Annual report 2010/11 - East Cheshire NHS Trust

Freedom of information requestsThe Freedom of Information Act (2000) came into effect forall public authorities in January 2005. Since then, allrequests for information have had to be answered inaccordance with the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).The Freedom of Information Act provides the general publicwith a general right of access to recorded information heldby East Cheshire NHS Trust, subject to certain conditionsand exemptions.During 2010/11 the trust received 193 requests frommembers of the public in relation to a number of differentareas. For example: funding, staff, clinical services and more.All responses to requests were completed in the requiredtime frame of 20 working days.The trust remains committed to promoting a culture ofopenness and accountability to enable the public to havea greater understanding of how the trust carry out duties,how decisions are made and how public money is spent.A full list of freedom of information responses can be foundat www.eastcheshire.nhs.ukPersonal data related incidents 2010/11It is essential that all incidents relating to actual or potentialbreaches in confidentiality involving personal identifiableinformation, including data loss, are reported appropriatelythrough the information governance assurance framework.East Cheshire NHS Trust has risk assessment policies andprocedures in place to assess the severity of such incidentsand to take any necessary action to address the risk.The following table provides details of externally reportedincidents for 2010/11.Summary of other personal data relatedincidents in 2010-2011Category Nature of Incident TotalLoss of inadequately protectedI electronic equipment, devices or 0paper documents from securedNHS premises.Loss of inadequately protectedII electronic equipment, devices or 0paper documents from outsidesecured NHS premises.Insecure disposal of inadequatelyIII protected electronic equipment, 1devices or paper documents.*IV Unauthorised disclosure 0Serious Untoward IncidentsEast Cheshire NHS Trust has a duty to report SeriousUntoward Incidents (SUI) to the Strategic Health Authorityvia the Strategic Executive Information System (StEIS) andthe Primary Care Trust (PCT).Month Number2010/11 of reports CategoryMarch 0April 0May 0June 0July 0August 0September 2 • Delayed diagnosis• Intrapartum deathOctober 2 • Suboptimal care of thedeteriorating patient• Surgical errorNovember 1 • Unexpected deathDecember 3 • Unexpected death• Grade 3 pressure soreJanuary 8 • Sub optimal care• Delayed diagnosis• Missed diagnosis• Grade 3 pressure sore (x4)• Grade 3/4 pressure soreFebruary 5 • Grade 3 pressure sore (x2)• Information Governance• Adult protection• Unexpected deathMarch 4 • Grade 3 pressure sore (x3)• Ward closureTotal 2532V Other 0*Note: Although the level three incident detailed above wasclassed as level 3 by the risk assessment criteria from theDepartment of Health under their policy, due to the low risknature of the data involved it was not investigated by theInformation Commissioners Office (ICO).The role of the SHA and Commissioning PCT is to ensureincidents are properly investigated, that action is taken toimprove clinical quality and that lessons are learnt in orderto minimise the risk of similar incidents occurring in thefuture. The NHS North West revised SUI protocol sets outthe requirements for reporting and examples of incidentsto report.Note: From December 2010 the trust was required to reportall Grade 3 and 4 pressure sores on StEIS.Each incident was thoroughly investigated using a rootcause analysis approach endorsed bt the National PatientSafety Agency (NPSA) and any lessons learnt will be used toinfluence future practice to reduce the likelihood ofrecurrence.33