The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) gives a general right of
access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities,
sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations
on those authorities. For the purposes of the Act, NHS organisations
are public authorities.
The aim of FOI is to promote greater openness
of public authorities. Any person who makes a request for information
to NHS Trusts must be informed if we hold the information and be
supplied with a copy of it, subject to exemptions.
Individuals have a general right to access information about themselves
under the Data Protection Act 1998. (This applies to all organisations
and not just public authorities.) FOI extends the public right of
access to all types of information.
Under FOI, public authorities are required to publish and maintain
a 'publication scheme'. The publication scheme is a list of the
information routinely published by the organisation. It sets out
the classes of information held and how it is published. The purpose
of the scheme is to enable significant amounts of information to
be made available without the need for a specific request.
Background to the schemes»
See also: Confidentiality
of Information» |
