Qu 2 of 2 re Care Connect: why not use Patient Opinion?

The request was partially successful.

Dear NHS England

FoI request: Why build NHS Connect Care Choices instead of using the excellent Patient Opinion service?
--

Please could you provide me with any papers presentations or discussions from NHS England or its predecessor bodies leading up to the decision to build the new patient feedback service NHS Choices "Care Connect" (now to be found at https://www.nhs.uk/careconnect/choices) despite the existence since 2008 of the popular and responsible independent feedback service Patient Opinion https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/ run by the UK social enterprise of the same name?

Please can you provide

- any evidence that the alternative of using Patient Opinion was properly considered,
- any NHS England (or its predecessors) evaluation of the merits and demerits of Patient Opinion, and
- any cost-benefit analysis to support the decision to recreate online NHS feedback by building an in-house service.

Many thanks

William Heath

Contactus England (HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE INFORMATION CENTRE), NHS England

Thank you for contacting NHS England.

 

Your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which we received on 4 January
2014 has been allocated a reference number of SDR 189848.  Please quote
this reference in any further communication regarding this matter.

 

Your FOI request has been passed to the Case Management Team and a Case
Officer will acknowledge your request within two working days.  We will
respond to your FOI request within 20 working days in line with the FOI
Act 2000.

 

If you require any further information or wish to speak to someone about
your request, please contact NHS England at the email address and
telephone number shown below.

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738 | Redditch | B97 9PT

0300 3 11 22 33

[1][email address]

[2]www.england.nhs.uk

 

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FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

Our reference: SDR-189848 - Acknowledgement

 

Dear Mr Heath,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, dated 4 January
2014.

 

Please be assured that your request is being dealt with under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty
working days.

 

If you have any queries about this request or wish to contact us again,
please email [1][email address] and the message will be
forwarded appropriately. Please remember to quote the above reference
number in any future communications.

 

Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Tesseyman

Freedom of Information

NHS England

 

Tel: 0300 311 2233

Email: [2][email address]

Website: [3]www.england.nhs.uk

Address: NHS England, PO Box 16738, REDDITCH, B97 9PT

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.england.nhs.uk/

FOI England (NHS ENGLAND), NHS England

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Heath,

 

Re:      Freedom of Information request (Our Ref: SDR 189848)

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 4 January
2014.

 

Your exact request was:

 

“Why build NHS Connect Care Choices instead of using the excellent Patient
Opinion service?

 

Please could you provide me with any papers presentations or discussions
from NHS England or its predecessor bodies leading up to the decision to
build the new patient feedback service NHS Choices "Care Connect" (now to
be found at [1]https://www.nhs.uk/careconnect/choices) despite the
existence since 2008 of the popular and responsible independent feedback
service Patient Opinion [2]https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/ run by the
UK social enterprise of the same name?

 

Please can you provide

 

- any evidence that the alternative of using Patient Opinion was properly
considered,

- any NHS England (or its predecessors) evaluation of the merits and
demerits of Patient Opinion, and

- any cost-benefit analysis to support the decision to recreate online NHS
feedback by building an in-house service.”

 

NHS England holds some information relevant to your request.

 

By way of background, Care Connect is a pilot service designed to test the
use of 24*7 multi-channelled access to enable members of the public to
provide feedback and report problems on NHS services they have used and to
ask general questions. Care Connect uses the existing NHS Choices review
service for the Share Your Experience function.  Care Connect simply
surfaces the reviews along with Problem Reports and Friends and Family
Test results. 

 

The Report a Problem function was a new concept NHS England wanted to test
out, based on the USA 311 and the similar approach taken by the UK Police
who have adopted 101 for triaging all non emergency calls. This includes
the ability for patients and the public to telephone, text or post
problems and concerns related to the NHS onto an interactive map and
dashboards. These are sent in real time and un-moderated to the NHS
provider best placed to help with a resolution. The outcomes are also
posted on the site. If a member of the public chooses to share the details
of the problem, it is subject to moderation before publication.

 

The pilot was developed following garland principles and to test the
concept. The requirement was for an ”app”’ to direct members of the public
to the pilot service that could be surfaced on NHS Choices and
myhealthlondon.

 

Please find below our response to the first element request:

 

”Please could you provide me with any papers presentations or discussions
from NHS England or its predecessor bodies leading up to the decision to
build the new patient feedback service NHS Choices "Care Connect" (now to
be found at [3]https://www.nhs.uk/careconnect/choices) despite the
existence since 2008 of the popular and responsible independent feedback
service Patient Opinion [4]https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/ run by the
UK social enterprise of the same name?”

 

NHS England has conducted a search of our records and the following
documents have been identified as being applicable to your request:

 

·         The Integrated Customer Services Platform

 

The Integrated Customer Services Platform document is attached, however
page 14 which contains financial information has been withheld under
Section 43 of the FOI Act. Section 43 exempts from the general duty to
release information which would, or would be likely to, prejudice the
commercial interests of any entity, including the public authority holding
the information.

 

Section 43 is a qualified exemption and, as such, we are required to
assess the public interest in withholding this information against that of
its release. We recognise that there is a general public interest in
understanding how NHS England spends public funds, however, we also take
into account the fact that this information is commercially sensitive as
the Care Connect service was procured through a tendering process and
releasing these financial details, would jeopardise NHS England in being
able to attain value for money if any future procurements for similar
services takes place.  

 

·         Terms of reference document

·         Ratification Document

·         Invitation to offer EPJB210113: Patient Connect Platform Web
Design/Application Development Services.

 

The documents named above are attached, however the names and contact
details of employees below Very Senior Manager level and the signature of
a Very Senior Manager have been redacted under Section 40(2) of the FOI
Act which provides for the protection of personal information.  Section 40
prohibits a public body from disclosing personally identifiable
information as doing so would contravene data protection principles.
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption and therefore not subject to the
public interest test when considering disclosure of information. 

 

Please see the following in response to the additional elements of your

Request:

 

”Please can you provide.

 

- any evidence that the alternative of using Patient Opinion was properly
considered,’

And

-any NHS England (or its predecessors) evaluation of the merits and
demerits of Patient Opinion”

 

NHS England does not hold information relevant to this request.

 

Using Patient Opinion instead of this pilot was not a consideration.

 

To allow the piloting of this multi-faceted service, a tender was put out
to market for the development of the web service element. It was procured
through open competition via NHS London (now NHS England). The decision to
go to open tender was with the intention of stimulating the market and
allowing industry experts to bid for the work. To ensure fairness and
integrity no external supplier was favoured or considered for this work
and the bid was put out for all to respond to. Patient Opinion would have
been entitled to bid, along with other existing feedback service
providers. We note that Patient Opinion did not submit a bid.

 

“- any cost-benefit analysis to support the decision to recreate online
NHS feedback by building an in-house service.”

 

NHS England did not build an in-house service.  The service was procured
through open competition via NHS London and therefore NHS England does not
hold information relevant to this request.

 

I hope this information is helpful. However, if you are dissatisfied, you
have the right to ask for an internal review by writing to us, within two
months of the date of this letter, to:

 

NHS England

PO Box 16738

REDDITCH

B97 9PT

 

Email: [5][email address]

 

Please quote the reference number SDR 189848 in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

K9 5AF

 

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: [6][email address].uk  

Website: [7]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Please note there is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please do not reply directly to this email. This message has been sent
from a central mailbox and incoming messages will not be received.

   

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Tesseyman

Customer Contact Centre Case Officer

NHS England

 

Tel:               0300 311 22 33

Email:           [8][email address]

Web:            [9]www.england.nhs.uk 

 

NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT

 

‘High quality care for all, now and for future generations’

 

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References

Visible links
1. https://www.nhs.uk/careconnect/choices
2. https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/
3. https://www.nhs.uk/careconnect/choices
4. https://www.patientopinion.org.uk/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
8. mailto:[email address]
9. http://www.england.nhs.uk/