Replacement of pagers (bleeps) in the NHS
Dear Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust,
I am undertaking a study on technology adoption within the NHS.
On 23 February 2019, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced that NHS trusts should have infrastructure in place to replace pagers (bleeps) by 30 September 2021, with complete phase out of pagers (bleeps) by 31 December 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/healt...
Under the FOI Act, please provide the following information, with "pagers" used as a synonym for "bleeps":
1. As at 31 May 2021, how many pagers were in use in your Trust?
2. For the financial year ending 31 March 2021, what is the total annualised cost of pagers (broken down by equipment rental, licences, low value equipment replacement, maintenance of infrastructure, depreciation on capital assets and any other costs)?
3. What stage of procurement and implementation is your Trust currently at and what are the achieved and proposed times for the various steps (e.g. business case approved, tender issued, contract awarded, implementation started, test system is live/user acceptance testing, deployed system is live)?
4. If a contract has been awarded, which pager replacement system has your Trust selected?
5. What additional features does your proposed (or implemented) pager replacement system have, compared with previous capability? (e.g. integration with electronic patient record)
6. How many *users* and how many *devices* will the pager replacement system have?
7. What is the estimated total annualised cost of the replacement system (broken down by equipment rental, licences, low value equipment replacement, maintenance of infrastructure, depreciation on capital assets and any other costs)?
8. Will the trust retain some pagers for *emergency* communications or will emergency communications be handled by the pager replacement system? If some pagers are being retained, how many?
9. If the pager replacement system fails, what will be used as a backup system? (e.g. do you have plans to use staff personal devices?)
10. Is the Trust on course to phase out pagers for *non-emergency* communications by 31 December 2021? If not, by when?
11. Is there a benefits realisation plan or post-implementation monitoring plan in place?
Many thanks for your help.
Yours faithfully,
Constantinos Regas
Dear Constantinos Regas,
I have just checked our records and can see that I did not acknowledge
your request, I do apologise.
I can confirm your Freedom of Information request is being handled under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Your request is receiving attention and we will provide a response within
20 working days, that is, by 1 July 2021.
Please contact me if you have any queries in the interim, quoting our
reference (FOI 6523) and I will be happy to help.
Kind regards
Jeanette
Jeanette Randall
Freedom of information officer
Communications and marketing
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, RH1 5RH
[1][Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
[2]www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk
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Dear Constantinos Regas,
Please see attached our response to your Freedom of Information request.
Kind regards
Jeanette
Jeanette Randall
Freedom of information officer
Communications and marketing
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, RH1 5RH
[1][Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
[2]www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk
One Team l Compassion l Dignity and Respect l Safety and Quality
[3]cid:image004.png@01D71C18.3931D940
Follow us on social media: [4]Twitter ¦ [5]Facebook ¦ [6]LinkedIn ¦
[7]YouTube
Dear FOI team
Thank you for your initial response.
Would it be possible, in line with the Trust's s.16 FOIA duty, to answer Question 2 in aggregate without the breakdown of costs please?
many thanks
Constantinos
Dear Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
Ref:6523
I am writing to request an internal review of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Replacement of pagers (bleeps) in the NHS'.
I requested a clarification to the Trust's response to my FOI request but have not received a response to my email (copied below). If you are unable to resolve this informally, please escalate for internal review.
many thanks
Constantinos
***
9 July 2021
Dear FOI team
Thank you for your initial response.
Would it be possible, in line with the Trust's s.16 FOIA duty, to answer Question 2 in aggregate without the breakdown of costs please?
many thanks
Constantinos
Dear Constantinos,
I am sorry that you are dissatisfied with our response to your Freedom of
Information request (ref 6523) and confirm that I will pass your concerns
to a relevant senior manager so that they may review our handling of your
request.
We will write to you within 20 working days to advise you of the outcome
of the review.
If we believe our original request was correct, we will explain why we
consider this so.
Should you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you would
have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
However, I should point out that under section 50(2)(a) of the Freedom of
Information Act, the ICO is not obliged to consider your appeal unless you
have already completed an internal review.
Kind regards
Jeanette
Jeanette Randall
Freedom of information officer and communications support
Communications and marketing
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, RH1 5RH
[1][Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
[2]www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk
Please note: I work remotely on Mondays and Fridays and Wednesday is my
non-working day
One Team l Compassion l Dignity and Respect l Safety and Quality
[3]cid:image004.png@01D71C18.3931D940
Follow us on social media: [4]Twitter ¦ [5]Facebook ¦ [6]LinkedIn ¦
[7]YouTube
Dear Constantinos,
Please see attached our response to your internal review request.
Kind regards,
Jeanette
Jeanette Randall
Freedom of information officer and communications support
Communications and marketing
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
East Surrey Hospital, Redhill, RH1 5RH
[1][Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust request email]
[2]www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk
Please note: I work remotely on Mondays and Fridays and Wednesday is my
non-working day
One Team l Compassion l Dignity and Respect l Safety and Quality
[3]cid:image004.png@01D71C18.3931D940
Follow us on social media: [4]Twitter ¦ [5]Facebook ¦ [6]LinkedIn ¦
[7]YouTube
Dear FOI
Thank you for your response.
That concludes this FOI request.
best regards
Constantinos
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