We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Kurt Kudra please sign in and let everyone know.

Histopathology reporting suppliers and conflicts of interest

We're waiting for Kurt Kudra to read recent responses and update the status.

Dear University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust,

1. How many histopathology consultants had a substantive contract with the authority as at 28th February 2022.

2. During the period 1st April 2021 to 28th February 2022, how much did the authority spend, in addition to the salaries of substantive consultants, on the reporting of histopathology cases, within the following categories of spend:
a) Payments for locum histopathologists
b) Additional payments to substantive histopathologists employed by the authority for work in addition to their contracted programmed activities (PAs)
c) Payments to companies who provide a histopathology reporting service

3. During the period 1st April 2021 to 28th February 2022, how much did the authority spend with each of the following suppliers for the reporting of histopathology cases:
a) Unilabs
b) Source Bioscience
c) Backlogs (HCA Laboratories)
d) LD Path
e) Cellular Pathology Services
f) Digital Pathology Partners
g) Pathognomics
h) Synlab
i) The Doctors Laboratory

4. How do the authority manage the potential conflict of interest which arises when substantive histopathology consultants employed by the authority are involved in purchasing reporting services from the above mentioned suppliers, and are also paid by these suppliers to provide reporting services outside their contracted NHS hours. For example, company X suggests to consultant Y, employed by Trust Z, that if consultant Y gives company X a contract to provide reporting services to Trust Z, that company X may employ consultant Y to undertake reporting work through company X for Trusts A, B, C. Please indicate which of the following apply:
a) The Authority doesn’t recognise this as a risk.
b) The authority recognises this as a risk, but doesn’t take steps to manage this risk.
c) The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest.
d) The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest, and requires these consultants to disclose the source of all income in addition to their NHS salary.
e) The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest.
f) The authority recognises this as a risk, and takes other steps to manage this risk – please explain.

Yours faithfully,

Kurt Kudra

FOI - Freedom of Information, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Corporate and Legal Affairs – Corporate and Committee Services

 

Our Reference: AM/FOI/45323

 

5 April 2022

 

Mr Kurt Kudra

[FOI #850695 email]#

 

Dear Mr Kudra

 

Request for Information

 

Thank you for your request for information, as received by University
Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust on 1 April  2022.

 

Within UHL NHS Trust, Freedom of Information Act requests are managed
centrally by the Corporate and Committee Services Team. 

 

The Trust will endeavour to provide a response within the required 20
working-day deadline from receipt.  I will, of course, keep you informed
should this not prove possible for any reason.  If we require any
clarification on your request, we will contact you as soon as possible. 

 

All requesters are advised that the Trust may make a charge for providing
the information to them, to cover the cost of photocopying, postage and
packaging etc – I confirm that where these costs are below £5.00 in total,
no charge will be made.  All requesters are also advised that there may
also be a charge payable to cover costs of locating the information they
have requested, as laid down in the Freedom of Information Act Regulations
published by the Government in December 2004.  Naturally, if such a charge
is to be applied to your request, you will be informed as soon as
possible.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Alison Moss

Corporate and Committee Services Officer

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

 

show quoted sections

FOI - Freedom of Information, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Dear Mr Kurda

 

I write further to your FOI request which was received on 1 April 2022. 
Unfortunately, it has not been possible for the Trust to respond to your
Freedom of Information request within the 20 working day timescale. 
Please be assured that work continues in providing a response to your
request and I will send this onto you as soon as I am in receipt of this
information.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

Yours sincerely

Alison Moss

 

 

show quoted sections

FOI - Freedom of Information, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Corporate and Legal Affairs – Corporate and Committee Services 

 

Our Reference: AM/FOI/45323 

 

12 May 2022 

 

Mr Kurt Kudra  

[FOI #850695 email] 

 

Dear Mr Kudra  

 

Request for Information 

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, which was
received by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust on 1 April 2022
and acknowledged on 5 April 2022.  I am sorry that were not able to
provide you with a response within 20 working days. For information, the
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust is one of the largest and
busiest NHS teaching Trusts in the country.  We have nearly 17,000 staff
working across our three hospitals, the Leicester Royal Infirmary,
Glenfield Hospital and Leicester General Hospital, serving the 1.2 million
residents of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and a further two to
three million people from the rest of the UK who come to us for specialist
treatment.  Excluding Alliance activity, during 2019/20 we treated
1,483,800 patients – that’s 4,054 patients each day. 

 

Following consultation with colleagues from the Clinical Management Group
for CSI (Clinical Support and Imaging), I confirm that the University
Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust holds information covered by your FOI
request.   In your Freedom of Information Act request, you asked for the
following information and the Trust’s response is provided following each
section of your request below:-   

 1.   How many histopathology consultants had a substantive contract with
the authority as at 28th February 2022.  
20 consultants had a substantive contract. 
2.        During the period 1st April 2021 to 28th February 2022, how
much did the authority spend, in addition to the salaries of
substantive consultants, on the reporting of histopathology cases,
within the following categories of spend: 
  a)   Payments for locum histopathologists £69,216 was paid for locum
histopathologists 
  b)  Additional payments to substantive histopathologists employed by
the authority for work in  addition to their contracted programmed
activities (PAs)  
£13,857 was paid to substantive consultants for additional sessions
during the period. 
c)   Payments to companies who provide a histopathology reporting
service    £101,330.32* was paid for the reporting completed by
private companies. 
*Estimates based on departmental records. It is difficult to give an
exact value for spend in the period as the invoices and work being
sent crosses the boundaries of the period requested.  
 
3.        During the period 1st April 2021 to 28th February 2022, how
much did the authority spend with each of the following suppliers for
the reporting of histopathology cases: 
a)           Unilabs – N/A 
b)           Source Bioscience - £92,860.32* 
c)           Backlogs (HCA Laboratories) - £8,470.00* 
d)           LD Path – N/A 
e)           Cellular Pathology Services – N/A 
f)            Digital Pathology Partners – N/A 
g)           Pathognomics – N/A 
h)           Synlab – N/A 
i)             The Doctors Laboratory – N/A 
*Estimates based on departmental records. It is difficult to give an
exact value for spend in the period as the invoices and work being
sent crosses the boundaries of the period requested.  

4.        How do the authority manage the potential conflict of
interest which arises when substantive histopathology consultants
employed by the authority are involved in purchasing reporting
services from the above mentioned suppliers, and are also paid by
these suppliers to provide reporting services outside their contracted
NHS hours.  For example, company X suggests to consultant Y, employed
by Trust Z, that if consultant Y gives company X a contract to provide
reporting services to Trust Z, that company X may employ consultant Y
to undertake reporting work through company X for Trusts A, B, C. 
Please indicate which of the following apply: 

 

a)            The Authority doesn’t recognise this as a risk. 

b)            The authority recognises this as a risk, but doesn’t take
steps to manage this risk. 

c)            The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all
substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest. 

d)            The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all
substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest, and requires
these consultants to disclose the source of all income in addition to
their NHS salary. 

e)            The authority recognises this as a risk and requires all
substantive consultants to declare any conflicts of interest.  

All consultants are required to declare conflicts of interest to the
Trust. 

f)            The authority recognises this as a risk, and takes other
steps to manage this risk – please explain. Before any reporting activity
is sent to external providers, the requirement to do so must be agreed
with the medical Head of Service and General Manager for the service. The
outsourcing of work is reviewed via the departmental Clinical Management
Team meeting.    

 

I hope that this response is helpful and provides you with the information
requested (where available). Again, I apologise for the delay in
responding. If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate
to contact me.  If you are dissatisfied with the Trust’s response, you can
contact the Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs
([1][email address]) to request a copy of UHL’s Freedom of
Information Act complaints procedure. 

 

We must advise you that where we have provided information we have done so
subject to the provisions of the Re-use of Public Sector Information
Regulations 2015.  Accordingly you must not re-use this information
without having the consent of the Trust.  Where the Trust is prepared to
provide its consent then it may levy a charge for doing so. Should you
wish to re-use documents provided then you must make your request in
writing stating your name and your address for correspondence together
with the document that you wish to re-use and the purpose for which the
information is to be re-used. 

 

In the event that you remain dissatisfied with the way in which the Trust
has handled any complaint that you may wish to make, we would advise you
of your right to complain to the Information Commissioner at the
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: 0303 123 1113, website: [2]www.ico.org.uk   

 

Yours sincerely, 

 

 

Alison Moss  

Corporate and Committee Services Officer 

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust  

 

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

From: FOI - Freedom of Information
Sent: Thursday, May 5, 2022 12:33 PM
To: 'Kurt Kudra' <[FOI #850695 email]>
Subject: Delayed response to FOI Request – Our Reference AM/FOI/45323
 

Dear Mr Kurda

 

I write further to your FOI request which was received on 1 April 2022. 
Unfortunately, it has not been possible for the Trust to respond to your
Freedom of Information request within the 20 working day timescale. 
Please be assured that work continues in providing a response to your
request and I will send this onto you as soon as I am in receipt of this
information.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

Yours sincerely

Alison Moss

 

 

show quoted sections

We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Kurt Kudra please sign in and let everyone know.