Asbestos in hospitals

The request was successful.

Dear Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,

This is a Freedom of Information request for the following information. Please provide me with;
1. A list of the hospitals and related buildings in your trust that contain asbestos in surveys carried out over the last ten years. Please include the following
A. Building name
B. Address
C. Type and degree of asbestos present
D. Whether it poses a health risk to staff and/or patients.
2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit, survey or inspection of each of these hospitals and their related buildings.
3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these hospitals between 2011 and 2016.
4. The number of hospital employees or patients that have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within your trust’s hospital buildings
5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
I would like to receive a copy of this information electronically.
Please send me an email to confirm receipt of this request.

Yours faithfully,

Catrin Hughes

FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Ms Hughes,

Freedom of Information Act Request Acknowledgment

Thank you for contacting the Freedom of Information Office at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We confirm that we have received your correspondence.

Your request below is being considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days following the date on which the request was received, as defined by the Act, subject to the information not being covered by an exemption or containing reference to a third party.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of some or all of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release some or all of the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

There may be a fee payable for this information. This will be considered and you will be informed if as fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt of payment. You will be informed if this is the case.
If you have made a request for information held by the Trust - we will contact you as soon as possible if we need any further information to enable us to answer your request. If we don't need any further information we will respond to you within the statutory timescale of 20 working days following the date on which the request was received.

If you have any further queries or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact us.

With best regards,

Alan Larn.

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[email address]

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Dear FOI,

I am writing to you to let you know that the deadline for the FOI request I sent on hospitals is now long overdue. Please can you send a response ASAP!

Yours sincerely,

Catrin Hughes

FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Ms Hughes,

I have been pursuing this request, but I have not yet received the information. I will continue pursuing it and send it to you as soon as it has been received and cleared.

With best regards,

Alan Larn.

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[email address]

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Dear FOI,
Thanks for Letting me know Alan.

Yours sincerely,

Catrin Hughes

FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Ms Hughes,

I have been informed that the response is awaiting clearance by the manager of the department which created it.

As I said below, I will send it to you as soon as it has been cleared and passed to me.

With best regards,

Alan Larn.

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[email address]

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FOI, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Ms Hughes

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 14 February 2017, which has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Your request and our responses are as follows:

Please provide me with:

1. A list of the hospitals and related buildings in your trust that contain asbestos in surveys carried out over the last ten years. Please include the following
A. Building name
B. Address
C. Type and degree of asbestos present
D. Whether it poses a health risk to staff and/or patients.

Response:
A:  Basildon Hospital
B: Nethermayne, Basildon, Essex, SS16 5NL
C: Chrysotile, Amosite Chrysotile, Amosite – all risk band C & D. All risk band A items removed, three risk band B items left to be removed.
D: No health risk to staff or patients, the 3 band B  items left to be removed have been encapsulated.

A: Orsett Hospital
B: Rowley Road, Orsett, Essex, RM16 3EU
C: Chrysotile, Amosite Chrysotile, Amosite – all risk band C & D. All risk band A & B items removed.
D: No health risk to staff or patients.

A: St Andrews Hospital
B: Stock Road, Billericay, Essex, CM12 0BH
C: Chrysotile, Amosite Chrysotile, Amosite – all risk band C & D. All risk band A & B items removed.
D: No health risk to staff or patients.

2. The date and outcome of the last independent audit, survey or inspection of each of these hospitals and their related buildings.
Response:
All 3 sites had an independent survey carried out in 2014, the outcome of which was the removal of all identified risk band A items. An independent Re-inspection was carried out in 2015 on the identified risk band B items and non-accessed areas, the outcome of which was the removal of all (bar 3) risk band B items.

3. The details of any reported incidents of asbestos exposure in these hospitals between 2011 and 2016.
Response: No reported incidents of asbestos exposure for these 3 hospitals during this period.

4. The number of hospital employees or patients that have pursued a claim against you for exposure to asbestos within your trust’s hospital buildings
Response: No claims made against these 3 hospitals.

5. The number of these claims that have been settled.
Response: Not applicable – no claims made (see point 4 above).

6. The amount of money that has been paid in settlement of these claims (with and without your authority accepting responsibility).
Response: Not applicable – no claims made (see point 4 above).

I hope that the response that the Trust has provided is satisfactory. However, if you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has been dealt with you can request an internal review. Please email [email address] within 40 working days with clarification of what you would like to be reviewed. We will aim to provide a review response within 20 working days.

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The Trust for its part is happy for you to reuse any of the information supplied to you in compliance with the Open Government Licence (OGL) terms: Please click here for further details http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents... . We do not permit the forwarding or sale of staff/departmental contact details and a specific Re-use of Information Regulations request is required for such purposes.

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Kind regards,

Alan Larn | communications officer (Freedom of Information) | communications department
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Nethermayne | Essex | SS16 5NL
01268 524900 ext 2992
[email address]

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