Information Governance

Transcription

1 Information Governance Medical Directorate NHS Grampian Rosehill House Foresterhill Site Cornhill Road Aberdeen AB25 2ZG BY Date 1December 2015 Your Ref Our Ref FOI/2015/524 Enquiries to Information Governance Team Extension Direct Line Dear Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 I refer to your dated 6 November 2015, requesting: - Name and Address of Audiology Department - Have you started to develop a local implementation plan for 'See Hear: A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a sensory impairment in Scotland'? Yes / No - Has the budget for your audiology service been reduced in the last 2 years? (This includes if your budget has not risen with inflation) Yes/ No - If yes, what has been the impact of these budget reductions? Reduced follow up appointments / Reduced aftercare service / Reduced length of appointments / Reduced information provision / Increased time to reassessment / Change to policy on bilateral hearing aids / Increased waiting times / Reduced availability of domiciliary visits / Reduced number or qualification level of specialist staff for complex cases / Reduced overall number of staff / Reduced average qualification level of professional staff/ Reduced tinnitus services / Other (please specify) - Have you noticed any of the following changes over the last 2 years for a reason other than budget reductions? Reduced follow up appointments / Reduced aftercare service / Reduced length of appointments / Reduced information provision / Increased time to reassessment / Change to policy on bilateral hearing aids / Increased waiting times / Reduced availability of domiciliary visits / Reduced number or qualification level of specialist staff for complex cases / Reduced overall number of staff / Reduced average qualification level of professional staff/ Reduced tinnitus services / Other (please specify) - If you have noticed any of the above, what was the reason for these changes? Increased demand / Other (please specify) - Are you aware of any budget reductions planned for the next 12 months? Yes/ No / Not sure

2 Audiology Waiting Times - The national target in Scotland is 18 weeks for Referral to Treatment. Using your latest recorded figures please state the percentage (%) of patients that were seen within the national target waiting time and the time period to which this figure refers. Bilateral hearing aid provision - What is your policy on bilateral hearing aid provision? Where clinically appropriate we always offer two hearing aids / We offer one hearing aid in the first instance unless someone specifically requests two hearing aids / We only offer one hearing aid per patient. Comments (optional) Individual Management Plans - Do you develop an Individual Management Plan with patients? Yes - with all patients / Yes- with some patients / No - we develop Individual Management Plans but do not involve the patient in the process / No - we do not develop Individual Management Plans. Comments (optional) - If yes, do you measure the outcomes of the Individual Management Plan? Yes - always / Yes - sometimes / Never. - If yes, please describe how you measure outcomes Follow-up appointments - What follow-up arrangements do you generally offer for patients fitted with hearing aids? Face-to-face follow-up appointments / Telephone follow-up appointments / Follow-up by post - For each of the above, please state if they are offered to all patients, a particular group of patients, patients who request it, or not offered. Aftercare - In which settings do you offer a hearing aid repairs and replacement service? At a hospital - drop-in clinics / At a hospital - by appointment only/ At local health centres / GP surgeries - drop-in clinics/ At local health centres/ GP surgeries - by appointment only/ At a non- healthcare setting in the community (e.g. libraries)- drop-in clinics / At a nonhealthcare setting in the community (e.g. libraries)- by appointment only / In care homes - drop-in clinics / In care homes - by appointment only / At a person's home / By post / Via third sector volunteers / We do not offer a hearing aid repairs and replacement service Re-assessment - Do you offer a re-assessment of patients' hearing needs: Automatically after a certain number of years / On patient request - If you offer an automatic re-assessment, after how many years does this take place for non- complex patients? Hearing therapy - Do you offer hearing therapy: For everyone with hearing loss/ For patients with severe/profound hearing loss / For patients with complex needs / For patients with tinnitus / Not offered Signposting and referrals - Do you provide patients with information about and / or formal referral to: Hearing aid repairs and replacements service / Communication training / Lipreading classes / Hearing therapy / Counselling / Local authority / council sensory services / Equipment and products that can help people with hearing loss / Benefits that people with hearing loss may be able to apply for / Voluntary organisations that help people with hearing loss / Peer support groups Tinnitus Services 2

3 - Are tinnitus patients seen by: A specially trained audiologist / An audiologist / A hearing therapist / We do not provide a service for tinnitus patients in house but refer patients to another tinnitus service / We do not provide a service or referrals for tinnitus patients - Which of the following services are patients with tinnitus offered, where clinically appropriate? Tinnitus retraining therapy / Specialist tinnitus support / Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) / Information about products and other services / We don't routinely offer tinnitus services Additional information (optional) - Are there any examples you would like to share of innovation or changes you have made to increase quality or use resources more efficiently? - Are there any examples you would like to share of plans your service has to respond to expected increases in demand? - Please tell us any other information you would like to share regarding audiology service provision in your area - Please provide the best point of contact if we should want to find out more about audiology services I can now respond as follows: Name and Address of Audiology Department NHS Grampian Audiology Department Woolmanhill Hospital Skene Street Aberdeen AB25 1LD Have you started to develop a local implementation plan for 'See Hear: A strategic framework for meeting the needs of people with a sensory impairment in Scotland'? Yes Has the budget for your audiology service been reduced in the last 2 years? (This includes if your budget has not risen with inflation) AND If yes, what has been the impact of these budget reductions? No Have you noticed any of the following changes over the last 2 years for a reason other than budget reductions? Reduced follow up appointments / Reduced aftercare service / Reduced length of appointments / Reduced information provision / Increased time to reassessment / Change to policy on bilateral hearing aids / Increased waiting times / Reduced availability of domiciliary visits / Reduced number or qualification level of specialist staff for complex cases / Reduced overall number of staff / Reduced average qualification level of professional staff/ Reduced tinnitus services / Other (please specify) Increased waiting times Increased time to reassessment Reduced overall number of staff If you have noticed any of the above, what was the reason for these changes? Increased demand / Other (please specify) 3

4 NHS Grampian can advise that these changes were due to staffing issues (recruitment). Are you aware of any budget reductions planned for the next 12 months? Yes/ No / Not sure No Audiology Waiting Times The national target in Scotland is 18 weeks for Referral to Treatment. Using your latest recorded figures please state the percentage (%) of patients that were seen within the national target waiting time and the time period to which this figure refers. NHS Grampian can advise that the 64% of patients were seen within the national target waiting time, in October Bilateral hearing aid provision What is your policy on bilateral hearing aid provision? NHS Grampian can advise, where clinically appropriate, we always offer two hearing aids. Individual Management Plans Do you develop an Individual Management Plan with patients? Yes, with all patients. If yes, do you measure the outcomes of the Individual Management Plan? AND If yes, please describe how you measure outcomes NHS Grampian can advise that the outcomes of the Individual Management Plan are always measured by way of patient questionnaires. Follow-up appointments What follow-up arrangements do you generally offer for patients fitted with hearing aids? Face-to-face follow-up appointments / Telephone follow-up appointments / Follow-up by post. For each of the above, please state if they are offered to all patients, a particular group of patients, patients who request it, or not offered. All patients are offered either a face to face or telephone follow up appointment. Aftercare In which settings do you offer a hearing aid repairs and replacement service? At hospital drop in clinics. At hospital by appointment. At peripheral hospitals At a person s home Re-assessment Do you offer a re-assessment of patients' hearing needs: Automatically after a certain number of years / On patient request AND If you offer an automatic re-assessment, after how many years does this take place for non- complex patients? A re-assessment of patients' hearing needs is offered at the patient request. Hearing therapy Do you offer hearing therapy. 4

5 NHS Grampian can advise that hearing therapy is offered to patients with complex needs. Signposting and referrals Do you provide patients with information about and / or formal referral to: Hearing aid repairs and replacements service / Communication training / Lipreading classes/ Hearing therapy / Counselling / Local authority / council sensory services / Equipment and products that can help people with hearing loss / Benefits that people with hearing loss may be able to apply for / Voluntary organisations that help people with hearing loss / Peer support groups NHS Grampian can advise that information is provided for the following: Hearing aid repairs and replacement service. Communication training. Lip reading classes. Hearing therapy. Counselling. Local authority hearing services. Equipment and products that can help people with hearing loss. Voluntary organisation that help people with hearing loss. Tinnitus Services Are tinnitus patients seen by: A specially trained audiologist / An audiologist / A hearing therapist / We do not provide a service for tinnitus patients in house but refer patients to another tinnitus service / We do not provide a service or referrals for tinnitus patients NHS Grampian can advise that tinnitus patients are seen by a specially trained audiologist or a hearing therapist. Which of the following services are patients with tinnitus offered, where clinically appropriate? Tinnitus retraining therapy / Specialist tinnitus support / Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) / Information about products and other services / We don't routinely offer tinnitus services Tinnitus patients are offered the following services: Tinnitus retraining therapy. Specialist tinnitus support. CBT. Information about products and other services. Under section 20 (1) of the Act, if you are dissatisfied with the way NHS Grampian has dealt with your request, you have a right to request a review of our actions and decisions in relation to your request, and you have a right to appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner. A request for review must be made within 40 working days and should, in the first instance, be in writing to: Directorate of Corporate Communications, Foresterhill House, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZB or by to grampian@nhs.net 5

6 Requests for appeal should be made in writing to: Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS Telephone: , Fax: Yours sincerely Chris Morrice Information Governance Manager NHS Grampian 6