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Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) from the 1 January 2005 gives people the right to access information held by the Trust.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has produced a Publication Scheme. Our Publication Scheme is a guide to the information routinely published by the Trust. It is a description of the information about our Trust which we make publicly available.

Freedom of Information Requests

Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 you have the right to request access to information held by public sector organisations, of which UHCW NHS Trust is one.

If you cannot find the information you require on our website, you can send an FOI request to the Trust using the following contact details: foi@uhcw.nhs.uk.

Trust Publication Scheme details

The Scheme is in eight parts. Click on the section that you would like to access. 

• What is a Publication Scheme?
Who we are and what we do
What we spend and how we spend it
What our priorities are and how we are doing
How we make decisions
Our policies and procedures
List and registers
The services we offer

1. What is a Publication Scheme?

This Publication Scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely published by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (henceforth also referred to as “the Trust” or “our Trust” in this document). It is a description of the information about our Trust, which we make publicly available. We shall review the Scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating.

It is important to us that this Scheme meets your needs and we have designed it to be a route map, so that you can find information about our Trust easily. Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme for the publication of Trust information. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities (of which the Trust is one).

The Publication Scheme will help you to find all the information which the Trust publishes. The Freedom of Information Act does not change the rights of patients to protection of their patient confidentiality in accordance with Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, the Data Protection Act 1998 and at common law. Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part. To help with this, we have appointed someone who is called a Caldicott Guardian, and who has responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality throughout the Trust in accordance with your legal rights. The Trust’s Caldicott Guardian is:

Mrs Meghana Pandit
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Tel No: 024 7696 4000

If you have any comments or questions about the Publication Scheme or require a copy of it, or any of the information included in it in hard copy, please contact:

FOI and Access to Health Records Department
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
CSB Room 20018
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Tel No: 024 7696 4000

The classes of information that we hold

The information is grouped into broad categories as follows:-

 

Information Management

Information falling into the classes outlined in the Freedom of Information Act will be retained in line with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust’s retention and disposal schedules, as part of the records strategy, which complies with circular HSC1999/53 and Public Record Office Guidance.

 

Feedback

Any questions, comments or complaints about this Scheme should be sent in writing to:

Director of Corporate Affairs

FOI and Access to Health Records Department
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
CSB Room 20018
Clifford Bridge Road
Walsgrave
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Tel: 02476 968771

If you have a complaint about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has dealt with your request for information from the Scheme, please write to:

Mr Andy Hardy
Chief Executive Officer 
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

 

Rights of Access to Information

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. To do this you should contact:- 

FOI and Access to Health Records Department
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
CSB Room 20018
Clifford Bridge Road
Walsgrave
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Tel No: 024 7696 8771 (direct line)

Email: A2HR@uhcw.nhs.uk

Download an application form here

New Environmental Information Regulations enable similar access to environmental information, as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

How we fit into the NHS Structure

Our Trust is covered by mainly by three Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): Coventry and Rugby CCG, Warwickshire North CCG and South Warwickshire CCG.

Further information with regard to the NHS structure can be found from the NHS England website here

2. Who we are and what we do

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust is one of the newest and busiest NHS teaching Trusts in the country, caring for over 1,000,000 people from across Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond.

We run University Hospital, Coventry and the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby, focusing on quality patient care, stringent infection control and specialising in cardiology, neurosurgery, stroke, joint replacements, IVF, diabetes, cancer care and kidney transplants. We employ around 6,300 staff and have 1,100 in-patient beds.

The Trust strives to meet national waiting time targets of:
• 26 weeks for inpatient treatment
• 13 weeks for outpatient appointments
• 13 weeks for revascularisation
• 2 weeks for rapid access chest pain clinics
• 6 weeks for diagnostics
• 18 weeks for 90% of admitted patients, 95% of non-admitted patients, and patients directly accessing Audiology
• 2 weeks for cancer from GP referral to first outpatient appointment
• 31 days for cancer from diagnosis to treatment
• 62 days for cancer from GP referral to treatment
 

• Organisational Structure

The Trust Board is the principal decision-making forum of the Trust. Trust Board is made up of Executive and Non-Executive Directors. The Non-Executive Directors have shared responsibility for the Board’s decisions and it is the collective responsibility of the Board to ensure successful operation of the organisation by:

• Setting the strategic direction and key corporate objectives of the Trust
• Monitoring the Trust’s performance against those objectives
• Being responsive to the local community and accountable to the Secretary of State for the services provided by the Trust.
• Ensuring that the Trust fully complies with its statutory duties and the Code of Conduct and Code of Accountability for NHS Boards issued by the Secretary of State for Health in April 1994 (revised 2004)

The Executive Directors are responsible for the day-to-day operational and performance management of the organisation and for ensuring that the Board’s plan and objectives are implemented.

The Non-Executive Directors’ role is to focus on the overall governance of the organisation and in particular its strategy, financial, clinical and quality performance. Non-Executive Directors are members of the community appointed on a part-time basis by the independent NHS Appointments Commission.

Together, the Non-Executive and Executive Directors of the Board have a range of experience across a range of sectors and organisations in both the private and public sector.

To support the Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors in the fulfilment of their responsibilities, a formal governance structure consisting of four sub committees is in place to help the Trust Board fulfil their responsibilities.

• Lists of information relating to organisations with which the Trust works in partnership

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust
Coventry City Council
Coventry University
General Electric (GE): GE is responsible for the clinical and medical equipment in the Trust and for the five year refurbishment of these parts as deemed in the contract. It is a global company which works with jet engines, power generation, financial services, water processing and medical imaging.
ISS Mediclean: ISS manages the soft facilities which take in services including portering, catering and cleaning. ISS entered the UK marketplace in 1968 and is now one of the country’s largest facility services providers. Its services range from office cleaning to other facility services like reception, help desk, delivery of internal mail, grounds maintenance, pest control, security, buildings maintenance and so on.
Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
Warwickshire North CCG
South Warwickshire CCG
Healthwatch Coventry
Healthwatch Warwickshire
VINCI Facilities: VINCI Facilities manages our hard facilities, which includes estates maintenance and engineering. VINCI Facilities is a leading provider of facilities management services to the public and private sector.
University of Warwick – which incorporates Warwick Medical School

• Senior Staff and Management Board Members

Board members’ profiles are available on this website.

• Location and Contact Details for all Public-facing Departments

Contact details for clinical services can be found on this site 

 

3. What we spend and how we spend it

• Annual Statement of Accounts

The annual statement of accounts for UHCW NHS Trust is included within the Annual Report. The Annual Report also gives details of how a copy of the detailed Trust accounts can be obtained.

• Budgets and Variance Reports

The monthly report to the Trust Board contains a Statement of Consolidated Income, a Statement of Financial Position and a Cashflow statement. In addition, the report contains other supporting information, which explains the financial performance of the organisation. Trust Board papers are available here.

• Financial Audit Reports

The Trust employs Coventry and Warwickshire Audit Services (CWAS), a local NHS audit consortium to provide internal audit services. In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers are the Trust’s appointed external auditors. The Trust’s Audit Committee receives regular updates from both internal and external audit and reviews and monitors progress against all audit reports which have been issued.

The Trust Board receives an annual audit letter from its external auditor which is considered in the Autumn of each year and is available in the Trust Board papers.

• Standing Financial Instructions

Together with Standing Orders and the scheme of Reservation and Delegation, Standing Financial Instructions (SFIs) provide the regulatory framework for the Trust to conduct its business. They fulfil the dual role of protecting the Trust’s interests and protecting staff from any possible accusation that they have acted less than properly. A copy of the SFIs is available within the e-Library by calling 024 7696 4000 and asking for the Health Information Centre or by emailing foi@uhcw.nhs.uk.  

• Capital Programme

The programme for capital spending on the fixed assets of the Trust is overseen by the Capital Planning Review Group, which meets monthly and is chaired by the Chief Finance Officer. This includes Trust expenditure on land, buildings, medical equipment, IT systems and other plant/equipment across each of the Trust’s sites. Summary information on the Trust’s capital programme is available in the Trust Board papers.

• Staff and Board Members’ Allowances and Expenses

Board members’ salaries and allowances are available in the Annual Report.

• Staff Pay and Grading Structures

Directors’ salaries are available in the Annual Report on the website. Staff are paid according to national pay scales.

• Procurement and Tendering Procedures

• Details of contracts currently being tendered.

For the most up-to-date information on tenders requiring OJEU adverts, please see Tenders European Daily (TED)

• List and value of contracts awarded and their value

For high values tenders please see Tenders European Daily (TED)

For further information, please contact John Dodd, Divisional Procurement Manager on 024 7696 4000.
 

4. What our priorities are and how we are doing


Annual Report

• Targets, aims and objectives – These can be found in the Annual Report.

The Trust sets its aims and objectives each year and incorporates them into the Annual Business Plan. The risks to achieving these objectives are monitored by the Trust Board via the Board Assurance Framework.

• Strategic Direction - Integrated Business Plan (5 year plan)

• Performance against Targets (KPI)/Performance Framework

UHCW’s mission is to provide high quality care, evidencing that this is being achieved by delivering compliance against targets and standards both at a national and local level.

More details about this can be found in the Annual Report  or Trust Board papers.
 

• Clinical Governance

Clinical Governance is the framework for ensuring the Trust provides safe, high quality clinical services that patients can have full confidence in. This entails having a robust committee structure that ensures all the elements that go into providing safe, high quality care are monitored and where necessary, improved. The principle committee that oversees clinical governance, quality and safety in the Trust is the Patient Confidence and Safety Committee.

A risk analysis report forms part of the Trust Annual Report.

• Care Quality Commission

UHCW is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide nine Regulated Activities at two locations (University Hospital, Coventry and Hospital of St Cross, Rugby).

 To maintain registration the Trust has to demonstrate compliance with the CQC’s Essential Standards of Quality and Safety. CQC assesses compliance by Intelligent Monitoring and Inspection. CQC has developed a new in-depth approach to inspection. These Comprehensive Inspections typically involve 30-40 people, including clinicians and ‘experts by experience’. Public, patients and staff all have an opportunity to share their views about services.

CQC continues to make unannounced Responsive Inspections where they have concerns about quality or safety and Thematic Reviews to evaluate the quality of a care pathway (such a patients with dementia) or a issue such as safeguarding.

More information is available on the Care Quality Commission website

• Audit Reports

The Trust employs Coventry and Warwickshire Audit Services (CWAS), a local NHS audit consortium, to provide internal audit services. In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers are the Trust’s appointed external auditors. The Trust’s Audit Committee receives regular updates from both internal and external audit and reviews and monitors progress against all audit reports which have been issued.

The Trust Board receives an annual audit letter from its external auditor which is considered in the Autumn of each year and is available in the Trust Board papers.

• Service User Surveys

Each year the Care Quality Commission carries out an in-patient survey of approximately 850 patients who have been in-patients at the Trust during the previous summer. The latest in-patient survey findings are on the Care Quality Commission website. In addition, the Trust has its own patient survey system which any patient, visitor or carer can complete on any aspect of the Trust’s services. Survey forms are available online or in hard copy from all reception areas of the Trust. The Trust uses these responses to actively improve its services. If you want to complete the survey to tell us about your experiences of the Trust, please visit our feedback page.

5. How we make decisions


• Board papers – Agenda, supporting Papers and Minutes

As part of the Trust’s commitment to openness and accountability, the public are invited to attend public Trust Board meetings. A list of meeting dates, times and venues are published on the Trust website, along with all public Trust Board papers. Minutes from previous board meetings are also available.

Public meetings of the Trust Board are held regularly and provide the opportunity for staff, patients and the public to attend and to ask questions. In addition, the Trust’s Annual Report is presented at the Annual Public Meeting.

• Patient and Public Involvement

The Trust’s Engagement Strategy outlines the way in which the Trust ensures ‘internal’ statutory and non-statutory requirements of patient, carer and community involvement. The arrangements for overseeing our engagement work have recently been strengthened and a new Engagement Strategy is being developed. Once it is completed, it will be available here via a link.

As an aspirant NHS Foundation Trust, we also have a Membership Development Strategy which outlines how we will develop and maintain a representative membership and provide members with involvement opportunities with the Trust. This strategy is available here.

The Trust also has a proposed constitution when it becomes an NHS Foundation Trust. The contents of this were subject to public consultation during the latter part of 2009 and it will come into operation once the Trust is authorised as an NHS Foundation Trust. The constitution can be downloaded here.

6. Strategies, Policies and Procedures (Corporate Business Records)

Strategies, policies and procedures are vital to the effective management of patient care and to the efficient conduct of business. To enable staff to provide a first class service to patients, the Trust continues to develop and maintain numerous strategies, policies and procedures (Trust-wide Corporate Business Records).

In order to ensure a robust system for managing its Trust-wide corporate information, it has a comprehensive process for the formulation, development, approval and archival of its Trust-wide Corporate Business Records.

All Trust approved Corporate Business Records, Clinical Guidelines and Patient Information Leaflets are approved and registered on the Trust’s eLibrary (Records Management System) and are accessible to all staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week

The Trust’s Procedure for the Development & Management of Trust-wide Corporate Business Records (CBRs) is registered on eLibrary, which is only accessible to staff. For more information on this, please contact the Information Governance & Business Records Manager on 024 7696 4000.

7. Lists and Registers

In accordance with the Trust’s Standing Orders, the Trust is required to maintain the following registers:

• List of main contractors/suppliers
• Asset Registers
• Information Asset Register
• Risk Register
• Register of Interests**
• Register of Gifts and Hospitality provided to Board members and senior personnel**
• Register of Seals**

** These are ‘live’ documents, which are maintained by the Director of Corporate Affairs. The registers identified above are maintained to protect the Trust and it staff.

Information from these lists is available from foi@uhcw.nhs.uk.

8. The services that we offer


We run a number of services focusing on quality patient care, stringent infection control and specialising in cardiology, neurosurgery, stroke, joint replacements, IVF, diabetes, cancer care and kidney transplants.

A full list of the services on offer is included in the Annual Report, which can be found here. Other services include:

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
Volunteers
Health Information Centre
 

Access to information

For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD). Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:

• Via the Trust’s website www.uhcw.nhs.uk free of charge, although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual.

• For those without Internet access, a single print-out as on the website would be available by post from the FOI and Access to Health Records Department:

FOI and Access to Health Records Department
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
CSB Room 20018
Clifford Bridge Road
Walsgrave
Coventry
CV2 2DX


Tel No: 024 7696 8771 (direct line)

However, requests for multiple printouts or for archived copies of documents which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage and so on. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We will not provide printouts of other organisation’s websites.

• Leaflets and brochures - free of charge for leaflets or booklets on, for example, services we offer to the public.

• “Glossy” or other bound paper copies, or in some cases a CD, video or other mediums, are for charge as in our publication lists available from The Access to Records Department:

FOI and Access to Health Records Department
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
CSB Room 20018
Clifford Bridge Road
Walsgrave
Coventry
CV2 2DX

Email: A2HR@uhcw.nhs.uk 

Tel No: 024 7696 8771 (direct line)

• E-mail will be free of charge unless it says otherwise.

The charges will be reviewed regularly.

• Copyright

The material available through this Publication Scheme is subject to University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust’s copyright unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated on the material to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium, provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading manner. Where any of the copyright items in this Scheme are being re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source of the material and acknowledge the copyright status. Permission to reproduce material does not extend to any material accessed through the Publication Scheme that is the copyright of third parties. You must obtain authorisation to reproduce such material from the copyright holders concerned. For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the HMSO web site:

www.hmso.gov.uk/guides.htm

or contact:

HMSO Licensing Division
St Clements House
2-16 Colegate
Norwich
NR3 1BQ