Released 10 July 2024
Request:
- The number of referrals for Open MRIs for patient size (not claustrophobia) authorised by your Trust in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and until June 1, 2024.
- Total remuneration for open MRI scans for patient size including staffing and MFF for the same time frame as above.
- A single total figure for how much the Trust has spent on specialist bariatric equipment for the same time frame as above.
Information disclosed:
Please note University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has been in operation since 1 April 2021, following the merger of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Information about the Trust’s hospitals can be found on our website.
Whilst we are in the process of aligning services under the merged Trust, our legacy imaging services continue to operate separately, and our response reflects this.
In our response below we have noted where we have reported for the legacy Trusts; the rest of the information provided is relevant to University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
1. Our response relative to St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester and Worthing Hospital, Worthing:
The information requested is not held by the Trust. The referrer (e.g. GP) takes on the responsibility for any open MRI referrals. If patients do not meet the Trust’s size requirements, they are referred to another provider in the first instance.
Our response relative to Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton; Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath; Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital Brighton:
The information requested is not held by the Trust. The imaging department does not refer for Open MRI scan services. Any referrers need to refer directly to an available Open MRI Centre (usually London InHealth or AECC University College Bournemouth).
2. Not applicable; please see response above.
3. The Trust has not calculated this spend figure; therefore this information is not held under the terms of the Act.
We are unable to provide this information on the basis that we do not have specific coding that can filter data held on our procurement or financial systems which would identify ‘specialist bariatric equipment’ specifically, therefore we are unable to differentiate items bought for bariatric patients from other items. For example, a chair purchased for bariatric patients may be coded in the same way as other chairs bought by the Trust.
We have also been advised that many items used by the NHS are multi-purpose and designed for use by patients of all shapes and sizes. This means in many instances we do not need to buy or rent equipment specifically for use by larger patients.
Since we are unable to identify the ‘equipment’ relevant to this part of your request, we are unable to provide comprehensive spend figures for each of the calendar years requested.
It is important to note in these circumstances that the Trust is not required under the terms of the Act to create ‘new’ information for the purpose of answering a FOI request.
An assessment of the work involved in providing the level of detail you are seeking concluded that it meets the criteria of information ‘not held’ under this guidance.
Whilst we would ordinarily suggest alternative information we can more easily provide under our duty to assist, due to the specific nature of the information you are seeking we are unable to do so on this occasion. Should you decide to submit a revised request to the Trust we will be happy reconsider it under the terms of the Act.