Services to Foster Carers
Dear Western Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland),
I am writing to make a request for all the following information which I am entitled to under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please provide a copy of the following information related to commissioned services to foster carers and kinship carers in your Trust area. Please provide details of the spending broken down by financial year for each of the last 3 years (2023-24, 2022-23, 2021-22)
1) The total spent to purchase carers' membership of the Fostering Network each year.
2) The total spent on commissioned carer ‘independent’ support and advocacy services associated with allegations and complaints made against carers each year.
3) Please provide copies of the most recent evaluations of each of these services.
4) Please provide copies of the Trust’s documented Public Patient involvement (PPI) of carers in the planning, commissioning, and evaluation of membership services of the Fostering Network as required by the Health and Social Care Reform Act (NI) 2009)
5) Please provide copies of the Trust’s documented Public Patient involvement (PPI) of carers in the planning, commissioning, and evaluation of the ‘independent’ support and advocacy service associated with allegations and complaints made against carers from the Fostering Network as required by the Health and Social Care Reform Act (NI) 2009).
I would like the above information to be provided to me as an electronic copy.
If the request is too broad or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me as I understand under the Act you are required to advise and assist requesters. If any of the information is already in the public domain, please send it to me directly with page references or URLs when necessary.
If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance under the section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine the request.
I understand that you are required to respond to my request within 20 working days after receiving this request. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing you have received this request.
I look forward to hearing from you soon,
Yours faithfully,
Dr Alastair Scott-McKinley
We acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request. Our
reference number for this request is listed in the subject line of this
email.
Please note: The FOI team is currently experiencing resource issues and
expects this to last for the next few months. This coincides with an
increase in the number of FOI requests received by the Trust. We will
continue to log and process your requests and will endeavour to respond as
soon as possible; however it is likely that not all responses will meet
the statutory deadline. Thank you for your patience at this time.
Reference: FOI24/1654
Subject: Commissioned services to foster carers and kinship carers
Please note whilst you have sent your request to
[1][email address] you will receive all other
communications regarding your request from
[2][email address]. This is generated by a new piece of
software now used by the Trust to manage information requests. Although
in different formats, both addresses are managed by the Trust FOI
department.
Kind Regards
Freedom of Information Office
Western Health & Social Care Trust
Email: FOIWesternTrust[3]@infreemation.co.uk
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[Western Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland) request email]
Dear Alastair Scott-McKinley
I refer to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request below which was
received by the Western Health and Social Care Trust on 08/02/2024
Please see attached a Trust response to your request.
We hope you find this response helpful.
Yours sincerely
(Not signed – issued by email)
Freedom of Information Office
Western Health and Social Care Trust
Freedom of Information: If you are dissatisfied as to how this request has
been handled, you have the right to seek a review within the Trust in the
first instance. You should write to the FOI Office, Lime Villa, Gransha
Park, Clooney Road, Londonderry, BT47 6WJ
([1][Western Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland) request email]) within two months of the date of
this response and your complaint will be considered and a response
provided, usually within 20 working days of receipt.
If, after receiving a response, you remain dissatisfied, you can refer
your complaint to the Information Commissioner at The Information
Commissioner’s office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF. It is important to note that if you refer any matter to the
Information Commissioner, you will need to show evidence of having gone
through the Trust’s internal review procedure to try to resolve the matter
with the Trust in the first instance.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Western Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland) request email]
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