Freedom of Information request

We are reviewing the Pathology services at both East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust. We require information to benchmark current services. I would be grateful therefore if you could supply the following under Freedom of Information Act 2000.

How many acute hospital sites are within yourTrust organisation? Do all these acute sites have a full 24/7 A&E department? / 3 sites all with 24 hour A&E department
Which of these Trust sites have on-site pathologylaboratoryprovision? / Heartlands and Good Hope Hospitals; 24 hour pathology provision
Solihull; on site Pathology 09:00hrs to 17:00hrs Monday to Friday.
What pathology disciplines are provided on each of these Trust sites? Please state Blood transfusion as a separate discipline / Heartlands Hospital:
1.  Blood Sciences
2.  Specialist Testing
3.  Blood Transfusion
4.  Cellular Pathology
Good Hope Hospital:
1.  Blood Sciences
2.  Blood Transfusion
Solihull Hospital:
1.  Limited Blood Sciences repertoire
2.  Blood Transfusion
Microbiology provided by PHE based on the Heartlands site
What pathology disciplines are centralised within your organisation? / Cellular Pathology
Specialist Testing
What is the annualactivity (measured in tests) per discipline for each of the Trust sites with pathology provision? / Please see attached letter.
What are the staffing levels and skill mix by bandfor eachpathology discipline per Trust site with pathology provision? / Please see attached letter.
How many staff and at what AfC bands are trained for cross disciplinary work? / None
What specialist pathology services are carried out within your organisation? E.g. Molecular sciences, haemophilia, haemato-oncology etc. / Molecular Sciences
Haemato-oncology
Fluorescent in-situ hybridisation
Toxicology
Radio-immune assay
Flow cytometry.
What transport system does you Trust pathology service use? Is it an internal system or does it use an external provider? / External provider
Is the transport system used pathology specific or a shared facility? / Shared facility
How many pick-ups per working day do you offer GP's? / Varies according to the customer’s requirements.
There are 1018 pick-ups per week from 220 locations.
Frequency of pick-ups range from 1 to 3 per day per location.
There are a small number of locations that only require a pick up once a week.
What frequency, if any do pick-up from GP's at weekends? / None
What are your charges for Biochemistry, Haematology, Microbiology, Cytology, Histology and immunology? / Please see attached letter.
Is your Trust pathology service involved in a consolidation project with other Trust or private sector pathology services? If so please indicate the other organisations involved. / In partnership with Pathology at Royal Wolverhampton Hospital.