Decision issued under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Our Reference: CQC IAT 2014 0153
Date of Response: 12 March 2014
Information Requested:
“Request re FGM policies and procedures at
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Bristol Royal Hospital For Children
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Bristol Royal Infirmary
•
South Bristol Community Hospital
•
Bristol Sexual Health Centre
•
Frenchay Hospital, Bristol
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St.Michaels Hospital, Bristol
1. How many women since 2009 has the hospital treated who have been
victims of Female Genital Mutilation?
2. What is the hospitals policy when dealing or coming into contact with
Female Genital Mutilation?
3. What training is given to the hospitals staff on Female Genital
Mutilation?
4. How many times since 2009 have police or welfare officials been called
by the hospital as a result of Female Genital Mutilation?
5. What is the hospitals policy on reporting Female Genital Mutilation to the
police/ welfare officials?
6. How many babies have been born to mothers who have suffered Female
Genital Mutilation since 2009?”
The Information Access team has now coordinated a response to your request
and we are able to confirm that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is unlikely to
hold recorded information in relation to this matter.
This is because our current remit does not include gathering data specifically
relating to FGM. It is possible that cases of FGM may have been reported to
CQC as ‘statutory notifications’ if harm had been caused by the hospital itself, but
not in order to collate general figures on instances of FGM. On balance we are
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highly unlikely to hold any such notifications and in addition to this, should we
hold any such notifications they are unlikely to be relevant to your purpose for the
reason stated above.
In addition to this, the time it would take to locate, retrieve and extract any such
data for the six services noted, over a period of 5 years, would be extremely
likely to exceed the cost limit set out by s12 of the FOIA and therefore be
exempt. This is because we would have to perform manual searches of all of the
notifications in order to extract any possible FGM data.
Current procedures relating to FGM
Www.gov.uk states that it is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts to
ensure that their staff follow correct safeguarding procedures. NHS staff have a
legal obligation to safeguard children, so whenever they identify a child who may
be at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) or who has already been subjected
to FGM, they must always respond by involving the appropriate authorities as set
out in the “Female Genital Mutilation Multi-Agency Practice Guidelines” (2011).
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/female-genital-mutilation-multi-
agency-practice-guidelines
This guidance outlines that it is currently the responsibility of social care or the
police to investigate, safeguard and protect any girls or women involved in FGM.
Initially, a professional identifying a potential case of FGM will refer the potential
victim as a child in need and social services will assess the risk.
New approach to FGM
Following recent campaigns the government are changing the approach to the
issue of FGM.
As report
ed on www.gov.uk from April this year NHS hospitals will be required to
record:
1 If a patient has had FGM
2 If there is a family history of FGM
3 If an FGM-related procedure has been carried out on a women -
(deinfibulation)
By September this year, all acute hospitals must report this data centrally to the
Department of Health on a monthly basis.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-measures-to-end-fgm
Advice and Assistance
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We would recommend that for information regarding Policies, procedures and
training you approach the Trust directly.
Safeguarding alert information should be requested from either the trust or Bristol
City Council safeguarding leads for children and/or adults.
Information regarding police involvement should be requested from the trust or
the police as this would not be reported to us. This may have been reported to
Bristol City Council as a safeguarding alert where necessary.
CQC Complaints and Internal Review procedure
We are sorry that we are unable to assist you further with your request. If you
are not satisfied with our handling of your request, then you may request an
internal review.
Please clearly indicate that you wish for a review to be conducted and state the
reason(s) for requesting the review.
Please be aware that the review process will focus upon our handling of your
request and whether CQC have complied with the requirements of the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. The internal review process should not be used to raise
concerns about the provision of care or the internal processes of other CQC
functions.
If you are unhappy with other aspects of the CQC's actions, or of the actions of
registered providers, please see our website for information on how to raise a
concern or complaint:
www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us
To request a review please contact:
Legal Services & Information Rights
Care Quality Commission
Citygate
Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4PA
E-mail:
xxxxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Further rights of appeal exist to the Information Commissioner’s Office under
section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 once the internal appeals
process has been exhausted.
The contact details are:
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Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Telephone Helpline: 01625 545 745
Website:
www.ico.org.uk
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