Responses

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please could you kindly complete the spreadsheet attached to provide information on the microbiology, virology and molecular tests carried out within the Pathology Laboratory at the Trust over the previous 2 calendar years (April 2023 – March 2025).

All questions relate to microbiology and virology molecular tests and traditional microbiology testing only, please do not include details for any other disciplines unless otherwise stated.

Please complete all questions where possible – if precise data is unavailable, please provide an estimate (stating that data is an estimate plus likely error margin expressed as a percentage).

If unable to complete all questions, please provide a partial response (just completing the data that you can).

1. Does the Trust have a chronic pelvic pain clinic? (yes,no)
2. If yes- which specialities are involved? i.e. GP, radiology, gynaecology, urogynaecology, pain management, physiotherapy, gastroenterology, psychology?
If no- what service/pathway is available for women with chronic pelvic pain?
3. What is the current referral time for patients to access this clinic and how many patients in total are waiting to access this service?
4. How many patients are currently under the care of this clinic?
5. How many appointments per year does this clinic utilise?

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

Confidential Waste Destruction Contract

The details I require are:
• Has confidential waste been procured via tender or framework, or another means, if other means, please confirm how you procured your confidential waste.
• If a framework, could you confirm the name of the framework please?
• Actual contract values of each framework/contract (& any sub lots)
• Start date & duration of contract
• Is there an extension clause in the framework(s)/contract(s) and, if so, the duration of the extension, along with the final possible contract end date?
• Has a decision been made yet on whether the framework(s)/contract(s) are being either extended or renewed?
• Who is the procurement officer responsible for this contract and could you provide their email address and phone number please?
• Do you have a generic email address for your procurement department, for example procurement@organisation.com, if so could you confirm this?
Who is the senior officer (outside of procurement) responsible for this contract and could you provide their email address and phone number please?
• Who is the current supplier?
• If your current supplier is a Facilities Management/Waste/Cleaning Company, which sub-contractor services your organisation? E.g., which company’s staff actually collect your confidential waste?

1. Do you know how many children in your area have a diagnosis of autism and have turned to your service for help? Out of those numbers how many have been discharged without any long-term treatment? (Long term as defined as individual treatment spanning more than 3 and up to 12 clinical and therapeutic sessions over several months).

2. How many children with autism currently receive ongoing and longer-term individual (by which I mean a combination of long-term medication and or therapy/counselling or both) within your service and how many of these have been funded by your service to receive treatment elsewhere?

Freedom of Information – Claudication Services

Services
Q1. Does your Trust currently provide a vascular service for the diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases, specifically including vascular surgery and interventional vascular radiology?
 Yes
 No

Q2. If vascular services are available, is your organisation designated as a specialist vascular care centre or a hub centre within the network of care providers? (please select all that apply)
Specialist services: providing diagnostics and expert advice in an outpatient setting and providing elective and 24/7 emergency vascular services.
Hub centre: providing diagnostics and expert advice in an outpatient setting.

 Specialist centre
 Hub
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Claudication clinics
Intermittent claudication: Intermittent claudication is the most common clinical symptom associated with peripheral arterial disease — walking (exercise) induced pain in the lower limbs caused by diminished circulation that is relieved by rest.
Q3. In your organisation, are there specific claudication clinics for patients with intermittent claudication?
 Yes
 No – If no please skip to question Q10

Q4. If yes, which healthcare professional usually sees patients in these clinics? Please select all that apply.
 Vascular surgeon/medical doctor
 Vascular nurse specialist
 Allied health professional
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Q5. In your organisation, what is the format of claudication clinics? Please select all that apply.
 Diagnostic testing
 Disease counselling and treatment planning
 Offer lifestyle management
 Offer exercise
 Other (Please specify) ………………………………………………………………..

Q6. How frequently are claudication specialist clinics held?
 Weekly
 Every 2–4 weeks
 Every 2–4 months
 Less frequently than all the above options
 Other (Please specify) ………………………………………………………………..

Q7. What is the standard interval for routine follow-up for patients diagnosed with intermittent claudication?
 Every 1 month,
 Every 3–6 months
 Every 12 months
 Determined by clinical need
 No formal follow-up
 Not Known
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Q9. In your organisation, what is the current waiting time for patients with intermittent claudication between referral and 1st appointment in the vascular specialist clinics?
Please specify …………………………………………………………………….

Exercise
Q10. Are patients with intermittent claudication who attend your Trust offered a supported exercise programme specifically designed for claudication? Please select all that apply.
 Yes
 No
 Verbal advice only

Q11. What is the format of the exercise programme for patients with claudication? Please select all that apply.
 Supervised classes in hospital or community setting
 Virtual Supervised classes at home
 App based directed exercise at home
 Home/Unsupervised
 Don’t Know

Q12. If a structured programme exists, where is this programme provided?
 Your hospital/ Trust, i.e within your organisation
 Another hospital/ Trust, i.e outside your organisation
 Referral to primary care setting outside your organisation
 Referral to a private setting outside your organisation
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Q13. Over what duration do these supervised exercise programmes typically last for patients diagnosed with claudication?
 4-8 weeks
 12–16 weeks
 More frequently than all the above options (Please specify) …………………..
 Less frequently than all the above options (Please specify) …………………..

Q14. How long are the classes (in minutes)?
 30-60 minutes
 60–90 minutes
 More frequently than all the above options (Please specify) …………………..
 Less frequently than all the above options (Please specify) …………………..

Q15. How often/frequently (times per week) do the classes meet?
 Once per week
 Every 2–4 weeks
 Every 2–4 months
 Less frequently than all the above options
 Other (Please specify) …………………..

Q16. Which healthcare professionals are involved in delivering the classes? Please select all that apply.
 Physiotherapist
 Nurse
 Exercise professional
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Smoking
Q17. In your organisation, where do you offer a smoking cessation service to patients with intermittent claudication?
 Your hospital/ Trust, i.e within your organisation
 Another hospital/ Trust, i.e outside your organisation
 Referral to primary care setting outside your organisation
 Referral to a private setting outside your organisation
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Dietetics
Q18. In your organisation, where do you offer a dietetics service to patients with intermittent claudication?
 Your hospital/ Trust, i.e within your organisation
 Another hospital/ Trust, i.e outside your organisation
 Referral to primary care setting outside your organisation
 Referral to a private setting outside your organisation
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Psychology
Q19. Does your organisation offer a psychology service specific for patients with intermittent claudication?
 Yes
 No – If no please skip to question Q21

Q20. Is there a screening pathway for patients with intermittent claudication to be referred to a psychologist?
 Yes
 No – If no please skip to question Q21

Referral
Q21 What are the available pathways or methods by which patients with intermittent claudication are referred to the vascular service in your organisation? Please select all that apply:
 Vascular staff screen lists of hospital ward patients
 A telephone/pager referral system
 A paper referral form (collected in person/faxed/posted)
 Secure email system
 Electronic computerised system (e.g. patient record system)
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Q22. Is there a standard proforma for referral to vascular?
 Yes
 No
 Other (Please specify) …………………………………………………………………….

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am writing to request the following information relating to systems used by your organisation:

1. The name of all document management systems (not patient records) currently in use by your trust.

2. The name of the policy management system (if any) currently in use by your trust.

3. The name of any board report portals / systems currently in use by your trust.

4. The cost of these systems, including any licensing or ongoing support fees.

5. Whether there are any open tenders or procurement processes related to document or policy management systems that your trust is currently involved in or plans to release in the near future.

Request 1.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could you answer the following questions:

1. Does your organisation use/perform Viscosupplementation injections?

2. If so, how much did your organisation spend on Viscosupplementation between the period of 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024?

3. If your organisation used Viscosupplementation between the period 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024, which brand(s) Viscosupplement did you use?

To make your research easier, I have listed all commonly used Viscosupplements that you can cross reference:

· Arthrum H
· Orthovisc
· Crespine Gel
· Durolane
· Euflexxa
· Fermathron
· Ostenil
· Ostenil Plus
· Ostenil Mini
· RenehaVis
· Suplasyn
· Synocrom
· Synocrom Mini
· Synolis
· Monovisc
· Synopsis
· Synvisc (Hylan GF-20)
· Synvisc One (Hylan GF-20)

4. How many units of each brand of Viscosupplement did you use? 

Request 2.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please can you answer the following questions:

1. How much did your organisation spend on Sodium Hyaluronate eye drop formulations between the period of 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024?

2. Between the period 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024, which brand(s) of Sodium Hyaluronate eye drop formulations did you use?

To make your research easier, I have listed all commonly used brands which you can cross reference:

• Blink Intensive Tears
• Lacrifresh
• Artelac Rebalance
• Oxyal
• Xailin HA
• Optive Fusion
• Hyabak
• Hydramed
• Evolve HA
• Vismed Multi
• Clinitas Multi
• Eye Logic
• Euphrasia
• Biotrue
• Vismed Gel Multi
• Hysoothe
• Optrex Night Restore Gel
• Hy-Opti
• Hylo-Tear
• Murine Professional
• Hylo-Forte
• Hycosan Fresh
• Hylo Care
• Hycosan

3. How many units of each brand did you use?

Under the Freedom of Information Act, please could you answer the following questions:

1. Does your organisation use Fibrin Sealants or Fibrin Glues?
2. If so, how much did your organisation spend on Fibrin products between the period of 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024?
3. If your organisation used any Fibrin products between the period 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024, which brand(s) did you use? To make your research easier, I have listed all commonly used Fibrin products that you can cross reference:
o Tisseel
o Artiss
o Evicel
o Vistaseal
o ReliSeal
o FloSeal
o Celstat
4. How many units of each brand did you use?

Please could I request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

For the last five years (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), could you please provide me with the following information:

1) How many patients did you treat who were from out of the area?

2) How many patients did you have to deny treatment and send to another mental health trust because of a lack of capacity or for any other reason?

3) How many beds did you have for your mental health patients?

4) How many patients did you place in accommodation outside of the hospital e.g. bed and breakfasts or hotels as you had run out of beds?

5) How many patients were ready to be discharged but were kept in hospital as they had no suitable accommodation or care package?

1. Please confirm whether your trust has ever utilised an Insourcing model to combat and reduce waiting list times?
2. If so, please can you confirm whether one has been utilised in the last 12 months, and for what specialty including any associated sub-specialty.
3. Please confirm the frameworks utilised for insourcing and if there were any direct awards made. If so, please confirm who they were made to and for what purpose.
4. In the period 1st October 2024 to 31st December 2024 please provide a breakdown of:
• Total trust spend with Insourcing contracts
Please provide a further breakdown for Insourcing contracts by:
• Spend per specialty
• Spend per agency name
5. Please confirm your allocated budget for Insourcing staffing for the period 1st October 2024 to 31st December 2024

I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act details on ransomware attacks on your organisation between 2019 and 2024.

For the avoidance of doubt, a ransomware attack is a type of cyberattack which prevents an organisation accessing their own files or computer networks after criminals manage to infect the system with malware. These type of attacks involve the criminals demanding payment for a key to restore access to the files.

In particular, I would like to know the number of ransomware attacks on your organisation between 2019 and 2024.
I would like to know the number of successful attacks on your system.
I would also like to know the cost of these attacks on your organisation, including the amount of ransom or payments made to restore access to your systems.
I would appreciate it if you could break down the figures for each year.
I would also appreciate it if you could supply the data on an excel spreadsheet or other type of .CSV file.

• What Finance ERP system do you use
• When does you contract end with your current Finance System ERP
• What is the yearly cost of your Finance ERP (SaaS)
• Is your finance system based on site or in the cloud.