheltenham and Wotton Lawn Hospital in Gloucester as well as Stonebow Unit in Hereford. All three are Inpatient Units and where there are larger numbers of junior doctors than our community settings. The rooms were repainted and the floors were recovered. A number of items were purchased for each site which included new sofas, sofa beds and bedding, tables, chairs, storage, lockers, crockery, cutlery, kettles, microwaves, TV’s, fans and an oil filled radiator.
Please provide me with any documentation that the Trust holds e.g. board papers, business plans, emails. that documents the allocation of this funding and the justification for its use.
The Trust was allocated HEE funding from two geographical areas: –
Health Education England South West – to be used in Trust premises in Gloucestershire Health Education England West Midlands – to be used in Trust premises in Herefordshire Please provide me with any documentation that the trust holds e.g. board papers, business plans, emails. that documents how the Director of Medical Education and Junior Doctors’ Forum in your Trust determined, signed off and monitored the allocation of this funding.
It was discussed at the Trusts Gloucestershire Junior Doctors Forum. Please see the below relevant section from the minutes of the Junior Doctors Forum held on Friday 12th July 2019. Agenda Item: – Fatigue and Facilities Charter The Medical Director explained the facilities charter and how the money aspect works. The core trainee undertaking the project made a survey in terms of feedback and requests from all trainees. The room was unsure if results had been looked at and believed these were now being put together. The Trusts Medical Education Manager and Guardian of Safe Working gave feedback from the Hereford trainees that were discussed in the Hereford Junior Doctors Forum on Wednesday this week. Herefordshire trainees requested that they got the correct amount of money in line with the money being split accurately based on the amount of trainees. The Medical Education Manager explained how the money needed to be spent before April next year. Actions: –
· The core trainee undertaking the project to circulate feedback from survey. · Medical Education Manager to look at split of money between Hereford and Gloucester and to ask our Trust Accountant if the money definitely needed to be spent during this year.
If your answers to questions 1-3 above do not account for the full amount of the funding in question, with which your Trust was provided, please detail what happened to the remainder.
It was planned that the full entitlement was used by the end of the financial year 31st March 2020.. Unfortunately, this was when the NHS was putting plans in place rapidly to manage the expected increase of Covid patients onto the wards at Charlton Lane, Wotton Lawn and the Stonebow Unit. These plans included making structural changes to the wards. This understandably became the priority for the administrators who had been ordering the items and arranging payment of goods and for building work that had taken place. We were prepared for the remainder of the funds to be requested to be returned which we would have arranged but no request was made.
FOI Request
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act the Act.. The request comprises four questions, numbered 1 to 4 below.
I am writing regarding funding provided by the government in 2019-20, distributed to your Trust via Health Education England HEE., to improve rest facilities for junior doctors in line with the BMA Fatigue and Facilities Charter.
I understand from HEE that your Trust was provided with of this funding.
1.
2.
3. Please detail how this money was spent on improving rest facilities for junior doctors.
4.
2.
3.
4. Please provide me with any documentation that the Trust holds e.g. board papers, business plans,
5. emails. that documents the allocation of this funding and the justification for its use.
6.
3.
4.
5. Please provide me with any documentation that the trust holds e.g. board papers, business plans,
6. emails. that documents how the Director of Medical Education and Junior Doctors’ Forum in your Trust determined, signed off and monitored the allocation of this funding.
7.
4.
5.
6. If your answers to questions 1-3 above do not account for the full amount of the funding in question,
7. with which your Trust was provided, please detail what happened to the remainder.
8.
If you believe that this request will exceed the cost limits of the Act, then I would be willing to receive the answer to the questions prioritised by order, ie to only questions 1, 2 and 3; or sequentially to only questions 1 and 2; or sequentially to only question 1.