April 2020

Request received

I would like to request information under the Freedom of Information Act. The information that I require relates to a specific telephone maintenance contract.

The contract information sent by the organisation previously has now expired please can you provide me with a new update of the telephone maintenance contract:

Please can you send me the following contract information regarding the organisation’s telephone system maintenance contract (VOIP or PBX, other) for hardware and Software maintenance and support if all the information is still the same besides the contracts dates please send just the new contract dates it would be much appreciated.

1. Contract type: Maintenance, Managed, Shared (If so please state orgs)
2. Existing supplier: If there is more than 1 supplier please split each contract up individually.
3. Annual average spend: The annual average spend for this contract. and please provide the average spend over the past 3 years for each provider
4. Hardware brand: The primary hardware brand of the organisation’s telephone system.
5. Number of telephone users:
6. Contract duration: please include any extension periods.
7. Contract expiry date: Please provide me with the day/month/year.
8. Contract review date: Please provide me with the day/month/year.
9. Application(s) running on PBX/VOIP systems: Applications that run on the actual PBX or VOIP system e.g. contact centre, communication manager.
10. Telephone system type: PBX, VOIP, Lync etc
11. Contract Description: Please provide me with a brief description of the overall service provided under this contract.
12. Go to market: How where these services procured, please provide me with either the tender notice or the framework reference number. Please specify if procured through other routes.
13. Contact detail: Of the person from with the organisation responsible for each contract full contact details including full name, job title, direct contact number and direct email address.

If the service support area has more than 1 provider for telephone maintenance then can you please split each contract up individually for each provider.

If the contract is a managed service or is a contract that provides more than just telephone maintenance please can you send me all of the information specified above including the person from with the organisation responsible for that particular contract.

If the maintenance for telephone systems is maintained in-house please can you provide me with:

1. Number of telephone users.
2. Hardware brand: The primary hardware brand of the organisation’s telephone system.
3. Application(s) running on PBX/VOIP systems: Applications that run on the actual PBX or VOIP system e.g. contact centre, communication manager.
4. Contact detail: Of the person from with the organisation responsible for telephone maintenance full contact details including full name, job title, direct contact number and direct email address.

Also if the contract is due to expire please provide me with the likely outcome of the expiring contract.

If this is a new contract or a new supplier please can you provide me with a short list of suppliers that bid on this service/support contract?

Our response – 23 April 2020

Information relating to NHS Kernow’s telephone maintenance contract was previously released in June and October 2019 and the response published on our website in our Disclosure Log.

Request received

You may have received the same request in the past and this information sent has now expired and I require an update as soon as possible for the following information:

If there is more than 1 provider please split all the information including the annual average spend, number of connection, duration, contract dates and internal contact details.

1. Network provider(s). Please provide me with the network provider name e.g. EE, Telefonica, Vodafone, Three
2. Annual average spend for each network provider – Can you please provide me with the average annual spend over the last 3 years. If this is a new contract can you please provide the estimated annual spend.
3. Number of connections for each network provider. Number of voice only devices, voice and data devices, data only devices. Please provide me with the breakdown and not the overall total.
4. Duration of the contract. Please state if the contract also includes contract extensions for each provider.
5. Contract start date. Please can you provide me with the start date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. (if there are multiple start dates, could you please provide me with the earliest date for each provider)
6. Contract expiry date. Please can you provide me with the expiry date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. If the contract is rolling please state.
7. Contract review date. Please can you provide me with a date when the organisation plans to review this contract.
8. The person in the organisation responsible for this particular contract. Can you send me the full contact details Contact Name, Job Title, Contact Number and direct email address for each network provider? If full contact details cannot be provided please send me their actual job title.
9. If the mobile phone contract is provided by a managed contract please provide me with the actual name of the network provider along with the number of connections and the internal contact from within the organisation responsible for this contract.
10. Please can you provide me with the latest information- If the organisations are currently out to tender please can you also state the approx. date of the award along with the information above.
11. Also if the contract in the response has expired/rolling please can you provide me with further information if available of the organisation’s plans going forward regarding mobiles and the current status?
12. If this contract was awarded within the past 3 months can you please provide me with a shortlist of suppliers that bid on the contract?

Our response – 15 May 2020

1. Vodafone.
2. £21,000.
3. Total devices 249. 15 voice only, rest voice and data.
4. 3 years.
5. August 2019.
6. August 2022 then rolling.
7. August 2022.
8. NHS Kernow does not release the name of employees below director level. Clare Bryan is the chief finance officer.
9. N/A.
10. N/A.
11. N/A.
12. N/A.

Request received

1. What is the name of the software that your CCG uses for your financial and accounting? Specific software name and the vendor who supplies it.
2. How long have you used this particular software vendor/brand for your financials/accounting?
3. How much do you pay for this financial software every year?

Our response – 28 April 2020

1. NHS Kernow uses Oracle, which is provided by NHS Shared Business Services.
2. NHS Kernow has been using Oracle since it was formed in 2013 as this is a mandated requirement by NHS England and Improvement.
3. NHS Kernow does not pay anything to use this software – the contract is commissioned and paid for by NHS England and Improvement.

Request received

Please identify the correct person within your CCG who is responsible for information regarding Section 117 aftercare – this may be the S117 commissioner/commissioning support unit / continuing healthcare commissioners

S117 places an enforceable duty on both health (clinical commissioning group (CCG)) and social (local authority/council (LA)) services to provide aftercare services to individuals on discharge from hospital. This request is to better understand how CCGs meet this duty.

For each of the following questions, If the answers are different or you have different policies for different groups (e.g. older peoples mental health, learning disability etc) please provide a response for each group.

1. Please provide a copy of your policy, framework, protocol, or process map for the funding of S117 aftercare?
2. Do you apply a generic split (or pooled budget) for S117 aftercare costs? e.g. a 50:50 or other specific split of costs between LA and CCG? If yes please specify the respective shares? Split or pooled budget
3. If the share of costs between the CCG and LA are, instead, agreed on a case by case basis, please provide a copy of the criteria/tools used to achieve this.
4. Where funding shares are agreed on a case by case, how often are these shares applicable in individual cases reviewed?
5. Does the total cost identified for joint funding under S117 aftercare arrangements include the costs of universal health service provision (e.g. GP and primary care services, community nursing and costs of medications etc.)? If so please advise what is specifically included or excluded.
6. When S117 aftercare requires placement in a nursing home, with support from a registered nurse for their mental health needs, is the CCG share of costs based on a total cost which includes FNC contribution or is FNC excluded from the total cost before that cost is apportioned?

Our response – 30 April 2020

NHS Kernow does not release the names of employees below director level. The director responsible is John Groom, director of integrated care.

1. Our joint packages of care procedures policy is currently under review and will be available soon.
2. No.
3. The cost are split for Section 117 aftercare funding between funding authorities based on agreement between senior managers within a JPOC panel framework. Currently, there is no agreed tool and the decision is made following the presentation of appropriate evidence from health and social care professionals.
4. NHS Kernow review the funding split arrangement when the case comes in for periodic review, as set out in the Section 117 aftercare plan.
5. When deciding the health and social care elements of Section 117 aftercare funding, the input of NHS commissioned services is taken into account. However, for Section 117 aftercare agreements within the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly health and social care community, they are not specifically costed.
6. The share of costs includes FNC contribution.

Request received

1. How many bookings in the last 3 financial years have you made with a private ambulance service for transporting patients experiencing mental health problems/under the mental health act?
2. How many times were the current mental health ambulance providers unable to fulfil a requested job at the time requested?
3. What was the percentage of these jobs that required out of county transport?
4. How much has it cost the council in the last 3 financial years to transport mental health patients through these private companies?
5. Are these services exclusively commissioned through 1 private company?
6. If so, when is the contract next going out to tender?

Our response – 27 April 2020

NHS Kernow does not hold all the relevant information, and therefore to ensure accurate information is provided please email, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

Request received

1. Please can you provide a list of all PCNs in NHS Kernow
2. Alongside that list, please can you provide:
   • patient population of each PCN
   • number of clinical pharmacists hired to work in each PCN using funding from the additional roles reimbursement scheme as of 31 March 2020
   • Agenda for Change pay band for each clinical pharmacist hired by each PCN

Our response – 29 April 2020

For questions 1 and 2a – this information is available on our website.

Please note, PCNs are only funded at the national AFC level and need to fund any additional costs themselves e.g. where they have recruited at a higher grade.

Request received

1. Does the trust outsource and use 3rd party suppliers under any of the following 3 categories? 1: IT hardware and software. 2: IT Support. 3: IT services and communication.
2. If so who are the suppliers and resellers used, and what has the spend been with them in the last 6 months?
3. Who are the contacts and procurement in the trust to speak with in order to get added as an IT supplier to the trust?
4. Who are the IT managers in the trust in place and there contact details?

Our response – 27 April 2020

Information relating to NHS Kernow’s IT services was previously released in November 2019 and the response published on our website.

Request received

I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions in as much detail as possible.

1. Did the CCG commission a breastfeeding support service (including peer support) in the years 2014 to 2019? If so, please supply details, including budget (per year) and number of service users accessing the service for each of the years 2014 to 2019. Please attach a copy of the most recent service specification.
2. If breastfeeding support was not directly commissioned, did the CCG provide funding for breastfeeding support in the years 2014 to 2019. If so who provided the service (for example health visiting or midwifery), and please supply details, including budget (per year) and number of service users accessing the service for each of the years 2014 to 2019.
3. If the CCG did not commission a breastfeeding support service, did it fund breastfeeding support from lay breastfeeding supporters (non-health professionals), for example from professional breastfeeding counsellors, in the years 2014-2019? Please supply details, including budget (per year) and number of service users accessing the service for each of the years 2014 to 2019.

Our response – 7 May 2020

Breastfeeding support services (including peer support) are commissioned by Public Health within Cornwall Council. For information about the number of service users accessing the service please contact the providers:

• In hospital: Email Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
• In community: Cornwall Council

NHS Kernow is responsible for hosting the maternity transformation programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The programme has a ring-fenced budget which comes from NHS England Maternity Transformation Board. This is designed to enable local maternity services (LMS) to implement the transformation plans at local level.

More information on maternity services in Cornwall can be found on the following websites:

• NHS Kernow maternity webpage
• Cornwall Council mental health webpage
• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust maternity webpage