ANNEX 2
WAST – GUIDE TO INFORMATION
Part 1
This is the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Publication Scheme, which covers all of Wales.
Our full title and address for sending any documents is:
Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Trust Headquarters
H M Stanley Site
St Asaph
Denbighshire
LL17 0RS
The senior officer responsible for maintenance of this scheme is the Corporate Secretary.
1. Introduction: what a publication scheme is and why it has been developed
NHS Wales includes a number of statutory organisations (NHS Trusts, Local Health Boards and Community Health Councils) which are accountable to the National Assembly for Wales and the Minister for Health and Social Services for the performance of their health functions and for meeting their statutory financial duties. The National Assembly for Wales together with NHS Trusts, Local Health Boards and General Practitioners, Dentists, Pharmacists and Opticians providing the NHS services are individually required to provide a Publication Scheme under the Freedom of Information Act.
One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (which is referred to as FOIA in the rest of this document) is that public authorities should be clear and proactive about the information they will make public. To do this they must produce a Publication Scheme, setting out:
· The classes of information which they publish or intend to publish;
· The manner in which the information will be published; and
· Whether the information is available free of charge or on payment
The Publication scheme is a complete guide to the information routinely published by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, how this information is published and whether any fee is payable for access. It is a description of the information about the Trust, which is made publicly available. The Publication Scheme will be reviewed at regular intervals and monitored to decide how it is operating.
Some information that is held may not be made public, for example information about national security or court records.
The Publication Scheme will help you to find all the information that the Trust publishes. The FOIA does not change the right of patients under the Human Rights Convention, the Data Protection Act and common law.
Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on the Trust’s part. To help with this, the Trust has appointed a Senior Manager as Caldicott Guardian, and who has the responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality throughout the Trust in accordance with your legal rights. This person is Dr Paul Hughes, Medical Director, Trust Headquarters, HM Stanley Site, St Asaph, Denbighshire LL17 0RS.
2. Classes of information published by the Trust
The Publication Scheme includes information that the Trust currently publishes or will be publishing in the future – this is split into ‘classes’ or definitions of information.
The ‘classes’ of information currently published are contained in Part 2 of this Scheme. Details of how the information is or will be published, and any fees charged for information contained in the Publication Scheme, are set out in the same section.
3. Information about the Trust
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, established in 1998, serves a population of 2.9 million, across 20,640 kilometres.
The Trust:
· employs 2,576 people – 76% are operational – 1,310 on emergency duties, 693 on non emergency ambulance and health courier services;
· operates from 90 ambulance stations, three control centres, and five vehicle workshops with three NHS Direct Wales call centres plus Conway House, Swansea;
· has a National Training College with area training centres; and
· has one headquarters and three regional offices.
In 2011-12, the service responded to more than 250,000 emergency incidents, over 50,000 urgent journeys and transported over 1.3 million non-emergency patients to over 200 treatment centres throughout England and Wales.
The Trust introduced the five year ‘Working Together for Success’ strategy in December 2010.
Accountability
Everything done by those who work in the Trust must be able to stand the test of Government scrutiny and public judgements on propriety and satisfy the requirements of professional codes of conduct.
Probity
The Board, its managers and staff, are committed to maintaining absolute standards of honesty and integrity.
Openness
The Trust strives to demonstrate sufficient transparency about its activities to promote confidence among the Trust and its staff, patients and the public.
The Trust will endeavour to answer all Freedom of Information queries within 20 working days following receipt of a written request.
Feedback
Any questions, comments or complaints about this Publication Scheme should be sent in writing to:
Corporate Secretary
Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Trust Headquarters
H M Stanley Site
St Asaph
Denbighshire
LL17 0RS
Tel: 01745 532900 Fax: 01745 532901
Email:
If you have a concern about the operation of the Publication Scheme, or how the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust has dealt with your request for information from the scheme, please write to:
Chief Executive
Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
Trust Headquarters
H M Stanley Site
St Asaph
Denbighshire
LL17 0RS
Or see our website page (www.ambulance.wales.nhs.uk)
Rights of Access to Information
Freedom of Information Act
· The Freedom of Information Act recognises that everyone has the right to know how public services such as NHS Wales are organised and run, how much they cost and how you can make complaints if you need to. You have the right to know which services are being provided, the targets that are being set, the standards of services that are expected and the results achieved.
· From 1 January 2005 the Trust was required to respond to requests about the information that it holds and a right of access to that information to be created. The rights to request and access this information are subject to some exemptions, which the Trust has to take into consideration before deciding what information can be released.
Data Protection Act
· Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are also entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you may do this by writing to The Information Governance Manager, Health Informatics; WAST HQ, H M Stanley Site, St Asaph, Denbighshire, LL17 0RS.
Welsh Language Scheme
· Under the Welsh Language Act 1993, each public organisation in Wales is obliged to prepare a Welsh Language Scheme outlining how it would work towards treating Welsh and English on the basis of equality while conducting public business in Wales. The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 transfers functions relating to Welsh language schemes to the Welsh Language Commissioner. Over a period of time, Welsh language schemes will be replaced by statutory standards. A copy of our Welsh Language Scheme is available on the Trust’s website (www.ambulance.wales.nhs.uk) or on request free of charge.
Environmental Information Regulations 2004
· The Environmental Information Regulations set the standard for the release of information about the environment in which we live and work. See also the section in Part 2 of the Scheme headed ‘Environmental Information’.
Please note: This document is also available in Welsh on the Trust’s website or on request
Mae’r ddogfen yma ae gael yn y Gymraeg
This Publication Scheme document was last updated in June 2013.
PART 2
THE CLASSES OF INFORMATION
The information is grouped into broad categories as follows:-
1. What we are and what we do;
2. What we spend and how we spend it;
3. What are our priorities and how are we doing;
4. How we make decisions;
5. Our Policies and Procedures;
6. Lists and Registers; and
7. The services we offer.
We will state how you can obtain the information outlined within each Class. Documents in Welsh are available on request.
Information will be available via the website or as a hard copy or other media as stated within each Class. The publications are all free unless otherwise indicated by a statement within each Class indicated by the following symbol (£) .
The Trust’s commitment to publish information excludes any information that can legitimately be withheld under the exemptions set out in the Code of Practice on Openness or the Freedom of Information Act. Where individual classes are subject to exemptions, the main reasons relate to the protection of commercial interests and personal information under the Data Protection Act 1998. This applies to most Classes within the Publication Scheme.
The Publication Scheme document itself is available in both hard copy and on the Trust website.
This Publication Scheme refers to and has ‘current’ documents available as of the date of publication. The Trust will continue to hold these documents available cumulatively until policies require their disposal. Other documents, where possible, will be available from previous dates and will be available from the Publication Scheme Co-ordinator.
Class 1 – Who are we and what do we do
Information showing how we fit into the NHS Wales structure and how we link to the National Health Service Wales Department within the Welsh Assembly Government.
The health functions in Wales were devolved to the National Assembly for Wales (NAW) under the Government of Wales Act. The NAW through the Welsh Government (WG) and the NHS Wales Department has devolved the commissioning and provision of health care to Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts. WAST is one of these NHS Trusts and provides services across Wales.
There are over six hundred NHS Trusts in the UK and a full list can be found on the www.nhs.uk site as well as other details on the National Health Service. In Wales there are seven Health Boards and three NHS Trusts; a full list of these can be found on www.wales.nhs.uk. WAST provides services for all of Wales and details of the main services are shown in Class 7 of this Publication Scheme.
The WG is responsible for policy direction and for allocating funds to the NHS in Wales including WAST. Our Trust provides services for the population of Wales and works with the Local Health Boards, Community Health Councils, and other Trusts and Hospitals.
There are many core documents for the NHS in Wales and some of these are listed below. The documents are described in much more detail by following the links provided. For up to date information on the availability of these documents in Welsh, please follow the links suggested or contact the National Assembly for Wales, using the address below.
Core documents for the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust.
Trust Annual Report
‘Working Together for Success’
Standards for Health Services
Trust Board and Committee papers
Annual Governance Statement
Clinical Strategy
Workforce and Organisational Development Strategy
Estates Strategy
Fleet Strategy ICT and Health Informatics Strategy
Communications Strategy
Partners in Healthcare Strategy
The above documents are available either on the Trust’s website (www.ambulance.wales.nhs.uk) or from the Publication Scheme
Co-ordinator.
The Trust will not provide printouts of other organisation’s documents however, all these documents and others are on www.wales.nhs.uk or via the Welsh Governments pages at www.wales.gov.uk
Release of information is subject to host organisations rules on disclosure.
WAST, with its headquarters at the H M Stanley Site, St Asaph, was established in 1998 and provides a range of specialist services at local, regional and all Wales levels. It comprises of the following services:
· Ambulance Services
· Clinical
· NHS Direct Wales
· Patient Care
· Corporate
· Finance
· ICT
· Estates
· Programme Management
· Health and Safety
· Risk Management
· Health Informatics
· Communications
Organisation of the Trust
The Trust Board oversees the work of the organisation. Our Trust Board has eight Non-Executive members, including the Chairman and eight Directors (five Executive Directors and three Associate Directors, one of which is currently on secondment).
In addition, the Trust has nine Heads of Service within the Service Delivery Directorate, seven of which are aligned to the Health Boards in Wales.
The Chair of the Trust can be contacted at Trust Headquarters, H M Stanley Site, St Asaph, Denbighshire, LL17 0RS, Tel: 01745 532944. The Chief Executive can also be contacted at this address and telephone number.
Other documents of interest are available from the Publication Scheme Co-ordinator, such as:
· Register of Interests
· Register of Gifts and Hospitality
· Standing Orders
· Standing Financial Instructions
· Scheme of Reservation and Delegation
For further assistance, or hard copies of these Trust documents, please contact the Publication Scheme Co-ordinator (01745 532900)
Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it
Funding details, Service and Financial Framework (SAFF), charging policies and financial accounts. Information provided within the Class will comply with the requirements of our Welsh Language Scheme.
This information is available through our Publication Scheme Co-ordinator (01745 532900).
For more details of the Trust’s financial position refer to the Annual Report which can be viewed on the Trust’s website (www.ambulance.wales.nhs.uk)
Most documents in this class will not be available bilingually. Those that are will be noted as also available in Welsh. Where documents are available in Welsh, we will add the ‘W’ symbol by the name/link for the appropriate document within the scheme.
Information is available electronically either by downloading from the web or as an email as well as hard copy.
How we manage our financial resources
The Director of Finance and ICT has responsibility for the management of the Trust’s finances. The Director can be contacted via the Finance Department, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Trust Headquarters, H M Stanley Site, St Asaph, Denbighshire, LL17 0RS.
The Trust Board approves an annual financial budget for revenue and capital expenditure at the start of each year. The budget outlines the Trust’s plans to meet the financial targets set by the Welsh Government.
Following the approval of the budget, the Trust Board receives regular reports on the financial position of the organisation, making decisions with regard to the allocation of these resources as appropriate.
The Board also receives minutes from :
· the Strategic Planning Committee who are responsible for overseeing the finances of the Trust; and