Both the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 give individuals the right to see or receive information held by the trust. Both underline the need for good records management throughout the trust to enable information to be disclosed within the statutory time limit allowed.
Non-compliance with the provisions of the Acts could result in adverse publicity, enforcement action and/or a substantial fine.
The GDPR places responsibilities on organisations that hold your personal information to ensure that :
The GDPR allows patients, patients’ representatives or staff to see personal information that is held about them by the trust. This includes records in all formats. Whether paper or electronic, held on systems or databases, x-rays, photographs, A&E cards, and emails. Staff requests could include access to personnel or disciplinary information.
The timescale for a response to a request for the provision of records is one month (30 days)
The Freedom of Information Act aims to promote openness and accountability in the public sector, which includes government departments, councils, hospitals, schools and the police. The Act gives the public the right to see official information held by the trust which hopefully provides a better understanding of how it performs its functions, its decision making processes and how public money is spent.
In addition to the Freedom of Information Act, the Environmental Information Regulations give you the right to request information about the environment which is held by the trust. One request concerned ‘pest control’ in the trust, and requested the specific number of incidences.
Examples of other Freedom of Information requests received:-
Some requests can more unusual : questions about pest control, and redheads having anaesthetics have been received!
In common with subject access requests, Freedom of Information requests also have a statutory time limit. The clock starts when the request arrives at the trust and we have 20 working days to provide the information. It is vital that once a request for information is identified, it is forwarded promptly to the Freedom of Information team. Please note - a request does not have to state use the words ‘freedom of information’ to be a valid request. If you are unsure, telephone the Freedom of Information team for advice on 01625 661184 or email ecn-tr.foirequests@nhs.net