Asbestos in hospitals
Dear Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust,
This is a Freedom of Information request for the following information. Please provide me with;
1. A list of the hospitals and related buildings in your trust that contain asbestos in surveys carried out over the last ten years. Please include the following:
A. Building name
B. Address
C. Type and degree of asbestos present
D. Whether it poses a health risk to staff and/or patients.
2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit, survey or inspection of each of these hospitals and their related buildings in relation to asbestos.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these hospitals between 2011 to 2016.
4. The number of hospital employees or patients that have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within your trust’s hospital buildings.
5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
I would like to receive a copy of this information electronically.
Please send me an email to confirm receipt of this request.
Yours faithfully,
Catrin Hughes
Dear Catrin,
Thank you for your request for information.
The Trust acknowledges your request and it is being processed as a new
request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you if necessary and you
will be required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your
request.
Please find attached a briefing which explains:
o your rights to request a review by the Trust or to complain to the
Information Commissioner’s Office if you are not satisfied with the
response from the Trust,
o an outline of the Trust’s policy on the Reuse of Public Sector
Information
If you have any queries regarding this email, please contact me and quote
the reference number above in any future correspondence.
Kind regards,
Sophie Cole [2][IMG]
Assurance Team Administrator and Freedom of Information Officer
Suite 2, Stretton House |The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS
Trust | Royal Shrewsbury Hospital | Mytton Oak Road | Shrewsbury
| Shropshire | SY3 8XQ
Telephone 01743 261087
Email [1][email address]
This message may contain confidential information. If you are not the
intended recipient please inform the sender that you have received the
message in error before deleting it. Please do not disclose, copy or
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Dear Cole Sophie,
I am writing to let you know that it has been 20 days since my FOI request on Asbestos in hospitals was sent. Please, can you send a response asap?
Yours sincerely,
Catrin Hughes
Dear Catrin,
Please accept my apologies for this response being late. I am working to get you this information as soon as possible.
Kind regards,
Sophie
Dear Catrin,
Thank you for your FOI request sent on 24^th Feb 2017. You asked:
This is a Freedom of Information request for the following information.
Please provide me with;
1. A list of the hospitals and related buildings in your trust that
contain asbestos in surveys carried out over the last ten years. Please
include the following:
A. Building name
B. Address
C. Type and degree of asbestos present
D. Whether it poses a health risk to staff and/or patients.
2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit, survey or
inspection of each of these hospitals and their related buildings in
relation to asbestos.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these
hospitals between 2011 to 2016.
4. The number of hospital employees or patients that have pursued a claim
against you for exposure to asbestos within your trust’s hospital
buildings.
5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims
(with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
Under Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I can
confirm that The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust holds
information that falls within the definition in your request which is set
out below:
1) A list of the hospitals and related buildings in your trust that
contain asbestos in surveys carried out over the last ten years. Please
include the following:
A. Building name
B. Address
C. Type and degree of asbestos present
D. Whether it poses a health risk to staff and/or patients.
Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) (ACM's contained within buildings by block
number)
Block 23, Asbestos Insulation Board, Thermoplastic Floor Tiles, CAF
Gaskets
Block 24, Asbestos Cement Panels, Sink Pads, CAF Gaskets, Woven Flash
Guards
Block 27, Asbestos Insulation Board, Floor Tiles,
Block 28, Asbestos Insulation Board, Rope Seal, Sink Pads, CAF Gaskets
Block 29, Sink Pads, Mastic, Woven Flash Pads
Block 30, Sink Pads
Block 31, Flash Pads
Block 33, Asbestos Insulation Board, Mastic, Sink Pads
Block 34, Asbestos Insulation Board, Sink Pads, Woven Flash Pads
Block 35, Sink Pads, Thermoplastic Floor Tiles, Woven Flash Pads
Block 36, Sink Pads
Block 38, CAF Gaskets, Sink Pads
Block 39, Asbestos Insulation Board, Woven Flash Pads
Block 40, Woven Flash Pads, CAF Gaskets
Block 41, Asbestos Insulation Board, Sink Pads
Block 42, Asbestos Insulation Board,
Block 43, Asbestos Insulation Board, Rope Glazing Beading, Thermoplastic
Floor Tiles
Block 45, Rope Seal, Asbestos Cement Panel
Block 46, Textured Coating
Block 47, Woven Flash Pads
All ACM's are managed and pose no risk to Staff or Patients and Visitors
if the Material is left undisturbed
All other Blocks were found to have no ACM's present as per Asbestos
Management Surveys
Princess Royal Hospital (PRH), Telford (ACM's contained within buildings
by block)
Block NA, CAF Gaskets
Block NB, CAF Gaskets
Block NC, CAF Gaskets
Block ND, CAF Gaskets
Block NE, CAF Gaskets
Block NF, CAF Gaskets
Block SJ, CAF Gaskets
Block SH, CAF Gaskets
Block SG, CAF Gaskets
Block SF, CAF Gaskets
Block SE, CAF Gaskets
Block SD, CAF Gaskets
Block SC, CAF Gaskets
(All CAF Gaskets are to Pipework Flanges in Ceiling Voids/Plant Rooms)
Apsley Clinic, Thermoplastic Floor Tile
Bus Shelters, Asbestos Cement Undercloaking
All ACM's are managed and pose no risk to Staff, Patients and Visitors if
the Material is left undisturbed
All other Blocks were found to have no ACM's present as per Asbestos
Management Surveys
2) The date and outcome of the last independent audit, survey or
inspection of each of these hospitals and their related buildings in
relation to asbestos.
RE-Inspections of all ACM's across both sites, RSH & PRH were recently
undertaken in November, December and January as per the annual
re-inspection program, all materials were found to be in a satisfactory
condition, with the exception of a few materials at RSH in Ceiling Voids,
a program of minor remedial work is being undertaken out to encapsulated
them.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these
hospitals between 2011 to 2016.
To answer this question we have interpreted “incidents of asbestos
exposure” in accordance with the HSE’s definition of a “Dangerous
Occurrence” under meaning of RIDDOR, as follows:
Exposure to asbestos is reportable under RIDDOR when a work activity
causes the accidental release or escape of asbestos fibres into the air in
a quantity sufficient to cause damage to the health of any person. Such
situations are likely to arise when work is carried out without suitable
controls, or where those controls fail – they often involve:
• use of power tools (to drill, cut etc) on most ACMs
• work that leads to physical disturbance (knocking, breaking,
smashing) of an ACM that should only be handled by a licensed contractor
eg sprayed coating, lagging, asbestos insulating board (AIB)
• manually cutting or drilling AIB
• work involving aggressive physical disturbance of asbestos
cement eg breaking or smashing
If these activities are carried out without suitable controls, or the
precautions fail to control exposure, these would be classed as a
'dangerous occurrence' under RIDDOR and should be reported[22]. (Source:
[1]http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/faq.htm, accessed 13 Feb 17.)
Using that definition, the answer is 2 incidents between 2011 and 2016.”
4. The number of hospital employees or patients that have pursued a claim
against you for exposure to asbestos within your trust’s hospital
buildings. NIL
5. The number of these claims that have been settled. N/A
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims
(with and without your authority accepting responsibility). N/A
Please also find attached a briefing which explains your rights to request
a review by the Trust or to complain to the Information Commissioner’s
Office if you are not satisfied with the response from the Trust, and an
outline of the Trust’s policy on the Reuse of Public Sector Information.
If you have any queries regarding this email, please contact the Freedom
of Information Officer via [2][email address] and quote the reference
number above in any future correspondence. If you would like to give
feedback please visit [3]https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/sathFOI for our
short questionnaire.
Kind regards,
Sophie Cole [5][IMG]
Assurance Team Administrator and Freedom of Information Officer
Suite 2, Stretton House |The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS
Trust | Royal Shrewsbury Hospital | Mytton Oak Road | Shrewsbury
| Shropshire | SY3 8XQ
Telephone 01743 261087
Email [4][email address]
This message may contain confidential information. If you are not the
intended recipient please inform the sender that you have received the
message in error before deleting it. Please do not disclose, copy or
distribute information in this e-mail or take any action in relation to
its contents: to do so is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
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