Virginity testing/hymen inspections

The request was refused by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

Dear NHS trusts,

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom Information Act 2000:

I am investigating requests for the inspection of a person's hymen for the purpose of verifying whether they have had sexual intercourse.

1. How many people have received a hymen inspection for this purpose since 2015?
2. How many people have requested to have a hymen inspection for this purpose since 2015?

Please provide the information electronically in a spreadsheet format.

Yours faithfully,
Claire Hubble

foi (SHREWSBURY AND TELFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST), The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Hubble,

 

Thank you for your request for information.

 

The Trust acknowledges your request and it is being processed as a new
request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you if necessary and you
will be required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your
request.                                                                            

                                                                  

Please find attached a briefing which explains:

 

o your rights to request a review by the Trust or to complain to the
Information Commissioner’s Office if you are not satisfied with the
response from the Trust,
o an outline of the Trust’s policy on the Reuse of Public Sector
Information

 

If you have any queries regarding this email, please contact me and quote
the reference number above in any future correspondence.

 

Please note that there may be an unavoidable delay in response to your
request for information due to urgent operational pressures Trust staff
are undergoing while responding to Public Health priorities. We apologise
for any inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding
to your request and will respond as soon as we are able. Should our
response to your request breach the statutory timeframe and you remain
unhappy with our response you have the right to complain to the
Information Commissioners Office and you can contact them at:

 

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Website: [1]www.ico.gov.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please find the link to the ICO’s COVID-19 response

 

[2]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...

Kind regards,

Sophie Cole

 

 

 

 

Sophie Cole

Assurance Team and
Freedom of Information
Administrator

 

The Shrewsbury and
Telford Hospital NHS
Trust | Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital |
Mytton Oak Road |
Shrewsbury | Shropshire
| SY3 8XQ

 

Telephone 01743 261087

Email
[3][email address]
 

FOI email
[4][email address

 

 

 

 

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show quoted sections

COLE, Sophie (SHREWSBURY AND TELFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST), The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Hubble,

 

Thank you for your FOI request sent on 4^th November 2020. You asked:

 

 

I am investigating requests for the inspection of a person's hymen for the
purpose of verifying whether they have had sexual intercourse.

 

1. How many people have received a hymen inspection for this purpose since
2015?

2. How many people have requested to have a hymen inspection for this
purpose since 2015?

 

 

Under Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I can
confirm that The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust holds
information that falls within the definition in your request. The Trust
does not have a clinical code for hymen inspections and so cannot pull a
report from the central patient information system. This is not a
registered procedure conducted by the Trust and therefore does not have a
clinical code. An inspection may be part of a hymen repair procedure or
something similar of that nature but is a detail that could only be
available within patient notes of which there would be thousands.
Therefore a the cost of complying with the request would significantly
exceed the appropriate limit as set out in Section 12 of the Act.

 

 

Please also find attached a briefing which explains your rights to request
a review by the Trust or to complain to the Information Commissioner’s
Office if you are not satisfied with the response from the Trust, and an
outline of the Trust’s policy on the Reuse of Public Sector Information.

 

If you have any queries regarding this email, please contact the Freedom
of Information Officer via [1][email address] and quote the reference
number above in any future correspondence. If you would like to give
feedback please visit [2]https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DXTP8QQ for our
short questionnaire.

 

Kind regards,

Sophie Cole

 

 

 

[3]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: cid:image001.png@01CF9543.36AA4670

Sophie Cole [6]cid:image002.jpg@01D6A168.61195850

Assurance Team and
Freedom of Information
Administrator

 

The Shrewsbury and
Telford Hospital NHS
Trust | Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital |
Mytton Oak Road |
Shrewsbury | Shropshire
| SY3 8XQ

 

Telephone 01743 261087

Email
[4][email address]
 

FOI email
[5][email address

 

 

 

 

This message
may contain
confidential
information.
If you are
not the
intended
recipient
please
inform the
sender that
you have
received the
message in
error before
deleting it.
Please do
not
disclose,
copy or
distribute
information
in this
e-mail or
take any
action in
relation to
its
contents: to
do so is
strictly
prohibited
and may be
unlawful.

 

 

 

 

 

From: foi (SHREWSBURY AND TELFORD HOSPITAL NHS TRUST)
Sent: 04 November 2020 17:58
To: Claire Hubble <[7][FOI #703853 email]>
Subject: 20-1109 FOI Request: Virginity testing/hymen inspections

 

Dear Ms Hubble,

 

Thank you for your request for information.

 

The Trust acknowledges your request and it is being processed as a new
request under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you if necessary and you
will be required to pay before I will proceed to deal with your
request.                                                                            

                                                                  

Please find attached a briefing which explains:

 

o your rights to request a review by the Trust or to complain to the
Information Commissioner’s Office if you are not satisfied with the
response from the Trust,
o an outline of the Trust’s policy on the Reuse of Public Sector
Information

 

If you have any queries regarding this email, please contact me and quote
the reference number above in any future correspondence.

 

Please note that there may be an unavoidable delay in response to your
request for information due to urgent operational pressures Trust staff
are undergoing while responding to Public Health priorities. We apologise
for any inconvenience this may cause, we do remain committed to responding
to your request and will respond as soon as we are able. Should our
response to your request breach the statutory timeframe and you remain
unhappy with our response you have the right to complain to the
Information Commissioners Office and you can contact them at:

 

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Website: [8]www.ico.gov.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Please find the link to the ICO’s COVID-19 response

 

[9]https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...

Kind regards,

Sophie Cole

 

 

 

 

Sophie Cole

Assurance Team and
Freedom of Information
Administrator

 

The Shrewsbury and
Telford Hospital NHS
Trust | Royal Shrewsbury
Hospital | Mytton Oak
Road | Shrewsbury |
Shropshire | SY3 8XQ

 

Telephone 01743 261087

Email
[10][email address]
 

FOI email
[11][email address

 

 

 

 

This message
may contain
confidential
information.
If you are
not the
intended
recipient
please
inform the
sender that
you have
received the
message in
error before
deleting it.
Please do
not
disclose,
copy or
distribute
information
in this
e-mail or
take any
action in
relation to
its
contents: to
do so is
strictly
prohibited
and may be
unlawful.

 

 

 

show quoted sections