Dear Northern Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland),

Please provide:

1. The names of non-NIAS ambulance service providers who are approved suppliers to NHSCT for non-emergency patient transfer facilities.

2. Which of those ambulance service providers use staff with current AccessNI clearance?

3. How does the Trust verify that ambulance providers only use staff with current AccessNI clearance?

4. What certifications, associations or other measures are used by the Trust to reassure patients that a given ambulance service provider will provide an appropriate standard of care?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Yours faithfully,

Mr M Gerner

Dear Ms McLaughlin,

Thank you for passing on to me a response to my FOIA query. Could you kindly obtain clarification on some points in the answer given?

Re Q3. AccessNI Clearance

From the answer given, it appears that the Trust has not verified information given by the Service Providers. Please note that a Service Provider (allegedly) having an Access NI certificate would merely confirm they have a certificate: it does not demonstrate absence of convictions. For the Trust to satisfy itself regarding the suitability of a particular person, the certificate itself would need reviewed. Other Trusts (e.g. Southern HSCT) require providers to furnish copies of the up-to-date Access NI clearance forms for any personnel involved in ambulance transfer services. In view of the corporate duty of care involved, examination of certificates by the Trust would prima facie appear to be a more defensible approach.

Q3a. Can the Trust reassure the public that it has carried out such verification by the time the Trust responds to this FOIA?

(Given that the Service Providers have all responded positively to the Trust's initial enquiry, it seems reasonable that they provide a timely response to the Trusts' request for visibility of those certificates.)

Q3b. What action does the Trust propose to take in the event that a Service Provider has provided reassurance to the Trust but, on examination of the Access NI certificates, it turns out that an individual deployed by that Service Provider does, in fact, have a relevant conviction that would reasonably cause the Trust concern?

Re Q4. Certification

The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) is Northern Ireland's independent health and social care regulator.

Q4a. Could the Trust explain why the answer provided cites the "Care Quality Commission", instead of the appropriate Northern Ireland body?

Yours sincerely,

Mr M Gerner

Dear Ms Moore

Thank you for your update.

I would expect clarifications of information provided to still fall under the provisions of FOIA. In particular, the request to clarify why the earlier response cited an authority whose jurisdiction does not extend to Northern Ireland. But I understand you will need that information from elsewhere within the Trust. I look forward to the response from the Trust.

Yours sincerely,

Mr M Gerner

Dear Northern Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland),

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Northern Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland)'s handling of my FOI request 'Quality of private ambulance provision for patient transfers'.

A response is long overdue for information that falls well within the bounds of FOIA.

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

Yours faithfully,

Mr M Gerner

Dear Northern Health & Social Care Trust FOIA team,

Thank you for your response letter.

The answers to my questions were succinctly and clearly put. I am therefore satisfied with the material you have provided.

However, the review letter made no attempt to explain why the Trust breached the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in that the responses were delayed well beyond the time limits specified in that Act. I would encourage the Trust to review the causes of that delay and remediate them in order to avoid any future breach of the Act.

Since I have the information requested, I am content and will not seek to take this any further.

Thank you once again for your attention to my enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Mr M Gerner