Replacement of pagers (bleeps) in the NHS
Dear Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation 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 Requester,
I acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act, and you can expect the Trust’s response on or by 01/07/2021.
Yours sincerely,
IG/FOI Coordinator
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kempston Rd | Bedford | MK42 9DJ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Burnett Donna (RC9) Luton & Dunstable Hospital FT
<[Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust request email]>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 1:07 PM
To: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of pagers
(bleeps) in the NHS
Donna Burnett
Trust Board Secretary
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 07812 493447
Visit: [1]www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk
Good afternoon
FOI 654...Unfortunately there has been a slight delay in providing a
response to your request.
The team hope to have this out to you as soon as possible
Kind Regards
FOI Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 5:09 PM
To: [FOI #762095 email]
<[FOI #762095 email]>
Subject: Response 654: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of
pagers (bleeps) in the NHS
Dear Requester,
I acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act, and you can expect the Trust’s response on or by 01/07/2021.
Yours sincerely,
IG/FOI Coordinator
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kempston Rd | Bedford | MK42 9DJ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Burnett Donna (RC9) Luton & Dunstable Hospital FT
<[Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust request email]>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 1:07 PM
To: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of pagers
(bleeps) in the NHS
Donna Burnett
Trust Board Secretary
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 07812 493447
Visit: [1]www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk
Good afternoon
FOI 654...Apologies I have sent a reminder to the approval team ...we hope
to have this out to you asap.
BW
FOI Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Constantinos Regas <[FOI #762095 email]>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2021 2:48 PM
To: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Subject: Re: Response 654: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of
pagers (bleeps) in the NHS
Dear FOI team
Do you have any update please?
many thanks
Constantinos
Good morning
FOI 654...Please accept the teams apologies for the delay in providng a
response.
Kind Regards
FOI Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 5:09 PM
To: [FOI #762095 email]
<[FOI #762095 email]>
Subject: Response 654: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of
pagers (bleeps) in the NHS
Dear Requester,
I acknowledge receipt of your request under the Freedom of Information
(FOI) Act, and you can expect the Trust’s response on or by 01/07/2021.
Yours sincerely,
IG/FOI Coordinator
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Kempston Rd | Bedford | MK42 9DJ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Burnett Donna (RC9) Luton & Dunstable Hospital FT
<[Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust request email]>
Sent: Thursday, June 3, 2021 1:07 PM
To: FOIBEDFORDSHIREHOSPITALS (BEDFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
<[email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Replacement of pagers
(bleeps) in the NHS
Donna Burnett
Trust Board Secretary
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tel: 07812 493447
Visit: [1]www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk
Dear FOI team
Thank you for your reply.
Rather than request an internal review at this stage, I would like the Trust to re-visit its response.
The Trust's response states that the information is for Luton and Dunstable University Hospital only and does not include Bedford Hospital. Since the Trust has been a unified legal entity for over a year, I would have expected the figures to include all constituent hospitals in the Trust. (Presumably the Trust produces consolidated accounts for both hospitals, so this information should be available?) Please provide the Bedford figures.
The response to Q2 is incomplete because no financial data, either in aggregate or broken down, has been provided.
If the Trust is unable to respond informally, please consider this a request for internal review.
many thanks
Constantinos
Dear Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's handling of my FOI request 'Replacement of pagers (bleeps) in the NHS'.
The Trust has not replied to my follow-up email of 20 July 2021. I look forward to a full substantive response (without redactions or exemptions) as soon as practicable and, in any case, within the statutory timeframes.
many thanks
Constantinos
Sent to FOI for you again today - they should get in touch and apologies for the delay.
Donna Burnett
Trust Board Secretary
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
[mobile number]
Visit: www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk
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