9th August 2021
BY EMAIL
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our Ref: FOI 1519 Dear Ms Eccleston,
I am writing to you in response to your Freedom of Information request received by
the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) on 13th July 2021 in which
you requested information relating to the Review of Deceased Patient Records.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in procuring this information.
Please find the information requested below:
1. Can you confirm the number of patients in the first cohort is 45?
Please refer to the following press statement which confirms that the records
of 45 deceased patients will be reviewed during Phase 2 of the Expert
Review:
RQIA-Press-Statement_DPR_News_20042021.pdf
2. Can you provide a copy of the terms of reference for the review?
Please refer to the RQIA website to access key documents, including terms of
reference and Phase 2 objectives:
Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority - RQIA
RQIA, 7th Floor
Tel
028 9536 1111
Victoria House
Email
xxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
15-27 Gloucester Street
Web
www.rqia.org.uk
Belfast BT1 4LS
Twitter
@RQIANews
Assurance, Challenge and Improvement in Health and Social Care
3. Can you clarify if you are investigating the deaths of these patients, or
just reviewing their medical records?
The RQIA have commissioned the Royal College of Physicians to establish
an Expert Review Panel of experienced consultants from outside of Northern
Ireland to review
the records of the deceased patients selected for Phase 2 of
the Review and also consider any information shared with RQIA by the
families of those patients.
4. What authority/powers do you have when investigating deaths?
The Health and Personal Social Services (Quality Improvement and
Regulation (NI) Order 2003 does not confer specific powers in relation to
investigating deaths.
However Article 35 of the 2003 Order relates to the function of carrying out
investigations into, and making reports on, the management, provision or
quality of the health and personal social services for which statutory bodies
have responsibility.
5. I was informed in May that you were working through a heavy amount of
paperwork to remove the staples before digitising the records. Has the
digitisation of paper records begun?
Yes. The digitisation of the deceased patients’ records selected for Phase 2 of
the Expert Review has progressed, with an anticipated completion date, for
GP and Trust records by the first week in August 2021.
6. Have you managed to obtain Dr Watt’s medical records from his home?
RQIA’s legal representatives have worked with Dr Watt’s legal team to obtain
the records of those patients selected for review during Phase 2 who were at
some point treated by Dr Watt in the independent sector.
7. Given the acknowledgment by the Trust of the errors surrounding their
medical records, and the 9000+ patient review of Radiographer Aiden
O'Brien’s work, why was the decision made to only look at the ECR
system? Whilst the ECR system is the main system, I have raised
concerns about the handling of this system to the DoH in 2019. Will you
now include all of the systems that were used to capture data?
This information is contained in Section 8 of the Legal Framework which
provides an overview of the deceased patient records identified for review by
the Expert Panel:
KM_C308-20201110112559 (rqia.org.uk)
Assurance, Challenge and Improvement in Health and Social Care
8. I have requested that the audit logs/trails are looked at to reduce errors
and ensure efficiency, can you advise if this is going to be undertaken?
This is outside the scope of Phase 2 Objectives for this Review (link below):
ace0859f-8344-4e2e-b5e7-1f64b42b1767.pdf (rqia.org.uk)
I hope that the information provided assists you. If you are dissatisfied in any way
with the handling of your request, you have the right to request a review. You should
do this as soon as possible or in any case within two months of the date of issue of
this letter.
In the event that you require a review to be undertaken, you can do so by writing to
The Business Services Organisation (BSO), who provide an Information Governance
service on our behalf:
Post: Information Governance Manager,
2 Franklin Street,
Belfast,
BT2 8DQ
Email: xxx.xxx@xxxxx.xxx
If, following an internal review, carried out by an independent decision making panel,
you remain dissatisfied in any way with the handling of the request, you may make a
complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office and ask that they investigate
whether the BSO has complied with the terms of the Freedom of Information Act
You can contact Information Commissioner at:
Website:
www.ico.org.uk
Phone:
0303 123 1113
Email:
xxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
Post:
Information Commissioner's Office
3rd Floor, 14 Cromac Place
Belfast
BT7 2JB
In most circumstances the Information Commissioner will not investigate a complaint
unless an internal review procedure has been carried out. However the
Commissioner has the option to investigate the matter at his discretion.
Yours Sincerely,
Emer Hopkins
Interim Director of Improvement
Assurance, Challenge and Improvement in Health and Social Care
