FOI 2026/1546

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This request follows a redirection from NHS England (Reference: FOI-2512-2288720), regarding NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) commissioning for the Rochdale Locality.

Please provide the following data for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years:

1. Volume and Cost of Out-of-Area Placements:

• a) The total number of individuals registered with Rochdale locality GP practices currently in receipt of CHC funding who are placed in facilities outside of the Greater Manchester boundary.
• b) The total annual expenditure on these out-of-area placements.
• c) The average weekly cost of an out-of-area placement for a high-acuity physical disability/neurological condition compared to the average weekly cost of an in-area placement.

2. Demand and Delayed Discharge:

• a) The number of delayed transfers of care in the Rochdale locality where the primary reason was ‘awaiting residential/nursing home placement’ or ‘awaiting a community care package.’
• b) Of these delays, how many were specifically attributed to a lack of suitable M4(3) accessible or specialist housing?

3. Strategic Market Positioning:

• a) Please provide the most recent Market Position Statement (MPS) or Commissioning Strategy relating to specialist housing for people with complex physical disabilities in Rochdale.

1a.

23/24 – 0

24/25 – <5

NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) does hold the information requested however, due to the low numbers involved (where patient data is 5 or less <5) we consider this to be exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the disclosure of this information may lead to the identification of individuals. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.

1b.

23/24 – £0

24/25 – £76,216.22

1c.

23/24 – £0

24/25 – £1087.72

2a. & 2b. This information is not recorded on the NHS Greater Manchester systems/data bases. Therefore, this section of your request is exempt by virtue of the following exemption, Section 12(1).

Section 12(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.

The Freedom of Information Act allows Public Authorities to decline to answer FOI requests when we estimate it would cost us more than £450 (equivalent to 18 hours, calculated at £25 per hour) to identify, locate, extract, and then provide the information that has been asked for.

The Rochdale Locality Team has undertaken an analogue to digital switchover, transferring onto the Broadcare system, and therefore, to respond to the question a search of paper files which have been archived, and each electronic patient file within the Broadcare EPR system would be required. There are currently over 2240 patient electronic files stored within the Broadcare system and it is estimated a search of each file would take approximately 15 mins. Due to the volume and complexity of the data involved, it would require a disproportionate amount of time and resources to locate, extract and collate the data. Therefore, on this occasion it is with regret NHS GM cannot process this section of your request further.

Although we cannot answer your request, we might be able to answer a refined request within the cost limit. Therefore, you may wish to restrict the period of your request to a few months rather than years. However, please be aware that we cannot guarantee at this stage that a refined request will fall within the cost limit, but NHS GM would do our upmost to assist you.

You may wish to also contact Rochdale Borough Council directly who may be able to provide you with further information. In line with section 16 of the FOI Act 2000, and our duty to provide advice and assistance; please find below a link to the Council’s website and information about how to make a Freedom of Information request.

About Freedom of Information requests | Freedom of Information request | Rochdale Borough Council

3. NHS Greater Manchester does not hold the information requested. Therefore, it will be necessary for you to contact Rochdale Borough Council for the information you see. In line with section 16 of the act please find a link to the Council website below and information about how to make a Freedom of Information request to assist you.

About Freedom of Information requests | Freedom of Information request | Rochdale Borough Council