Services for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

The request was successful.

Dear South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,

I am writing as a volunteer researcher for the National Organisation for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome-UK (www.nofas-uk.org) to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. I am working in cooperation with an ad hoc group of leaders from the organisation and other experts to frame and shape this research project and to analyse the information we receive.

Background

In February 2017, Lord Boateng asked the government “what assessment they have made of the measures adopted in Scotand which provide guidance and support for children and young adults affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.” Lord O’Shaughnessy replied that “Early intervention services can help reduce some of the effects of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and prevent some of the secondary disabilities that result. Responsibility for commissioning these services lies with clinical commissioning groups. [Hansard, Written Question HL5052, 10 February 2017. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publi...

This government policy was reiterated in July 2017 when Lord Campbell-Savours asked the government “what support they are providing for persons whose condition has been described as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.” [Hansard, Written Question HL500 and Written Answer, 18 July 2017, https://www.parliament.uk/business/publi... In response, Lord O’Shaughnessy for the government wrote that “It is recognised that Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) can have a significant impact on the early development of children, their behaviours and their life chances. Early intervention services can help reduce some of the effects of FASD and prevent some of the secondary disabilities that result. Responsibility for commissioning these services lies with clinical commissioning groups.” This was again repeated on 8 May 2018 by Steve Brine, Parliamentary Under-secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care. [Hansard, Written Question 139045, 8 May 2018. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publi...

The following conditions fall under the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) umbrella: Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND), Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD), Foetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) and partial Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (pFAS)) or neurodevelopmental disorders linked to prenatal alcohol exposure (NDPAE)

Request for Information

In light of the above information I would like to ask you to provide:
1) Copies of any policies that the Trust has on the prevention of FASD, and on the diagnosis and post-diagnostic care pathway for patients with an FASD. Also your policy on the training of Trust personnel to manage patients with FASD.
2) Any information you hold on services your Trust provided for FASD for
a. prevention education following the 2016 Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines that the safest course is not to drink while pregnant or attempting to become pregnant;
b. diagnosis for both children and adults;
c. post-diagnostic care in the financial years beginning 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
3) Information on the number of Doctors in your Trust who currently provide diagnostic and/or post-diagnostic services for FASD? Please provide their names and posts. Whether your Trust employs specifically trained professionals, including but not limited to nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, to provide specialised services for patients on the FASD spectrum? If so, in what specialties, and how many? Please provide their names and posts.
4) Information on training provided to personnel in your Trust on FASD, or provided by others and accessed by your personnel.
5) Information you hold on whether your Trust sends patients for FASD diagnosis to the National FASD Clinic in Surrey (https://www.fasdclinic.com/)? Did your refer any patients to the National FASD Clinic in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and in 2018, and if so, how many in each year?
6) What was your budget for services for FASD in each financial year since that starting in 2013 and including the current financial year?
7) Please provide copies of any agreed plans you have to expand the budget or services in coming years.
If you are considering rejecting this request on the grounds of the costs of responding exceeding the statutory limits then please respond to as many of the numbered items as possible within the limit, in the order they have been presented.

Yours faithfully,

Sandra Butcher

foi.admin (SOUTH TEES HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST), South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Ms Butcher,

 

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 which was dated the 23^rd July 2018 and received by
the Trust on 23^rd July 2018

 

Your request will be processed within a maximum of 20 working days from
when we received your request unless otherwise informed.

 

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.

 

If you need to contact me further regarding this request it would be
helpful if the reference number could be quoted in any future
communications.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Amanda Foster

 

Freedom of Information

 

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Tel 01642 850850 ext 54291

 

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foi.admin (SOUTH TEES HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST), South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Butcher

 

Request for Information – Ref 5372

With reference to your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 please find attached a response on behalf of South
Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

 

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 send your complaint by email to
[1][email address] by post 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, further information about your right to
complain under Section 50  of the Freedom of Information Act is available
from the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AFand on The Information Commissioner’s website
[2]www.ico.gov.uk.

 

 

 

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 by contacting the Head of Information
Governance using the email address above .

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

Emma Taylor

Information Governance Advisor

Corporate Directorate

 

Freedom of Information

Information Governance Department

 

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Tel:  01642 854291 Ex55477

 

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Dear foi.admin (SOUTH TEES HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),

Thanks for your response.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Butcher