Oxfordshire and Bucks Mental Health NHS FT

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,
I believe your predecessor the Healthcare Commission were brought concerns re OBMHFT management of Serious Untoward Incidents (SUI) and HC were considering a full investigation.However, I understand that since the end of HC public remit, reseponsibility for investigations has moved to CQC.

I believe the CQC is continuing to carry out preliminary enquiries into the matters referred to them and 'once these preliminary enquiries have been concluded, the CQC may carry out a formal investigation'.

Please can I have an update on what decisions have been made in relation to the 32 SUIs brought to CQC and Monitors attention.

Yours faithfully,

D. Speers

Lok, Kim, Care Quality Commission

Dear Sir/Madam,

I acknowledge receipt of your request below, which the Commission received on 4 July 2009.

The Commission will respond as soon as it can, but in any event, within 20 working days following the date of receipt. You can therefore expect a response by 31 July 2009.

Information Governance Manager
Secretariat - Information Governance Team
Care Quality Commission
Finsbury Tower
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Email: [email address]
Direct Tel: 020 7448 1765
Internal Tel: 3815

Statutory requests for information made pursuant to access to information legislation, such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, should be sent to: [Care Quality Commission request email]

show quoted sections

Lok, Kim, Care Quality Commission

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Speers,

Please see the Commission's response to your request dated 4 July 2009.

Yours sincerely

Kim Lok
Information Governance Manager
Secretariat - Information Governance Team
Care Quality Commission
Finsbury Tower
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Email: [1][email address]
Direct Tel: 020 7448 1765
Internal Tel: 3815

Statutory requests for information made pursuant to access to information
legislation, such as the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, should be sent to: [2][Care Quality Commission request email]

The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential to the intended recipient. They may not be disclosed to or used by or copied in any way by anyone other than the intended recipient. If this email is received in error, please notify us immediately by clicking "Reply" and delete the email. Please note that neither the Care Quality Commission nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan or otherwise check this email and any attachments.

Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of the Care Quality Commission.

References

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1. mailto:[email address]
2. file:///tmp/blocked::mailto:[Care Quality Commission request email]

Dear Lok, Kim,

`Request for an internal review'.

I refer to my FOI questions on the concerns I have brought to your attention re the handling of SUI by Oxon and Bucks Mental Health Foundation Trust.

I have brought these concerns to Monitor who have referred this situation to the CQC, and I believe the time limit for a full response under FOI has now passed.

In the absence of the statutory public remit, that the Healthcare Commission were empowered with to act on on our behalf, I am bringing this matter to your attention again. I believe the CQC are involved in preliminary enquiries and may be considering an investigation.

As with the shambles identified in two investigation reports, surrounding patient safety at two hospitals recently: Mid Staffordshire FT Trust / West London Mental Health Trust, I remain concerned that something as vital as patient safety and the correct investigation of SUI still seems to be far down the list of priorities for all involved in overseeing concerns on behalf of the public.
I copy you in on Monitor's response and must now question how lessons are ever learnt?

Dear D. Speers

Thank you for your further query.

I understand that, based on the information received by Monitor, the CQC is continuing to carry out preliminary enquiries into the matters referred to in Monitor's letter to you of yesterday's date. Once these preliminary enquiries have been concluded, the CQC may carry out a formal investigation. Should you require more detailed information on this, you may wish to contact the CQC directly.

Yours sincerely

John Vallance | Legal Adviser

Monitor Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts"

I am now requesting an internal review of CQC/Monitor's handling of this and given the urgency of the situtaion, I would like to see a timely, comprehensive response please.

Yours sincerely,

D. Speers

Lall, Andrew, Care Quality Commission

Dear Ms Speers,

I refer to your email below.

I am confused as to what you are seeking an internal review of.

You requested information as to an investigation into Oxfordshire and
Bucks Mental Health Trust NHS Foundation Trust. My colleague and manager,
Kim Lok, communicated in his letter of 28 July 2009 that at the time
of writing the Commission has yet to complete its preliminary enquiries.

This statement was true and it is not clear what you would expect from an
internal review of this fact.

Furthermore I can confirm in this email that at the time of writing the
investigation you are requesting information about is yet to be concluded.
The findings will be made public in due course once the investigation has
been concluded.

Regards,

Andrew Lall
Information Access Officer
Secretariat - Information Governance Team
Finsbury Tower
Care Quality Commission
103-105 Bunhill Row
London
EC1Y 8TG

Direct Dial: 020 7448 9074
Ext: 3624

Statutory requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998 should be sent to
[1][Care Quality Commission request email]

From: D. Speers [[2]mailto:[FOI #14082 email]]

Sent: 24 August 2009 17:57

To: Lok, Kim

Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Oxfordshire
and Bucks Mental Health NHS FT

Dear Lok, Kim,

`Request for an internal review'.

I refer to my FOI questions on the concerns I have brought to your

attention re the handling of SUI by Oxon and Bucks Mental Health

Foundation Trust.

I have brought these concerns to Monitor who have referred this

situation to the CQC, and I believe the time limit for a full

response under FOI has now passed.

In the absence of the statutory public remit, that the Healthcare

Commission were empowered with to act on on our behalf, I am

bringing this matter to your attention again. I believe the CQC are

involved in preliminary enquiries and may be considering an

investigation.

As with the shambles identified in two investigation reports,

surrounding patient safety at two hospitals recently: Mid

Staffordshire FT Trust / West London Mental Health Trust, I remain

concerned that something as vital as patient safety and the correct

investigation of SUI still seems to be far down the list of

priorities for all involved in overseeing concerns on behalf of the

public. I copy you in on Monitor's response and must now question

how lessons are ever learnt?

Dear D. Speers

Thank you for your further query.

I understand that, based on the information received by Monitor,

the CQC is continuing to carry out preliminary enquiries into the

matters referred to in Monitor's letter to you of yesterday's date.

Once these preliminary enquiries have been concluded, the CQC may

carry out a formal investigation. Should you require more detailed

information on this, you may wish to contact the CQC directly.

Yours sincerely

John Vallance | Legal Adviser

Monitor Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts"

I am now requesting an internal review of CQC/Monitor's handling of

this and given the urgency of the situtaion, I would like to see a

timely, comprehensive response please.

Yours sincerely,

D. Speers

The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential to the intended recipient. They may not be disclosed to or used by or copied in any way by anyone other than the intended recipient. If this email is received in error, please notify us immediately by clicking "Reply" and delete the email. Please note that neither the Care Quality Commission nor the sender
accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan or otherwise check this email and any attachments.

Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of the Care Quality Commission.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Care Quality Commission request email]
mailto:[Care Quality Commission request email]
2. mailto:[FOI #14082 email]

Dear Lall, Andrew,
I appreciate your response to my recent enquiry and I also appreciate Mr Lok's response. I believe the reason I am seeking an Internal Review is related to the the length of time these 'preliminary enquiries' are taking.

There are serious matters of patient safety at stake and this must be a priority, with Monitor referring the matter to CQC and CQC now stating "in due course" I am getting frustrated that it has been almost a year since this matter was brought to OBMHFT attention by the Healthcare Commission and yet nothing seems to have been done. I believe the Healthcare Commission carried out preliminary enquiries too.

There is a clear HC reference to 32 SUI at OBMHFT which needed to be addressed and I am seeking clarification that they will be and by when?

Aka:
1)What is the average length of time taken by CQC to resolve an investigation?
2) What process of monitoring recommendations made to Foundation Trusts does CQC have?
3) Or does Monitor have an obligation to monitor recommendations made?

Kind Regards
Yours sincerely,

Dee Speers