Discharge of patients during the hours of midnight to 6am.

Dear Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust,

This request under The Freedom of Information Act relates to the discharge of patients in the period from 1 April 2010 to 31 January 2015.

In the period in question, how many patients were discharged in the night time hours from midnight to 06.00?

How many of these patients were children, older people (aged 60 or more) or in any vulnerable category such as living alone etc?

Where patients were discharged during these hours, what transport was provided for them to get home?

Yours faithfully,

John Golding

Dear John Golding,

 

We are writing to acknowledge your request for information under the
Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.  Your request was received in our office
on: 12/03/2015

We are considering your request and will reply more fully in due course. 
Under the Freedom of Information Act, we have 20 working days in which to
respond.

Some information, however, might be withheld due to exemptions which are
allowed for by the Act.  If this is the case, we will tell you that we
have withheld information and why.

If we can be of any further assistance to you in the meantime, please do
not hesitate to contact the Trust at: [1][BSUH request email].  Please quote
your reference number in any communication with us.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Office

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

 

                                                                                                                                                                                            

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[BSUH request email]

Dear John Golding,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information under the Freedom of
Information (FOI) Act 2000.

 

We are now in a position to respond to your request.

 

Your request:

 

This request under The Freedom of Information Act relates to the discharge
of patients in the period from 1 April 2010 to 31 January 2015.

 

1.     In the period in question, how many patients were discharged in the
night time hours from midnight to 06.00?

 

2.     How many of these patients were children, older people (aged 60 or
more)  or in any vulnerable category such as living alone etc?

 

3.     Where patients were discharged during these hours, what transport
was provided for them to get home? 

 

Our response:

 

The Trust can confirm that it holds information relevant to your request,
but we are unable to release this information at this time. 

 

In the context of your request, the data currently held by the Trust
regarding ‘time of discharge’ is not accurate because, for many patients,
it shows the time the information was recorded by our staff rather than
the time the patient was discharged.  Nurses often input this data when
the wards are quieter, invariably this is late into the evening and night,
and as a result ‘late discharges’ are indicated on our system even for
patients who were discharged earlier in the day.  To improve the accuracy
of this data, the Trust is currently looking into the processes by which
this data is recorded.  

 

Moreover, specific details about the relevant patients such as whether or
not they were ‘living alone’ or the nature of the ‘transport provided for
them to get home’, is not held centrally by the Trust and would require an
extensive audit of available records including patient notes to source and
compile this information.  Such an endeavour would take considerable staff
time and therefore, section 12 exemption under the Act is engaged
regarding your request.

 

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has studied the work
involved in processing your request for information and has estimated that
the cost of complying with this would exceed the appropriate limit as set
out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit
and Fees) Regulations 2004. The limit set down by the regulations for
public authorities is £450, which amounts to a maximum of 18 hours of
search and retrieval time charged at £25.00 per hour, the hourly rate also
specified in the regulations.

 

BSUH NHS Trust considers that it would take in excess of 18 hours to
retrieve and extract the information in the format that you have
requested. Subsequently, it would cost the Trust more than £450, the limit
specified in the regulations. Under section 12 of the Freedom of
Information Act, BSUH NHS Trust is therefore not obliged to provide the
information that you have requested.

 

If you are able to refine the request that you have made, then it may be
that this would fall below the £450 limit as laid out under the
regulations. 

 

We regret that we are unable to be more helpful on this occasion.

 

If you require clarification or if we can be of any further assistance to
you, please do not hesitate to contact us at: [1][BSUH request email]

 

Pease note that any information provided by this Trust is for your
personal use and not for resale or use for profit in any way under the
Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your enquiry, you have the
right to appeal. The address of our FOI Review Department is:

 

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Freedom of Information Office

Headquarters, First Floor

St Mary’s Hall, Eastern Road

Brighton BN2 5JJ

 

If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal, you can
write to:

 

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545700

 

We hope that you find the information provided helpful.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Freedom of Information Office

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[BSUH request email]