14 May 2012
Dr Éoin Clarke
4 Matthew Parker Street
By email
London
SW1H 9NP
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T: 020 7340 2400
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F: 020 7340 2401
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W: www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk
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Dear Dr Clarke,
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOI Act”)
You made a number of FOI Act requests to Monitor between the dates of 16 and 19 April 2012
which relate to Monitor’s future functions. This letter contains Monitor’s response on most of those
requests. You will receive separate responses on the remaining requests.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012, which recently gained Royal Assent on 27 March 2012, will
establish Monitor as the sector regulator for healthcare. Although the legislation conferring our
future functions has been passed, it has not yet come into force. This requires statutory
commencement orders to be made by the Department of Health. Monitor is working with the
Department to establish when this will happen and we will update our website with
commencement information as and when it becomes available. We are currently developing our
plans for carrying out the new functions and will consult on our approach later this year. There is
more information on our future role here:
http://www.monitor-nhsft.gov.uk/monitors-new-
role/overview. Until the legislation is commenced, Monitor’s role remains as the independent
regulator of NHS foundation trusts.
Decision
Monitor holds virtually none of the information you have requested. The only information we hold
is our conflicts of interest policy. This is available on our website and I have provided you with a
link to it. I have set out at the Annex to this letter a summary of each the requests covered by this
letter and a response, in most cases directing you to another public body which may hold the
information you seek.
Review rights
If you consider that your request for information has not been properly handled or if you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request, you can try to resolve this informally with
the person who dealt with your request. If you remain dissatisfied, you may seek an internal
review within Monitor of the issue or the decision. A senior member of Monitor’s staff, who has not
previously been involved with your request, will undertake that review.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of any internal review conducted by Monitor, you may
complain to the Information Commissioner for a decision on whether your request for information
has been dealt with in accordance with the FOI Act.
A request for an internal review should be submitted in writing to FOI Request Reviews, Monitor,
4 Matthew Parker Street, London SW1H 9NP or by email t
o xxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx. Yours sincerely,
Sue Meeson
Director of Public Affairs and Communications
Annex
Date
Request
Monitor Response
16 April
How many bids Virgin Care have made to run, or
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
2012
takeover parts of NHS Services that have reached the
foundation trusts. You could try contacting primary care trusts for this
stage of preferred bidder status or beyond. Include
information:
8.54am
overall value of the bids and list of contracts.
http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/primarycaretrustlisting.aspx
16 April
How many bids SERCO have made to run, or takeover
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
2012
parts of NHS Services that have reached the stage of
foundation trusts. You could try contacting primary care trusts for this
preferred bidder status or beyond. Include overall value
information:
8.58am
of the bids and list of contracts.
http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/primarycaretrustlisting.aspx
Can you provide a list of all established CCGs throughout
16 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
England?
2012
foundation trusts. I suggest contacting the Department of Health or the
NHS Commissioning Board at
http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/
9.08am
Can you include at least 1 name, and 1 email contact for
once it is fully operational.
each CCG?
16 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
Please send me all current Clinical Commissioning
2012
foundation trusts. I suggest contacting the Department of Health or the
Group “Action Logs” that include specific information and NHS Commissioning Board at
http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/.
9.20am
explicit mention of Virgin Care.
once it is fully operational.
16 April
Please can you provide details and content of all email
2012
communication, phone calls and meetings between
Monitor does not hold this information. You would need to request this
Department of Health officials and senior employees for
information from the Department of Health.
10.08am
Virgin Care from 12 September 2011 to 16 April 2012?
18 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
I wish to view a list of the declarations of conflict of
2012
foundation trusts. I suggest contacting the Department of Health or the
interest that have been made by every CCG Board
NHS Commissioning Board at
http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/.
12.33pm
member.
once it is fully operational.
I wish to be sent a copy of your conflict of interest policy
Monitor’s conflict of interest policy is available her
e: http://www.monitor-
as it is a matter of great public interest that the
nhsft.gov.uk/about-monitor/careers-monitor/our-policies-and-procedures
individuals who are now members of CCG boards are
complying with the government's conflict of interest
Please note that this policy only applies to Monitor staff - it does not apply
regulations.
CCG board members or to any other public official.
Can you please send a breakdown of referrals that were
sent to private providers by each GP since April 2011?
19 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
2012
foundation trusts. You could try contacting primary care trusts to see if they
Can you include in that a breakdown of the specialisms
hold this information:
9.45am
to which the GPs referred the patients to and the medical
http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/pages/primarycaretrustlisting.aspx
condition (or best diagnosis) as to what the patients were
suffering?
Please can you tell me when the tender went out to
prospective bidders to bid for Sussex Health Services?
19 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
2012
Please can you tell me the date that Virgin Care became
foundation trusts. We suggest you contact NHS Sussex:
the preferred bidder?
9.51am
http://www.westsussex.nhs.uk/nhs-sussex-home
Please can you tell me the annual value and length of the
contract signed?
Please can you list for me the date of every Clinical
Commissioning Group Merger that has occurred since
19 April
This is not information Monitor holds in its current role as regulator of NHS
they were first set up.
2012
foundation trusts. I suggest contacting the Department of Health or the
NHS Commissioning Board at
http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/.
1.18pm
Can you provide me with details of the emails, meetings,
once it is fully operational.
telephone calls that took place between prospective
merger partners in advance of these mergers?
Can you please outline the guidance you provide to
CCGs who wish to merge?
Can you please outline what steps you are taken to map
the mergers and whether or not you will be conducting
assessments of the impact these are having on equality
for provision especially for poorer areas?
Please can you provide me with a list of every contract
for NHS services you have invited bids for since May
2010?
(include those that have been settle and those where the
tender date has closed and those where you are still
19 April
accepting bids)
2012
Monitor is the independent regulator for NHS foundation trusts. We do not
commission NHS services.
1.27pm
Please can you list all successful bids for new contracts
to supply NHS services since May 2012, can you also list
the name of the company whose bid was accepted?
Can you provide me with the general criteria you apply to
bids to help you select the preferred bidder?