Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) requires all bodies to have a Publication Scheme (a list of classes of information available to the public) in place.

The act also gave individuals and corporate bodies the right of access to all types of recorded information held by public sector bodies, with the exception of certain exemptions (such as personal and commercially-sensitive information). For more information about the act visit the  Information Commissioner website.

Providing this information requires busy staff to spend time away from the core functions supporting patient care, to retrieve this information from complex data sources.

Before making a formal request, please make sure the information you need isn’t already available. 

This data will be updated every six months and FOI requests for this information will be exempt under Section 22 – Information intended for future publication.

Search the database for information we have disclosed

If the information you need is not on our website, you can email us at mtw-tr.foiadmin@nhs.net or at Freedom of Information Officer, Trust Headquarters, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone ME16 9QQ.

Once we have received your request, we will send you an acknowledgement. We are required to give you a response within 20 working days of our letter.

We will try to respond as quickly as possible but sometimes some or all of the information cannot be provided. If this is the case, we will explain why.

We are able to charge fees for requests, outlined in the Freedom of Information Guide.

We will generally only charge for hard copies or copying onto media, such as a USB drive. The charges will vary according to how information is made available.

Legally, if the cost of obtaining and sending you the information is more than £450, we do not have to provide you with the information you requested. This amount is based on the Department of Constitutional Affairs regulations of a national cost of 18 hours work at £25 per hour.

In the first instance you should appeal to us directly, in line with our FOI appeal process. Download a copy of the appeals process document, or email us at mtw-tr.foiadmin@nhs.net for a copy. If you are dissatisfied after the appeals process, you have the right, under section 50 of the Act, to apply to the Information Commissioner to seek resolution.

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Data to support freedom of information

Business intelligence

A&E attendances and emergency admissions

 

NHS England has have attendance figures through our EDs, including information on breach numbers and emergency admissions.

Bed availability and occupancy

NHS England has figures on bed occupancy – comparing available beds and occupied beds.

Cancer waiting times

NHS England reports trusts' adherence to the cancer waiting times standard – including 2 week waits, 31-day diagnosis and 62-day treatment.

COVID-19 hospital activity

NHS England has the trust's submitted Covid figures day by day from the beginning of the pandemic.

Diagnostic imaging dataset

NHS England has volumes of diagnostic imaging tests by modality (you can find out how many CT scans the trust did over a period using this data, for example).

Diagnostics waiting times and activity

NHS England reports on trusts' adherence against the diagnostic waiting times standard (having a test within 6 weeks of referral).

Industrial action

 

NHS England provides the latest updates on potential industrial action in the NHS, including rescheduling activity.

Referral for outpatients

NHS England has the volumes of GP referrals made to the trust.

Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times

NHS England reports information on consultant-led referral to treatment (RTT) waiting times, which monitor the length of time from referral through to elective treatment.

Cyber security

We have a Cyber Security team and have purchased and installed different solutions to help protect against cyber threats. We will not be publicising or sharing details of these products, solutions or vendors because we believe doing so poses a risk to the trust.

We will also not publish details around any system that is end of life or is coming to end of life, as we believe publishing this information also puts the trust at risk. This would include, but is not limited to, queries such as “does the trust have any machines running an out of date operating system or unsupported hardware?”.

Finance

Bank and agency expenditure and WTE data

These figures are the expenditure which is reported in our audited accounts.

The table contains data for the expenditure on temporary staff (either external agency or internal  bank staff) for a specific financial year.

Each financial year runs April to March, with each month specified as a ‘period’. For example, Year 1819 Period 06 represents September 2018.

Information has been reported by directorate (the main management units of the trust) and then by grade, and expense type (subjective code). There is also a column for additional information which may clarify certain groups of temporary staff, such as therapists, shown by their local teams such as physiotherapists or dieticians.

A whole time equivalent (WTE) indicates the proportion of hours compared to someone on full time standard hours for their staff group (for example, 1 WTE equals 37.5 hours per week for most non-medical staff).

Main suppliers of agency staff in each financial year [xlsx] 15KB

 

Drug patient level contract monitoring (DrPLCM) report

 

Pharmacy

These reports are updated on a regular basis. Pharmacy reporting is now by financial month/quarter/year.

If a drug/disorder does not appear in a list the drug may not be used at the trust or has not been dispensed in the time period.

We do not have a dermatology department.