Royal Stoke University Hospital
Ref: FOIA Reference 2018/19-188
Quality, Safety and Compliance Department
Newcastle Road
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST4 6QG
Date: 17th July 2018
Tel: 01782 676474
Email
xxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Thomas Smith
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Mr Smith
I am writing in response to your email dated 2nd July 2018 (received into our office 3rd July 2018)
requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) regarding new and additional
questions to your FOI request reference 181-1819 (Data Protection Act - Section 2) therefore this is a
new request. Please note that we have attached our previous reply for your records.
20180702 FOI
Response Letter Data Protection Act - Section 2. anon final ref 181-1819 to help 188-1819.docx
On 3rd July 2018 we contacted you via email as we required clarification on the specific type of abuse
you were referring to. We requested clarification as to whether all of your questions related to child
abuse or for adults abusing illegal drugs etc.
On 4th July 2018 you replied via email the following:
“Thank you for your reply asking for clarification. Al my questions deal specifically with a general
allegation of an adult viewing indecent images of children online; so no physical abuse nor is any
specific individual child identified as being abused.”
As of 1st November 2014 University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) manages two
hospital sites – Royal Stoke University Hospital, and County Hospital (Stafford). Therefore the
response below is for the two sites combined from that date where appropriate.
Q1
Please provide a copy of all policies and procedures that a staff member must follow if
the partner of a patient makes an allegation to the staff member that the Patient has
viewed child pornography at home
A1
The Trust does not have a specific policy relating to allegations made by a patient’s partner
regarding a patient viewing child pornography in their own home.
Q2
Please provide a copy of all policies and procedures relating to the disclosure of
information about a Patient to the Police
A2
The Trust does not have a specific policy relating to the reporting (to the police) of allegations,
made by a patient’s partner, regarding a patient viewing child pornography in their own home.
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Q3
Please provide a copy of all policies and procedures relating to how an email which
contains details of an alleged offence by a Patient that was sent by the partner of the
Patient to a staff member should be securely transferred to the Police
A3
The attached document details how secure emails are sent by the Trust as per the relevant
overarching legislation. (i.e. Data Protection Act).
Q4
I now refer to your answers detailed in A2:
Please note: the following questions are specifically about recording an alleged offence
in a Patients official Medical Records that anyone providing treatment to the Patient
would have access to, as opposed to internal Trust records.
4) If the explicit consent of the Patient was not given, please state all the conditions
under Schedule 3 of the DPA that you would rely on to record a note in the Patients
Medical Records identifying that the police may want to interview the Patient.
A4
Requests for disclosure of medical records, from the police, are considered on a case by case
basis. The Trust would seek expert advice as and when required.
Q5
If the explicit consent of the Patient was not given, please state all the conditions under
Schedule 3 of the DPA that you would rely on to record explicit details of the alleged
offence in the Patients Medical Records (not just a brief note, but things such as a
detailed description of the alleged offence, or the circumstances of why the Police want
to interview the Patient)?
a. If no Schedule 3 conditions would allow you to record explicit details of an alleged
offence in the Patients official Medical Records, please state this as the case.
A5
As above, the Trust would seek expert advice as and when required.
Q6
Regardless of your answer to the previous question, if explicit details of an alleged
offence against a Patient are recorded by a member of staff into a Patient’s official
Medical Records, without the Patient’s explicit consent, and the Patient’s Medical
Records are requested by and transferred to another healthcare provider in order to
provide treatment to the patient, please state the Schedule 3 conditions you would rely
on to transfer the Patients Records and thus disclose the explicit descriptions of the
allegation.
a. If no Schedule 3 conditions would allow you to transfer the records and thus
disclose the details of the alleged offence to another healthcare provider who takes
over providing care to the Patient, please state this as the case.
A6
Hospital medical records are shared with other care service providers as a matter of course for
the provision of continuity or care. Should the need arise for redaction of sensitive information
the Trust would seek expert advice as and when required.
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*Please note that any individuals identified do not give consent for their personal data to be processed
for the purposes of direct marketing.
UHNM NHS Trust is a public sector body and governed by EU law. FOI requestors should note
that any new Trust requirements over the EU threshold will be subject to these regulations and
will be advertised for open competition accordingly. Where the Trust owns the copyright in information provided, you may re-use the information in line
with the conditions set out in the Open Government Licence v3 which is available at
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/. Where information was
created by third parties, you should contact them directly for permission to re-use the information.
This letter confirms the completion of this request. A log of this request and a copy of this letter will be
held by the Trust.
If you have any queries related to the response provided please in the first instance contact my office.
Should you have a complaint about the response or the handling of your request, please also contact
my office to request a review of this. If having exhausted the Trust’s FOIA complaints process you are
still not satisfied, you are entitled to approach the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and
request an assessment of the manner in which the Trust has managed your request.
The Information Commissioner may be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF or via
www.ico.org.uk.
If following review of the responses I can be of any further assistance please contact my secretary on
01782 676474.
Yours,
Mojgan Casillas
Interim Information Governance Manager
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