Publication Scheme 2020

This publication scheme commits an authority to make information available to the public as part of its normal business activities. The information covered is included in the classes of information mentioned below, where this information is held by the authority. Additional assistance is provided to the definition of these classes in sector specific guidance manuals issued by the Information Commissioner.

The scheme commits an authority:

• To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, which is held by the authority and falls within the classifications below.
• To specify the information which is held by the authority and falls within the classifications below.
• To proactively publish or otherwise make available as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme.
• To produce and publish the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public.
• To review and update on a regular basis the information the authority makes available under this scheme.
• To produce a schedule of any fees charged for access to information which is made proactively available.
• To make this publication scheme available to the public.
• To publish any data set held by the authority that has been requested, and any updated versions it holds, unless the authority is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so; to publish the data set, where reasonably practicable, in an electronic form that is capable of re-use; and, if any information in the data set is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, to make the information available for re-use under the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, if they apply, and otherwise under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act section 19. The term ‘data set’ is defined in section 11(5) of the Freedom of Information Act. The term ‘relevant copyright work’ is defined in section 19(8) of that Act.

There are seven classes of information:

• Who we are and what we do: organisational information, locations and contacts, constitutional and legal governance.
• What we spend and how we spend it: financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, tendering, procurement and contracts.
• What our priorities are and how we are doing: strategy and performance information, plans, assessments, inspections and reviews.
• How we make decisions: policy proposals and decisions. Decision making processes, internal criteria and procedures, consultations.
• Our policies and procedures: current written protocols for delivering our functions and responsibilities.
• Lists and registers: information held in registers required by law and other lists and registers relating to the functions of the authority.
• The services we offer: advice and guidance, booklets and leaflets, transactions and media releases. A description of the services offered.

Information		Where to find it	Format	Fee
Who we are and what we do
Introduction to the organisation		Please see the About us section	Electronic: Webpage	None
How the Trust works with other organisations		South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System Rotherham Integrated Health and Social Care Place  Rotherham CCG Place Plan	Electronic: Webpage	None
Sites at which the Trust provides services		Trust sites	Electronic: Webpage	None
Clinical Department Details		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/TRFT_sites/Rotherham_Hospital/	Electronic: Webpage	None
What we spend and how we spend it
Annual Statement of Accounts including income and expenditure		Forms part of the Trust’s Annual Report & Accounts located on the Trust’s website here.	Electronic	None
Monthly Finance reports		Monthly financial performance reports are presented to the Public Board of Directors’ meetings and can be found in the papers for each Board of Directors’ meeting located here.	Electronic	None
External Audit of the Trust’s Financial Statements		The report from the Trust’s External Auditors to the Council of Governors in relation to their audit of the Trust’s financial statements is included with the Trust’s Annual Report & Accounts (at the end of the document) located on the Trust’s website here.	Electronic	None
Standing Financial Instructions		Outline the Trust’s financial responsibilities, policies and procedures and at located here (bottom of the page)	Electronic	None
Directors’ remuneration and Directors’ and Governors’ expenses		Can be found as part of the Remuneration Report within the Trust’s Annual Report & Accounts located on the Trust’s website here.	Electronic	None
Staff pay and grading structures		Details can be obtained from NHS Employers	Electronic	None
Total spend by supplier by month		Total Spend by Supplier April 2018 – Mar 2019  Total Spend by Supplier April – June 2019	Electronic	None
Over £25,000 spending		Over £25k Spending 2018  Over £25k Spending 2019 Over £25K spending 2020	Electronic	None
Procurement and tendering procedures		Contained within the Trust’s Standing Orders located here.	Electronic	None
Details of contracts currently being tendered		Can be found here.	Electronic	None
What our priorities are and how we are doing
NHS Improvement / NHS England regulates NHS Foundation Trusts		The Trust’s Licence, Terms of Authorisation and Provider segmentation information.	Electronic	None
Care Quality Commission inspects all providers of health and social care		CQC assessments of the Trust.	Electronic	None
5-Year Strategy		Available on request	Electronic	None
Quality Improvement Strategy 2019 – 2024		Available on request	Electronic	None
Operational Plan		The Trust’s Operational Plans detail the priorities the Trust sets at the beginning of each year.  The current plan and previous years’ plans are located in the ‘Annual Plan’ section here.	Electronic	None
Performance against our Key Performance Indicators		A monthly ‘Integrated Performance Report’ describing the Trust’s latest performance against its Key Performance Indicators is presented to the Public Board of Directors’ meeting and can be found in the papers for each Board of Directors’ meeting located here.	Electronic	None
Annual Report & Accounts including Quality Report		Every year the Trust publishes an Annual Report & Accounts which details the Trust’s performance over the preceding year including the annual Quality Report. These reports can be accessed here.	Electronic	None
Quality Account		Every year the Trust also publishes a Quality Account detailing its performance against its quality priorities.  The latest Quality Account report can be found on the NHS.uk website here. Previous years’ Quality Account reports can be found on the Trust’s website here.	Electronic	None
Service User Surveys		Care Quality Commission Surveys.	Electronic	None
How we make decisions
Governance Structure		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/About_us/How_are_we_governed_/	Electronic	None
Council of Governors		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/governors/	Electronic	None
Council of Governors’ meeting minutes and papers		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/Corporate_Governance_Information/Corporate_committees_and_meetings/	Electronic	None
Board of Directors		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/Corporate_Governance_Information/Our_Board_of_Directors/	Electronic	None
Board of Directors’ meeting minutes and papers		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/Corporate_Governance_Information/Corporate_committees_and_meetings/	Electronic	None
Key corporate governance documents		Licence Constitution Standing Orders Standing Financial Instructions Corporate Governance Board Statements	Electronic	None
Statutory Board Committees		Audit Committee Terms of Reference Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference Nominations Committee Terms of Reference	Electronic	None
Our policies and procedures
Policies and procedures relating to the conduct of business and the provision of services		The Trust’s Standards of Business Conduct are available upon request The Standards of Business Conduct Annual Reports are located on the Trust’s website here.  Disciplinary Policy	Electronic	None
Policies and procedures relating to human resources (including Race, Disability, Age and Gender, Equal Opportunities)		What is Equality, Diversity and Inclusion?	Electronic	None
Policies and procedures relating to recruitment and employment		Recruitment and Selection Policy and Policy of pre and post-employment checks are available upon request	Electronic	None
Standing Orders		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/key_documents/	Electronic	None
Standing Financial Instructions		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/key_documents/	Electronic	None
Complaints and other customer service policies and procedures		http://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/Contact_us/	Electronic	None
Data protection / information governance / Caldicott Guardian		Data Protection Policy  Data Quality Policy  Use & Protection of Patient Information (Confidentiality Code of Conduct) Information Governance Policy  Freedom of Information & Environmental Information Regulations Policy  Freedom of Information & EIR SOP	Electronic	None
Charging Regimes and Policies		The trust will not normally charge a fee for requests. Where a charge is made, the following documentation from the Information Commissioner’s Office FOI Fee Charging document and Using the Fees Regulations document will be used. The Data Protection policy outlines charges for subject access requests. Other charges will be provided upon request via rgh-tr.freedomofinformation@nhs.net	Electronic	None
Lists and registers
Register of Interests for members of the Board of Directors		Located at the bottom of this page of the Trust’s website.	Electronic	None
Register of Interests for members of the Council of Governors		Located at the bottom of this page of the Trust’s website.	Electronic	None
Register of Interests for all staff members		Located in the ‘Register of Staff Interests’ section of this page of the Trust’s website.	Electronic	None
Information Asset Register		For information on our Information Asset Register please contact the Freedom of Information Team at rgh-tr.freedomofinformation@nhs.net or call 01709 425097.	Electronic	None
List of Consultants		The list of Consultants that work at the Trust can be found on the ‘Contact Us’ page of the Trust’s website (under Rotherham Hospital) located here.	Electronic	None
List of main contractors / suppliers		Contractors and suppliers can be viewed in the 'expenditure over £25,000' documents in the 'What we spend and how we spend it’ section of this Publication Scheme.	Electronic	None
Register of Gifts and Hospitality provided to Board Members and Senior Personnel		The previous financial year’s register is published as Appendix 1 of the Standards of Business Conduct Annual Report located on this page of the Trust’s website.	Electronic	None
Disclosure Log		Our FOI Disclosure Log is located here.	Electronic	None
The services we offer
Clinical Services		The list of clinical services offered by the Trust can be viewed here.	Electronic	None
Non-clinical Services		Key non-clinical services are: Patient Experience Chaplaincy Service Corporate Communications and Media Health Records Patient Engagement and Involvement: Freedom of Information Procurement Contact details for general enquiries	Electronic	None
Patient Information leaflets and other booklets and newsletters		Many of our patient information leaflets are being re-written, you can see new versions of each leaflet on our Patient Information webpage here.	Electronic	None

 

The classes of information will not generally include:

• Information the disclosure of which is prevented by law, or exempt under the Freedom of Information Act, or is otherwise properly considered to be protected from disclosure.
• Information in draft form.
• Information that is no longer readily available as it is contained in files that have been placed in archive storage, or is difficult to access for similar reasons.

 

The method by which information published under this scheme will be made available

The authority will indicate clearly to the public what information is covered by this scheme and how it can be obtained. Where it is within the capability of a public authority, information will be provided on a website. Where it is impracticable to make information available on a website or when an individual does not wish to access the information by the website, a public authority will indicate how information can be obtained by other means and provide it by those means. In exceptional circumstances some information may be available only by viewing in person. Where this manner is specified, contact details will be provided. An appointment to view the information will be arranged within a reasonable timescale. Information will be provided in the language in which it is held or in such other language that is legally required. Where an authority is legally required to translate any information, it will do so. Obligations under disability and discrimination legislation and any other legislation to provide information in other forms and formats will be adhered to when providing information in accordance with this scheme.

Charges which may be made for information published under this scheme

The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Charges made by the authority for routinely published material will be justified and transparent and kept to a minimum. Material which is published and accessed on a website will be provided free of charge. Charges may be made for information subject to a charging regime specified by Parliament. Charges may be made for actual disbursements incurred such as:

• photocopying
• postage and packaging
• the costs directly incurred as a result of viewing information

Charges may also be made for information provided under this scheme where they are legally authorised, they are in all the circumstances, including the general principles of the right of access to information held by public authorities, justified and are in accordance with a published schedule or schedules of fees which is readily available to the public.

Charges may also be made for making datasets (or parts of datasets) that are relevant copyright works available for re-use. These charges will be in accordance with the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, where they apply, or with regulations made under section 11B of the Freedom of Information Act, or with other statutory powers of the public authority. If a charge is to be made, confirmation of the payment due will be given before the information is provided. Payment may be requested prior to provision of the information.

Written requests

Information held by a public authority that is not published under this scheme can be requested in writing, when its provision will be considered in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.