Mr Angell

The Trust clearly understands the concern you have raised with regard to at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and I will ask the Chief Operating Officer to meet with you to discuss your concerns.

Trust response sent to Mr Angell dated 22nd November 2010

I write to update you on matters related to concerns you raised with regard to phlebotomy services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). May I first thank you for bringing these matters to my attention and inform you of the action taken by the Trust to improve the quality of services in the Phlebotomy Department at QEH.

I understand the Trust has recruited an additional five new phlebotomists for the QEH site and approved funding for a new ticketing machine that I expect to be installed and operational in four weeks time.

It is my expectation that this additional staffing and new equipment will help to improve the patient experience within the Phlebotomy Department at QEH.

Mr Williams

The other remuneration was paid to reimburse expenses.

Trust response sent to Mr Williams 21st January 2011

Thank you for your FOI request dated 29th November 2010 asking for the exact salary and expenses that are drawn down by the Chairman. I have reviewed the matter and determine that we must refuse your request for two reasons, listed at sections 22 and 40 of the Freedom of Information Act.

The salary of the Chairman is set by the Secretary of State and is paid monthly. The Chairman is entitled to claim out of pocket expenses on a scale set nationally for non-Executive Directors which is managed by the Appointments Commission. The Trust has a policy of publishing such salaries and expenses in the annual accounts and these are available once a year. The Trust can therefore decline to supply such information if it is destined for future publication.

The Trust does not feel that giving an accurate figure is appropriate, given that your request from these figures concerning the Chairman can easily indentify that person and in doing so it would constitute personal information as outlined and defined in the Data Protection Act 1998. Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act covers the issue of personal information. It is the Trust's position that your request also falls under section 40 and therefore we will not disclose this information.

Mr Mott

The Trust will check the guidance that had been issued and come back to you.

Trust response sent to Mr Mott dated 12th January 2011

This is just to confirm that we have published on our website up to December all of the £25k disclosure of external suppliers as you had enquired about. There had been discussions among local NHS finance departments about the most consistent way of doing this and to avoid any anomalies and this has now been resolved. I hope that you are happy with this.

Ms Choppin

 It's about using more than one approach. It's about discussing guidance, asking ourselves whether we are equipping staff with the same skills and knowledge and implementing Trust initiatives like Clinical Wednesdays. For staff that don't respond to such approaches we will manage them through the performance management routes.

If you look back at the relatively short history of this organisation, we have made improvements in Stroke Care and made efforts to recruit some fine doctors and nurses. It is a matter of setting the right standards at the point of contact with patients, providing leadership and recruiting the right staff to ensure you have a critical mass of people in an area who follow good practice.

Mr Lane

LINk wish to draw your attention our concern at the way public questions are dealt with. At the last SLHT Board meeting:

• The written question submitted by Tricia Choppin were not answered either by written response or in the minutes
• The question asked by Richard Lane were recorded inaccurately in the minutes
• Most responses lacked depth or substance

What is the Chairman proposing to ensure that questions from the floor are accurately recorded and responses fully answer the question?

The workforce performance target indicates a constant, continuing staff vacancy rate and reliance upon costly agency staffing. This undermines the excellent work on improving standards by the Divisional Directors of Nursing.

When will the impact of this work reverse the current trend of the failure to retain staff coupled with inadequate recruitment?

Keep the NHS Public

The Trust understands the concerns you have raised with regard to the pathway for elderly patients leaving our care, a lot of your concerns have also been expressed by staff. We have undertaken work to mitigate risk to ensure that the transfer of patients to a sub-acute unit is undertaken in a planned way with the involvement of relatives. The Trust will monitor the number of people being transferred around the borough.

Ms Hall reported positive feedback from patients that had been transferred.

The issue of Patient discharge had been picked up by Greenwich LINks and members had been invited to visit services where patients would be transferred.
It was correct for the Trust to be anxious about a new service. Examples of patients that would potentially be transferred to a sub-acute unit would be patients awaiting placement to a community setting and ortho-geriatric patients that had suffered a fractured hip. Medical and Nursing Staff on the unit had been trained in resuscitation. Steps had been taken by Ms Hall and Mr Smith to prevent late discharges and transfers of patients with active medical problems.