Orthodontic retention for orthognathic surgery patients

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

First ...a little background to show it's not spurious request tomake of a hospital.

The following is qouted from the first FOI made to the ScottishDental Practice Board ...by myself
The question I asked them was
"How often are essix retainers fitted post orthognathic surgery and once fitted how long should they be worn?”
Their response: "We have contacted the Chairof the SDPB and theSenior Dental/Clinical Adviser of Practitioner
Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland and I have
toadvise you, in accordance with section 17 of the Freedom
ofInformation (Scotland) Act 2002, that the information you
haverequested is not held. Orthognatic surgery is not carriedoutwithin the General Dental Service; it is purely a
hospitalprovision via orthodontic and oral surgery departments.
Thisinformation, if available, anywhere would be in the acuteservicesarea i.e. hospitals or as a piece of research."

The reason I ask this is I personally have a had a sagittal splitosteotomy,following which I was given Essix retainers.
I wore them six months....and have since been advised that itshould have been twelve months by the orthodontic consultant atIpswich hospital.

The FOI I ask of you .....and I'll be doing the same to each and every NHS hospital with a maxillofacial surgery unit.

Q What is the breakdown of orthodontic retention devices
(Essix,Hawley,bonded,etc) given to the patients who have had which orthognathic operations and how long should each device be worn?

Yours faithfully,

Paul GaffneyLLB BA

Freedom of Information (RTR) South Tees NHS Trust,

Dear Mr Gaffney,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request for Information

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 which was dated the 16^th October 2009 and received
by the Trust on the 16^th October 2009.

Your request will be processed within a maximum of twenty working days
from when we received your request unless otherwise informed.

As this is only an acknowledgement of your request, at this moment we are
unaware of any fees, charges or exemptions that may be applied to your
request. If during the course of processing your application it becomes
clear that fees will apply, we will inform you of this. In the event that
costs are applicable, no information will be provided unless the fee is
paid within three months of us informing you. In the event that some or
all of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure, we
will notify you of this.

We will also contact you if during the process to locate and supply the
information it emerges that we do not have sufficient detail to locate the
information or we are unclear exactly what it is you have requested.

We will keep you up-to-date with any other developments.

Yours sincerely

Christine Bell
Information Governance Specialist
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel 01642 850850 ext 53593

show quoted sections

Freedom of Information (RTR) South Tees NHS Trust,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Gaffney,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Request for Information

You have recently requested access to information held by South Tees
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that is not available on our Trust
Publication Scheme. In response to your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, please find attached the information you have
requested.

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the information that we have
provided or you feel we have dealt with your request unfairly, you have a
right to complain. Please put your complaint in writing and send it to:

The Information Governance Manager

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The James Cook University Hospital

Marton Road

Middlesbrough

TS4 3BW

If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Information
Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5 AF

Any information we provide following your request under the Freedom of
Information Act will not confer an automatic right for you to re-use that
information, for example to publish it. You are free to use any
information supplied for your own non-commercial research or private study
purposes. The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed
by a limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
However, if you wish to re-use the information that we provide, for
example by publishing it in analogue or digital form, then you must make a
further request for its re-use as per the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005 [1]www.opsi.gov.uk . This will not affect
your initial information request.

Please note that some responses to Freedom of Information Requests will be
published in the Disclosure log which can be accessed through South Tees
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's Publication Scheme.

Yours Sincerely

Christine Bell
Information Governance Specialist
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel 01642 850850 ext 53593

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/

Dear Freedom of Information (RTR) South Tees NHS Trust,

You've given this some thought.I'll get back to you.

Yours sincerely,

Paul GaffneyLLB BA

Dear Sir or Madam,

I don't believe you've actually answered the question.
Could you please give figures as to the breakdown of types of retainer and the length of time they are worn .....or I am afraid I am going to have to appeal this FOI.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Gaffney

Freedom of Information (RTR) South Tees NHS Trust,

Dear Mr Gaffney,

In response to your further email dated the 1^st November I have been in
contact with the department who supplied the initial information.

Your request was:-

What is the breakdown of orthodontic retention devices
(Essix,Hawley,bonded,etc) given to the patients who have had which
orthognathic operations and how long should each device be worn?

South Tees NHS Foundation Trust's original reply was:-

The breakdown of orthodontic retention devices is no different in the
cohort of orthognathic patients to other orthodontic patients and is down
to the preference of the clinician. There is no consensus amongst
orthodontic professionals as to the duration the device should be worn,
although it is typically one year within this department at South Tees
Trust.

Following further correspondence with the department I have received the
following reply:-

Each patient is individual and depending on clinical need determines which
type of retainer is used and for how long. It is standard practice for
retainers to be used at least for one year, however again depending on the
individual case this can be for a longer period. We do not have a
database which holds information regarding the types of retainer used and
for how long. This information could only be sought manually from
patient's medical records.

I am sure you will be aware that to trawl through patient records would be
an extremely time consuming task and the Trust believes in this case that
the cost of complying with the request would far exceed the "appropriate
limit" of the fee that can be charged in relation to the disbursement and
prescribed costs involved in dealing with requests under the Act. I am
sorry that the Trust will therefore be unable to help you any further with
this request.

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the information that we have
provided or you feel we have dealt with your request unfairly, you have a
right to complain. Please put your complaint in writing and send it to:

The Information Governance Manager

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The James Cook University Hospital

Marton Road

Middlesbrough

TS4 3BW

If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Information
Commissioner's Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5 AF

Any information we provide following your request under the Freedom of
Information Act will not confer an automatic right for you to re-use that
information, for example to publish it. You are free to use any
information supplied for your own non-commercial research or private study
purposes. The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed
by a limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
However, if you wish to re-use the information that we provide, for
example by publishing it in analogue or digital form, then you must make a
further request for its re-use as per the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005 [1]www.opsi.gov.uk . This will not affect
your initial information request.

Yours sincerely

Christine Bell
Information Governance Specialist
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel 01642 850850 ext 53593

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/

Dear Freedom of Information (RTR) South Tees NHS Trust,

Sorry for the delay....having the e-mail I'll give my reply some thought when you have my full and undivided attention...I am however otherwise engaged at the moment.

Yours sincerely,

Paul GaffneyLLB BA