Effective communications between hospital and GP.

Dear Sir or Madam,

This request relates to the communication process to be adopted by
the hospital back to a GP when it does not have the expertise or
contract in place to administer the treatment detailed on a GP
referral.

Is a communication back to the GP mandatory?

How would this communication normally be made?

What safeguards have Bedfordshire Hospital NHS Truat put in place
to ensure that this communication is effective?

Is a receipt confirmation from the GP received and recorded by the
hospital.

If the communication is not received and a patients health
deteriorates considerably because of this then what should be done
and whose responsibility is it to address the issue?

Yours faithfully

Justin Oakley

Dear Mr Dickinson,

This FOI request is currently overdue a response

By law, the response had to be prompt but no later than 15
September 2009.

Under the Freedom of Information Act I should have received a reply
by now.

Can you please call me on 07968 213833 to assure me that I will
receive a comprehensive response today.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Oakley

Mr Dickinson

You are right, there does seem to be a misunderstanding and I
apologise for this.

The Freedom of Information Act Awareness guidance 11 (Time for
compliance) states in section 1 as follows:

1. What is the time limit for responding to a request for
information?

A public authority must inform the applicant in writing whether it
holds the information requested and if so, communicate that
information to the applicant, promptly, but not later than 20
working days after receipt of the request; section 10(1).

This document, issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office
(ICO)can be viewed here:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

Section 10 states as follows:

10. What happens if a public authority does not respond within the
time limit?
Failure to respond within the time limit would be a breach of the
Act.

The Information Commissioner has a general duty under s47 of the
Act to promote good practice. Should he become aware of a
consistent failure to respond to requests within the time limit, he
may issue an Enforcement Notice.

It does indeed seem very confusing therefore I will speak to the
Information Commissioner’s Office today and inform you of their
response as soon as possible.

Justin Oakley