We want to be open and transparent about the way we do business so that the public can observe the decision-making process and give local people and groups the opportunity to ask questions about our Board meetings.

With this in mind, members of the public and representatives of the press are welcome to attend and observe meetings of the Trust Board that are held in public. (During the COVID-19 pandemic Board meetings have been held virtually but we hope to resume normal meetings as soon as it is feasible to do so).

To ensure that we manage the questions in as timely a way as possible, from June 2021 the following arrangements will apply;

Any questions arising directly from the papers presented to a Board of Directors’ meeting, should be submitted by 17:00 on the second Friday following the meeting. The question will be posted on the Trust website within three working days and then we will update with a response when it is received from the relevant clinician or executive before the next Board meeting. If longer is required, an explanation and predicted timeline will be published. The questioner will be notified when the answer is posted.

Some questions have been very long and the exact question is not clear so a form has been developed to help clarify the question being raised (see below). Please use one form per question and no more than three questions per Board meeting (additional questions can still be raised through the Freedom of Information route.)  Any inaccurate or irrelevant commentary will not be included.

Any questions that do not relate directly to a Board agenda should be addressed to the Freedom of Information Office – please email sath.foi@nhs.net.

Please use the form above or send your question by post to:

Trust Chair
The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Trust Headquarters Office
Mytton Oak Road
Shrewsbury
SY3 8XQ

The Chair will decide whether a question/response needs further discussion or clarification at a future meeting of the Board of Directors.

The questioner’s name and question and the Trust’s response will be published on the Trust’s website.

The decision of the Chair on whether to accept a question and how it should be answered will be final.

It is important that the questions we receive from our public are not only answered but are also used to inform the way we engage with our communities going forward. To this end, a summary of questions and themes will be presented to Trust Board as part of our regular Public Participation update.

Furthermore, the Trust has engaged with the public on the development of a Public Participation Plan that will be presented to Trust Board in Summer 2021. Early indications are that a Public Assurance Group be established with public representative and Trust members and summaries and themes from public questions will also be taken to this group to help shape future developments and strategies at SaTH. This will allow informed and engaged discussions between representatives of the public and senior leaders at SaTH in a truly meaningful way.

The work of this Group will also be reported back to the Board each quarter.

A question may be rejected if it:

1. is not about a matter relevant to the previous Board of Directors’ meeting
2. is about a matter for which the Trust is not responsible
3. is defamatory, frivolous or offensive
4. it would be too expensive or take too much staff resource to deal with the question (as per Freedom of Information guidelines)
5. is substantially the same as a question asked within the last six months (in which case the questioner will be directed to the previous response)
6. requests the disclosure of information which is confidential or exempt by virtue of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
7. names, or clearly identifies, a member of staff, patient or any other individual.
8. Is an issue about an individual’s patient care. Where appropriate the patient will be asked whether they are happy for this to be directed to the Trust’s PALS team or Complaint’s Procedure
9. requests the disclosure of information which is confidential or exempt by virtue of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
10. names, or clearly identifies, a member of staff, patient or any other individual. Where appropriate these may be directed to the Trust’s Complaint’s Procedure