Bowel Care - spinal cord injured patients
Dear King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust,
I am sending a separate Freedom of Information request to every NHS Trust, and would request that Freedom of Information Coordinators send (via the WhatDoTheyKnow website) a discrete and separate response for either their own Trust, or for each of the individual Trusts they are responsible for.
I work for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), the leading national user-led charity supporting spinal cord injured people and their families. Being a user led organisation SIA understand the immense challenges of living with a spinal cord injury (SCI). We strive to support all SCI people to access the services and support they need to stay healthy and live fulfilled and active lives.
As a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I’d be grateful if you could provide the following information about the provision of bowel care for adults.
Q1. Does the Trust have a formal written policy for digital rectal examination, digital rectal stimulation and the digital removal of faeces in spinal cord injured and other patients with neurogenic bowel dysfunction?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q2. Is your policy based on the policy template that the Spinal Injuries Association circulated to your Trust in August 2018?
(a) Yes
(b) No
(c) No bowel assessment and management policy in place
Q3. If admitted to the Trust, will a person with neurogenic bowel dysfunction receive the following bowel care intervention – Digital removal of faeces?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q4. If admitted to the Trust, will a person with neurogenic bowel dysfunction receive the following bowel care intervention – Digital rectal stimulation?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q5. If admitted to the Trust, will a person with neurogenic bowel dysfunction receive the following bowel care intervention – Trans anal irrigation?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q6. Do you have ward-based staff skilled in supporting patients with neurogenic bowel care interventions, including the digital removal of faeces?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q7. Are staff available seven days a week to undertake these bowel care interventions?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q8. Does the Trust have a policy that allows for the personal care assistants/carers of spinal cord injured patients to assist with the bowel care element of the patient's care?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q9. Does the Trust have an appropriate clinical leader in place (such as a Continence Manager) to manage the overall delivery of bowel care interventions to patients?
(a) Yes
(b) No
Q10. What are the contact details for this clinical leader (i.e. name, job title, telephone number and email address)?
Thank you for your help with this request; if you have any queries then please let me know as soon as possible.
Yours faithfully,
Simon Pinnell
Dear Mr Pinnell
I am writing to confirm receipt of your request under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act), dated Tuesday 3 January 2022.
Please include the FoI reference number given in the subject line of this
email if contacting the FoI office.
In accordance with the Act, we aim to respond to your request within
twenty working days of receipt. If it becomes clear that provision of the
information you have asked for is likely to take longer than twenty
working days, I will let you know and give you an expected timescale.
Certain categories of information are exempt from the general right of
access provided by the Act. Should your request be deemed to relate to any
exempt information, I will advise you accordingly.
As a public authority, the Trust may charge a fee for the information
requested. Any fees are calculated in accordance with the regulations
issued under the Act. If your request generates a fee payment, I will
inform you at the earliest opportunity and provide an estimation of costs.
Please let me know if you require more details or further clarification.
You can find out more about the Act and other information resources
released by the Trust on our website at: [1]www.kch.nhs.uk
Kind Regards
Freedom of Information Officer
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, SE5 9RS
020 3299 9000
[2][King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust request email]
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[3]http://kingsdocs/docs/kchdocs/King's...
King’s College Hospital is part of King’s Health Partners Academic Health
Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King’s College
London, Guy’s and St Thomas’, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trusts. For more information, visit [4]www.kingshealthpartners.org
Dear Mr Pinnell
Further to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the
Act) dated Tuesday 3 January 2023, I am writing to confirm the information
that the Trust does and does not hold.
The text of your request is repeated on the attached document, together
with the Trust’s response.
You can find out more about the Act and other information resources
released by the Trust on our website at: [1]www.kch.nhs.uk
If you are dissatisfied with the Trust’s response, you may appeal to us in
the first instance. For contact details and a copy of our FOI appeal
process, please see our website or email us at [2][King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust request email]
If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right under section 50 of the Act
to apply to the Information Commissioner to seek resolution to the
matter. Further details can be found on their website at
[3]www.ico.org.uk
I hope this fulfils your request and we would welcome you feedback on our
FOI service. Please take the time to complete our Customer Satisfaction
Survey which is available online at the following link:
[4]http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D28MWWQ
Kind regards,
Freedom of Information Officer
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, SE5 9RS
020 3299 9000
[5][King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust request email]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[6]http://kingsdocs/docs/kchdocs/King's...
King’s College Hospital is part of King’s Health Partners Academic Health
Sciences Centre (AHSC), a pioneering collaboration between King’s College
London, Guy’s and St Thomas’, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trusts. For more information, visit [7]www.kingshealthpartners.org
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