Online chlamydia screening programme

The request was partially successful.

Dear Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust,

Who is the provider of your online chlamydia screening programme

What year was the contract awarded to the online chlamydia screening programme provider

Was the contract awarded as part of an open tender procurement process

Was the contract awarded as a single tender waiver

How much did you spend on your chlamydia screening contract with your online provider in the last three years

Dates
Total Spend
01/01/2017 – 31/12/2017

01/01/2016 – 31/12/2016

01/01/2015 – 31/12/2015

Please confirm the CQC registration status of your online provider of chlamydia screening services

What safeguarding assessment is undertaken on your online chlamydia screening service for under 18’s

How are safeguarding concerns highlighted by service users during ordering for their chlamydia screening test kit communicated by your online service to your local safeguarding lead?

How many safeguarding concerns highlighted by your online chlamydia screening service have been referred to you local safeguarding lead between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2017.

Where are service users who test positive for chlamydia on the online service referred for treatment.

What are the treatment outcomes of the chlamydia positive users of the online service provider. Ie: Between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2017 – how many service users tested positive on your online chlamydia screening service and how many of them are confirmed as having been treated by clinic or GP??

Yours faithfully,

jonathan browne

LCH, Foi (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

Dear Sir/Madam

Re- Your Request for Information (Ref. 182 FOI LCH 1819)

Thank you for your e-mail. We acknowledge receipt of your request for information which has been allocated the above reference number.

Format for response: Electronic

Your request will be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and procedures to ascertain whether or not Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds the information have now commenced. A response will be sent to you within 20 working days.

Please be assured Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will do everything it can to help you obtain the information you require within the stated timescale, however, there may be circumstances where we are unable to meet some, or all, of the requirements of your request, details of which are given in the below advice sheet.

If you require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours faithfully

Freedom of Information
Information Governance
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Stockdale House
Victoria Road
LS6 1PF
Email: [Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk
This email is confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify the sender accordingly. Unauthorised copying and/or use of this email if you are not the intended recipient will result in legal action being taken.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – GRA1 ADVICE NOTE

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s Response

LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST’s response to your FOI request will normally:
· State whether the LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST holds the information requested, and
· if it does, provide that information.
However, the Act recognises that there may be circumstances where Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will be unable to meet some, or all, of the requirements of your request, details of which are listed below.

Format of Response
If you express a preference for the information to be provided in one of the three formats specified in the Act (see below) Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will comply with that request, if it is reasonable to do so.
The three formats specified in the Act are:
· a copy of the information;
· a reasonable opportunity to inspect a record containing the information, or
· a digest or summary of the information.
If you request a different format, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will make every effort to meet your requirements.
Costs may be taken into account in considering whether it will be reasonable to comply with your requirements. If it is not considered reasonable, you will be contacted to discuss alternatives.

Requirement for Further Information
The 20 day time limit is not activated until sufficient information has been provided to enable Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to identify and locate the information requested.
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will contact you on receipt of your request to ascertain your exact requirements. If this information does not adequately describe the information requested, you will be contacted again.
If it has not proved possible to fully describe the information requested, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will endeavour to provide the information it has identified. Details of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s complaints procedure will also be provided.

Transfer of Request
If your request relates to information which is not held by Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, but may be held by another public authority, you will be advised of this together with contact details where possible.
You may request Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust oversee the transfer of your request. If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds only part of the information requested, it will process that part of the request and provide you with the contact details of the
organisation that may be able to assist you further, where possible.

Restrictions
The Freedom of Information Act lists 23 ‘exemptions’ (i.e. circumstances in which Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust does not have to provide the information requested), details of which are attached at Appendix 1.
The ‘Qualified Exemptions’ require a ‘public interest test’ to be carried out, which balances the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in making it available. With the exception of section 21 (Information available by other means), the exemptions apply not only to the communication of information but also the duty to confirm or deny whether Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust holds the information – if that in itself would disclose information that it is reasonable to withhold.
If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust considers that some of the information you require is ‘exempt’, you will be provided with the information which can be made available and an explanation as to why some of the information was withheld.
If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust cannot provide any information we will explain why your request cannot be dealt with.

Public Interest Test

If it proves likely that consideration of the Public Interest Test will take longer than the 20 days allowed for responding to requests, you will, within that 20 day period, be given an estimate of when you are likely to receive a response.

If that estimate proves to be unrealistic, you will be kept informed.

Fees
The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 (Fees Regulations) dictate what charges can be made for providing information.
The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to charge £25 per hour for the following activities:
· determining whether the information is held;
· locating the information;
· retrieving the information, and
· extracting the information (including editing and/or redacting ).
Costs of up to £450
If the above activities are estimated to cost up to £450, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust can charge only for Disbursements (see below).
Costs over £450
If the above activities are estimated to cost more than £450, the request can be refused. However, in such circumstances, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will contact you to discuss possible ways of reducing the cost to £450 or below.
If it is not possible to reduce costs we will let you know as soon as possible.

Please note: Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has decided to not provide information costing more than £450, even if the applicant is willing to pay the full costs.
Disbursements
The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to make a charge for the following Disbursements:
· Complying with a request for the information to be provided in a particular format;
· Reproducing any document, and/or
· Postage and other forms of transmission (e.g. fax).
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to calculate these costs at an early stage.
If the actual cost of answering the request turns out to be more than the fee charged, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust will bear the costs. If the cost is less than the fee charged, the excess money will be refunded.
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust currently do not charge wherever possible for reasonable, i.e. not excessive, requests for information.

VAT

VAT will be charged only where the information requested is also available from another source that is not a public authority. If applicable, details will be provided in the Fees Notice.

Fees Notice
If a charge is payable, you will be issued with a Fees Notice (sent via Recorded Signed for Delivery) and have 3 months to pay. The 20 days for responding to the request will be put ‘on hold’ until the fee is paid. If the fee is not paid within that period, it will be assumed that you no longer require the information and the request will be cancelled.
If you are unwilling, or unable, to pay the fee notified, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust should be informed at the earliest opportunity. You will then be contacted to explore alternative ways forward.

Please note: If payment is received by cheque, the clearance date will be counted as the date on which payment is received.

Consultative or Campaign Requests

The Fees Regulations allow Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to apply the total cost of complying with requests where:

· One person makes two or more requests that relate to the same or similar information within any 60 consecutive working day period, and
· Different persons appear to be acting in concert or in a pursuance of a campaign by submitting requests for the same or similar information within any 60 consecutive working day period.

Vexatious or repeated requests

If Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust has reason to believe that a request is vexatious or repeated, as defined by section 14 of the Act, it will serve a Refusal Notice to that effect.

Where a Refusal Notice has already been sent to an applicant regarding the same subject, a further notice will not be issued.

Complaints Procedure

If you have any concerns about the way your request has been handled; the operation of the Trust’s Publication Scheme; the response received, or an ‘exemption’ decision, you should, in the first instance
contact the Information Governance Department to try to resolve them.

If you are not happy with the outcome, you can then complain to Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s Complaints Department.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you can then appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Full details will be provided in Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust’s final response to your information request, unless specifically requested beforehand.

APPENDIX 1
EXEMPT INFORMATION UNDER PART II
OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

There are two types of class exemption:

(a) absolute, which do not require a test of prejudice or the balance of public interest to be in favour of non-disclosure.

(b) qualified by the public interest test, which require the public body to decide whether it is in the balance of public interest to not disclose information.

With the exception of s21 (information available by other means) exemptions apply not only to the communication of information but also to the duty to confirm or deny, if that itself would disclose information that it is reasonable to withhold.

Absolute Exemptions – The absolute exemptions under the Act are:

· section 21 - Information accessible to applicant by other means
· section 23 - Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters.
· section 32 - Court Records
· section 34 - Parliamentary Privilege
· section 36 - Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (so far as relating to information held by
the House of Commons or the House of Lords)
· section 40 - Personal Information (where disclosure may contravene the Data Protection Act 1998)
· section 41 - Information provided in confidence
· section 44 - Prohibitions on disclosure

Qualified Exemptions – The exemptions that are qualified by the public interest test are:

· section 22 - Information intended for future publication
· section 24 - National Security
· section 26 - Defence
· section 27 - International Relations
· section 28 - Relations within the United Kingdom
· section 29 - The Economy
· section 30 - Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
· section 31 - Law Enforcement
· section 33 - Audit Functions
· section 35 - Formulation of Government Policy
· section 36 - Prejudice to effective conduct of public affairs (for all public authorities except the
House of Commons and the House of Lords)
· section 37 - Communications with Her Majesty, etc. and honours
· section 38 - Health and Safety
· section 39 - Environmental Information
· section 42 - Legal Professional Privilege
· section 43 - Commercial Interests.

show quoted sections

LCH, Foi (LEEDS COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST), Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

Dear Jonathan

 

Re- Your Request for Information Ref 182 FOI LCH 1819

 

Further to your request under the Freedom of Information Act, please find
enclosed the following information. 

 

Information Requested:

 Who is the provider of your online chlamydia screening programme
Preventx provide our online testing but are not a screening programme

 

What year was the contract awarded to the online chlamydia screening
programme provider 01/04/2016

 

Was the contract awarded as part of an open tender procurement process No
direct award from Crown Commercial Services G-cloud.

 

Was the contract awarded as a single tender waiver No

 

How much did you spend on your chlamydia screening contract with your
online provider in the last three years

 

Dates                                  Total Spend

01/01/2017 – 31/12/2017 - £445,431

 

01/01/2016 – 31/12/2016 - £524,454

 

01/01/2015 – 31/12/2015 - £212,315

 

Please confirm the CQC registration status of your online provider of
chlamydia screening services I am unaware of the CQC status

 

What safeguarding assessment is undertaken on your online chlamydia
screening service for under 18’s Our screening is only available to over
16’s there is no safeguarding for 16 -18 year olds

 

How are safeguarding concerns highlighted by service users during ordering
for their chlamydia screening test kit communicated by your online service
to your local safeguarding lead? They would contact the service

 

How many safeguarding concerns highlighted by your online chlamydia
screening service have been referred to you local safeguarding lead
between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2017. None

 

Where are service users who test positive for chlamydia on the online
service referred for treatment. To Leeds Sexual Health Service

 

What are the treatment outcomes of the chlamydia positive users of the
online service provider.  Ie: Between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2017 – how many
service users tested positive on your online chlamydia screening service
and how many of them are confirmed as having been treated by clinic or
GP??  The number of positives is for 2017 is: 1603. It would take longer
than 18 hours to get the data to show how many were treated and where as
we would have to go into every individual patient record to check this. We
are therefore refusing this part of the request under Section 12 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Response:

 

Please see answers above.

 

Please note the provision of this information does not entitle you to
re-use it.  If you wish to do so, you should submit a request to the above
address under the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations. 

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request for information and wish this decision to be reviewed, you should
write to the above address.

 

If you are not content with the outcome this review, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the review
procedure.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully

Freedom of Information

Information Governance

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections