Babies born to drug dependent mothers

The request was successful.

Alessandro Sorrentino

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from you:

+ For each year between 2009 and up-to the end of 2017, how many babies born under your trust were born to drug dependent mothers and once born, were transferred to a drug treatment programme to wean them off their addiction?

Please provide the information in the form an Excel Documents

If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request.

If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined I would be grateful for any further advice and assistance.

If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or phone and I will be very happy to clarify what I am asking for and discuss the request, my details are outlined below.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,
Alessandro Sorrentino

oxford@infreemation.co.uk, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Thank you for your information request. This is an automated response and
acknowledgement. If you have submitted a request under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR),
your request will be considered and you will receive our response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days.

oxford@infreemation.co.uk, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Our reference:  F17-1363
 

Dear Alessandro,
 

Thank you for your request of 30^th August 2018 in which you asked for
information about “Babies born to drug dependent mothers”.

“For each year between 2009 and up-to the end of 2017, how many babies
born under your trust were born to drug dependent mothers and once born,
were transferred to a drug treatment programme to wean them off their
addiction?”

We have looked at your request and require clarification in relation to
your request.

* Please can you clarify:

* the term “drug dependency”
* what drugs/type of drugs are covered when you refer to “drug
dependency”:

* commercially available products – i.e. tobacco, alcohol etc
* illicit drugs – i.e. heroin etc
* Prescription medicine

We are not obliged to comply with a Freedom of Information Request as we
reasonably require further information in order to identify and locate the
information requested under section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000. This extends the 20 working day time limit which will commence once
we receive clarification from you. If we do not receive clarification
within three months, your request will be considered to have lapsed.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

         Oxford University
Hospitals

NHS Foundation Trust
Freedom of Information Team
John Radcliffe Hospital  
* Email: [1][Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]
Headley Way

Headington

Oxford OX3 9DU

 

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Alessandro Sorrentino

Dear [email address],

By drug dependency, I'm referring to babies born to mothers who are dependent on illicit drugs, like heroin.

Yours sincerely,
Alessandro Sorrentino

oxford@infreemation.co.uk, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Dear Alessandro Sorrentino

I am writing to respond to your request sent 30 August 2018. OUH can
confirm that it holds the data that you requested.

Please see below your request in blue, the Trust’s response in red.

 

For each year between 2009 and up-to the end of 2017, how many babies born
under your trust were born to drug dependent mothers and once born, were
transferred to a drug treatment programme to wean them off their
addiction?

 

We can provide an answer to  the question how many babies with an
inpatient episode immediately after birth which are coded with one of the
following in either the primary or a secondary diagnosis

 

Z03.6 Observation for suspected toxic effect from ingested substance – NB
this code is used for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) observation

P96.1 Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction

P04.4 Fetus and Newborn affected by maternal use of drugs of addiction

>From which we can infer how many mothers are drug addicts. However,
identifying the mothers being drug dependant at time of birth is a
somewhat different issue and going to be difficult to do reliably. Looking
at the babies who are coded for symptoms they would get from a drug
addicted mother seems to be easily the best way to get these figures.

Here are the results from 01/01/2009 to 31/12/2017 by year.

 

Year Babies
2009 40
2010 36
2011 43
2012 39
2013 59
2014 90
2015 96
2016 65
2017 59
Grand Total 527

 

Internal review
If you are dissatisfied with the service or response to your request you
can ask for an internal review by writing to:

 

Eileen Walsh

Director of Assurance

John Radcliffe Hospital

Headley Way

Headington

Oxford

OX3 9DU

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office

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Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 Website: [1]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Provision of this information does not constitute permission for its
commercial re-use in terms of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information
Regulations 2005.  You are free to use the information for your own use,
including for non-commercial research purposes.  The information may also
be used for the purposes of news reporting.  However, any other type of
re-use will require permission from the Oxford University Hospitals NHS
Trust.

 

Yours sincerely,

Amanda Williams

         Oxford University
Hospitals

NHS Foundation Trust
Freedom of Information Team
John Radcliffe Hospital  
* Email: [2][Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]
Headley Way

Headington

Oxford OX3 9DU

References

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1. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]