Board Papers

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust,

At the Redbridge Health Committee of 5th November BHRUT made reference to a board meeting at which the overnight closure of children's A&E at King George Hospital was discussed. The BHRUT chief executive attended the meeting and will be able to you the date of the board meeting that was referred to.

Under freedom of information law I seek the papers of this meeting. By this I mean the agenda, minutes of previous meeting and all the attached papers including the overnight closure of King George children's A&E.

Yours faithfully,

Andy Walker

SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Dear Applicant

Re: Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
This is an automated response to confirm that your message has been
received by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS
Trust.
For the purposes of the Act, your request will be deemed to have been
received on the first working day following delivery. 
 

Current COVID-19 situation – Please see below

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust is
committed to complying with ‘Rights of access’ requests made under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

However, the care of our patients and the safety of our staff take
precedence, and our resources are currently prioritised in clinical areas
as NHS colleagues continue to deal with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic.  We have prioritised all activity in supporting front-line
colleagues.

 

With this added pressure on the NHS, we are unlikely at this present time
to meet statutory timescales when dealing with new requests for
information, and there will delays in obtaining updates on existing FOI
requests.  Can we therefore ask you to consider if your request can be
postponed until after this pandemic is over or to bear with us during this
unprecedented time.

 

We will continue to work as best we can and continue to process requests
for information, but we will be wholly dependent on availability of staff
to provide these details during this challenging time. 

The Information Commissioner’s Office recognises the pressures currently
faced by the NHS. 

 

Please also note, we will NOT be handling or processing any postal
requests at this current time.  Please send all requests to our email
address [1][Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

(01 April 2020)

 
Freedom of Information Officer
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

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SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

2 Attachments

Please see attached

 

 

[1]cid:image004.jpg@01D3D706.FF88FE20

T Rasool 

Communications and Engagement | Corporate Division

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

W: [2]www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk

PLEASE NOTE -THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ENQUIRIES
IS [3][Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]

 

From: Andy Walker [mailto:[FOI #705053 email]]
Sent: 11 November 2020 07:28
To: SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
HOSPITALS NHS TRUST)
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Board Papers

 

This message has been archived, please click [4]here to view the message.

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Dear SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST),

Thank you for your rely today. You write in your reply of today to say

Response
Please find below a list of the documents available to be posted to you.
Kindly confirm your postal address by responding to the following email address quoting reference FOI 7008, and these will be posted immediately.
[email address]

I will will supply my address later today.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Walker

SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Dear Applicant

Re: Freedom of Information Request
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
This is an automated response to confirm that your message has been
received by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS
Trust.
For the purposes of the Act, your request will be deemed to have been
received on the first working day following delivery. 
 

Current COVID-19 situation – Please see below

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust is
committed to complying with ‘Rights of access’ requests made under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

However, the care of our patients and the safety of our staff take
precedence, and our resources are currently prioritised in clinical areas
as NHS colleagues continue to deal with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic.  We have prioritised all activity in supporting front-line
colleagues.

 

With this added pressure on the NHS, we are unlikely at this present time
to meet statutory timescales when dealing with new requests for
information, and there will delays in obtaining updates on existing FOI
requests.  Can we therefore ask you to consider if your request can be
postponed until after this pandemic is over or to bear with us during this
unprecedented time.

 

We will continue to work as best we can and continue to process requests
for information, but we will be wholly dependent on availability of staff
to provide these details during this challenging time. 

The Information Commissioner’s Office recognises the pressures currently
faced by the NHS. 

 

Please also note, we will NOT be handling or processing any postal
requests at this current time.  Please send all requests to our email
address [1][Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

(01 April 2020)

 
Freedom of Information Officer
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.

show quoted sections

Dear Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews. I am writing to request an internal review of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Board Papers'.

Thank you for sending redacted copies of agendas and minutes of two BHRUT board meetings, one for the 30th September 2020 and the other of 4th November 2020. I seek no further information from the two agendas provided.

For ease of convenience I have paginated the documents into a PDF file which is available here https://redbridgetradeunionparty.files.w... Regarding the minutes of 30th September and 4th November I seek the following:
Everything that is redacted, unless it would mean the individual identity of a patient being revealed or a staff member's conduct which was the subject of disciplinary measures.

For example, business cases are publicly funded and should be available for public viewing. Suppressing these key documents makes it impossible for the the public to lobby elected representatives for, against or to amend these plans for the future of our NHS. Redacting these documents undermines our democracy and risks poor decision making because it encourages inadequate scrutiny. These business cases should have gone to council health scrutiny, but have not done so. I encourage BHRUT to send them to Councillors immediately.

A BHRUT failed bid for funding to expand Queens hospital and so close the A&E at King George as a type 1 facility is available here https://redbridgetradeunionparty.files.w...

While it should be noted that BHRUT deny the failed bid meant closing the King George A&E as type 1 unit, it must be reasonable for the public to inspect current BHRUT business plans for whether BHRUT stills intends to close King George A&E as a type 1 facility and move most emergency patients to Queens and centre planned treatment at King George.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...

Yours faithfully,

Andy Walker

SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Walker

 

Please find attached our response to your request for an Internal Review.

 

Yours sincerely

 

T Rasool

 

On behalf of

Matt Fleming

Head of Information Governance & Health Records | Data Protection Officer

 

 

[1]cid:image004.jpg@01D3D706.FF88FE20

T Rasool 

Communications and Engagement | Corporate Division

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

W: [2]www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk

PLEASE NOTE -THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ALL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ENQUIRIES
IS [3][Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust request email]

 

[4]cid:image002.png@01D4F39B.F3C65990

 

From: Andy Walker [mailto:[FOI #705053 email]]
Sent: 06 March 2021 16:54
To: SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
HOSPITALS NHS TRUST)
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Board Papers

 

This message has been archived, please click [5]here to view the message.

show quoted sections

Dear SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST),

Thank you for your internal review. I wrote to the ICO earlier today to say:

I wrote to Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) on 11th November 2020 seeking management agenda & papers. BHRUT have supplied some information such as agendas, but refuse to provide key papers or heavily redact them. For example, business cases are publicly funded and should be available for public viewing. Suppressing these key documents makes it impossible for the public to lobby elected representatives for, against or to amend these plans for the future of our NHS. NHS Business cases are usually published, an example is the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS business case at the link http://www.cht.nhs.uk/fileadmin/site_set... I say it is wrong for BHRUT not to publish these business cases: I refer to 1) the Emergency Department Queen's
Hospital Full Business Case 2)The Paediatric Assessment Unit Queen's Hospital Full Business Case 2) 3) Emergency Department King George's Hospital Full Business Case listed in the 4th November 2020 board agenda.

I say the suppression of key documents by BHRUT such as full business cases is yet another episode in the move away from transparency to secrecy. BHRUT used to meet monthly in public, publish bed numbers and take without notice questions. All these have gone making it more difficult for the public and their elected representatives to hold the board to account. I hope the ICO will agree this suppression of key documents is wrong and instruct BHRUT to publish all the documents sought unless patient or staff confidentiality is an issue.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Walker

SM-FREEDOMOFINFORMATION (BARKING, HAVERING AND REDBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST), Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. 

This is an automated response to confirm that your message has been
received by Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS
Trust.
For the purposes of the Act, your request will be deemed to have been
received on the first working day following delivery.  

  

In view of the added pressure on the NHS, and the challenges we are
facing, please be mindful that we may be required to divert resources to
more critical areas.  There is no change to statuary compliance
timescales, and we will continue to work hard to respond to all requests
as soon as possible.  

Thank you 

  

Freedom of Information Officer 

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. 

 

Updated July 2021 

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