Dudley NHS trust keeps key data shielded from public amid coronavirus

The Dudley Group NHS Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital, has chosen not to make details of its latest board meeting publicly available.

The trust said its meeting on Thursday was being held in private, and it is expected members will access it remotely.

While it is understandable the public will not be able to attend in person due to social distancing measures, the trust has taken the unusual step of not making documents relating to the meeting publicly available.

Board papers are normally published in the week leading up to a meeting and form a crucial role in the scrutiny of NHS trusts.

They contain latest performance figures, staff vacancy and sickness rates and any concerns that have been highlighted by board members, inspectors or the public.

But during what is arguably the biggest peace-time crisis the UK has faced, the trust said the documents would not be published for the public to view.

Bosses said the workloads of those who normally prepare the papers had been "prioritised".

The trusts that run New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, Sandwell Hospital and Stafford's County Hospital have all published board papers for April.

It will be the first Dudley Group meeting since the coronavirus lockdown was enforced. The last one was held just a week after the first UK death, showing how much has changed since.

Every set of Dudley Group board papers dating back to 2013 is currently available to view, demonstrating the unusual nature of the decision.

Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member for adult social care at Dudley Council, labelled the decision "bizarre".

He said: "They should be holding them (meetings) in some form of public domain or at least have the papers accessible and they need to justify that decision.

"Especially in these times, we all need to be as transparent as possible. People are asking questions about certain issues.

"At the end of the day they are publicly accountable like elected members. I would be surprised if governors haven't expressed concerns about this."

Bosses at Russells Hall last week denied there was a shortage of personal protective equipment following claims from staff of a lack of long-sleeve gowns and face visors.

More than 150 coronavirus patients have died at Russells Hall since the outbreak began.

Trust chief executive Diane Wake said: "We have been advised by NHS England and NHS Improvement that during this challenging period we should free up as much management capacity as possible and prioritise workload to manage the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"As always, the private sessions of the monthly board meetings will continue to take place. We are using conferencing technology to allow our non-executive directors to take part in the meetings virtually.

"We are committed to maintaining standards of transparency and we shall publish a set of public minutes and the papers considered by the board in relation to those minutes."